Social Determinants, Risk Factors, and Needs: A New Paradigm for Medical Education.

COVID-19 and the escalation of racism and bias that has come in its wake have had a devastating impact on health professions students. In addition to academic challenges and personal health risks, aspects of students' lives that have often gone unnoticed or inadequately addressed have come to light. Financial constraints that impact access to housing and food, neighborhood safety in light of the spike in hate crimes, and the bias inherent in the continuum from premedical education to undergraduate and graduate medical education are some examples.

The 5-Factor Modified Frailty Index in the Geriatric Surgical Population.

Background: The modified frailty index (mFI-11) is a National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP)-based 11-factor index that has been proven to adequately reflect frailty and predict mortality and morbidity. In the past years, certain NSQIP variables have been removed from the database; as of 2015, only 5 out of the original 11 factors remain. While the predictive power and usefulness of this 5-factor index (mFI-5) has been proven in previous work, it has yet to be studied in the geriatrics population.

Impact of a Short-Term Domestic Service-Learning Program on Medical Student Education.

Purpose: The number of global health opportunities offered to medical students has increased over the past 20 years. Recognizing the growing prevalence of these experiences, a number of studies have shown that these types of exposures have a significant impact on medical students' education. However, there is a paucity of literature on the educational impacts of short-term domestic service-learning trips, which can be more accessible due to fewer logistical and financial barriers.

New 5-Factor Modified Frailty Index Using American College of Surgeons NSQIP Data.

Background: The modified frailty index (mFI-11) is a NSQIP-based 11-factor index that has been proven to adequately reflect frailty and predict mortality and morbidity. These 11 factors, made of 16 variables, map to the original 70-item Canada Study of Health and Aging Frailty Index. In past years, certain NSQIP variables have been removed from the database; as of 2015, only 5 of the original 11 factors remained.

Medication adherence and rejection rates in older vs younger adult liver transplant recipients.

A growing number of older adults are undergoing liver transplantation (LT) in the United States. In some settings, it is thought that adherence declines with age. This retrospective study examined adherence and clinical outcomes in older vs younger adult LT recipients.

Interpreter training for medical students: pilot implementation and assessment in a student-run clinic.

Background: Trained medical interpreters are instrumental to patient satisfaction and quality of care. They are especially important in student-run clinics, where many patients have limited English proficiency. Because student-run clinics have ties to their medical schools, they have access to bilingual students who may volunteer to interpret, but are not necessarily formally trained.

Longitudinal assessment of medical student attitudes toward older people.

Delivering adequate care to older people requires an increasing number of physicians competent in the treatment of this expanding subpopulation. Attitudes toward older adults are important as predictors of the quality of care of older people and of medical trainee likelihood to enter the geriatrics field. This study assessed the attitudes of 404 US medical students (MS) from the start of medical school to graduation using the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Geriatrics Attitude Scale.

The portal of geriatrics online education: a 21st-century resource for teaching geriatrics.

The way students are taught and evaluated is changing, with greater emphasis on flexible, individualized, learner-centered education, including the use of technology. The goal of assessment is also shifting from what students know to how they perform in practice settings. Developing educational materials for teaching in these ways is time-consuming and can be expensive.

Recognition of melanoma: a dermatologic clinical competency in medical student education.

Background: Non-dermatologist physicians are well positioned for opportunistic melanoma detection; however, education in the skin cancer examination is limited during medical school and traditionally lecture-based. Simulating melanoma cases provides a means to demonstrate whether proficiency in knowledge and recognition of melanoma images translates into improved clinical skill.

Objective: To evaluate medical student recognition and appropriate response to a prosthetic melanoma placed on a standardized patient (SP) during a simulated clinical encounter.

Teaching medical students how to teach: a national survey of students-as-teachers programs in U.S. medical schools.

Purpose: A number of U.S. medical schools started offering formal students-as-teachers (SAT) training programs to assist medical students in their roles as future teachers.

Easing the transition: medical students' perceptions of critical skills required for the clerkships.

Objectives: The preclinical years of undergraduate medical education provide educational content in a structured learning environment whereas clerkships provide clinical training in a more experiential manner. Although early clinical skills training is emphasized in many medical schools, students still feel unprepared and anxious about starting their clerkships. This study identifies the skills medical students perceive as essential and those skill areas students are most anxious about prior to starting clerkship rotations.

Keeping granny safe on July 1: a consensus on minimum geriatrics competencies for graduating medical students.

Competency-based education prepares trainees to perform tasks occurring within the context of practice. There are currently no geriatrics-specific, competency-based consensus performance standards for medical students.The authors present the results of a systematic, multimethod process to identify and define the minimum geriatrics-specific competencies needed by a new intern to adequately care for older adults.

Palliative care module within a required geriatrics clerkship: taking advantage of existing partnerships.

Objective: LCME has recently required that all graduating medical students learn about end-of-life care. This program describes the design and integration into an existing geriatrics clerkship of a palliative care module that teaches the foundations of end-of-life and palliative care to medical students.

Description: Faculty experts in geriatrics met during a series of weekly meetings in 1999 to design a mandatory four-week-long clinical clerkship in geriatrics.