Faculty development in geriatrics for clinician educators: a unique model for skills acquisition and academic achievement

As the size of the aged American population increases, so too does the shortage of trained providers in geriatrics. Educational strategies to train physicians at all levels of experience within adult medical and surgical disciplines are needed to complement fellowship training, given the small size of most academic faculties in geriatrics. This article describes a unique faculty development program that creates geriatrically oriented faculty in multiple disciplines. The Boston University Center of Excellence in Geriatrics (COE), funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, has trained 25 faculty members. Four to six scholars enter the program each year and participate in the COE 1 day per week. Nine months are spent in four content modules-Geriatrics Content, Clinical Teaching, Evidence-based Medicine, and Health Care Systems; 3 months are spent in supervised scholarly activities and clinical settings. A self-report questionnaire and a structured interview were used to evaluate the outcomes of participation in the COE. The results from the first 4 years of the program are reported. The response rate was 83% for the self-report questionnaire and 75% for the structured interview. The results indicate that the COE is effective in improving scholars' assessment and management of older patients. The structured interview revealed that the COE program promotes the integration of geriatrics into clinical teaching at the medical student and resident level. Participants also completed scholarly projects in geriatrics. This program effectively trains faculty scholars to better care for older adults and to teach others to do likewise.