The Medical College of Wisconsin Senior Mentor Program: experience of a lifetime. 2006

Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
Center for Healthy Communities, Department of Family and Community Medicine, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. tovah.bates@gmail.com

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Senior Mentor Program (SMP) has been offered to a small group of first and second year medical students as a course alternative to the traditional physician mentor program. The program links students with healthy older adult mentors and includes mentor/student visits, didactic sessions, written assignments, and shadowing experiences. The goals of the course are to increase positive attitudes about aging and geriatrics and to teach basic assessment and interviewing skills in geriatric content areas. A course evaluation including questionnaires, focus groups, and content analysis found that students experienced positive attitude change about geriatric patient care, increased knowledge about geriatrics, and satisfaction with the mentor/student relationship. Students have reported gains in their knowledge of geriatric and gait assessment, ADL evaluation, and mental health screening, among other issues. Further, students report being excited, more comfortable, and less fearful caring for and interacting professionally with older adults as a result of the SMP. The SMP is an effective and meaningful method of geriatric education for preclinical students. It may be an alternative at medical schools that cannot support a large-scale multi-year senior mentor program.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008611 Mentors Senior professionals who provide guidance, direction and support to those persons desirous of improvement in academic positions, administrative positions or other career development situations. Mentorships,Mentor,Mentorship
D009936 Organizational Innovation Introduction of changes which are new to the organization and are created by management. Organizational Change,Change, Organizational,Innovation, Organizational,Changes, Organizational,Innovations, Organizational,Organizational Changes,Organizational Innovations
D010817 Physician-Patient Relations The interactions between physician and patient. Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D011287 Prejudice A preconceived judgment made without factual basis. Anti-Semitism,Islamophobia,Anti Semitism,Anti-Semitisms,Islamophobias,Prejudices
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003479 Curriculum A course of study offered by an educational institution. Curricula,Short-Term Courses,Course, Short-Term,Courses, Short-Term,Short Term Courses,Short-Term Course
D004504 Education, Medical, Undergraduate The period of medical education in a medical school. In the United States it follows the baccalaureate degree and precedes the granting of the M.D. Medical Education, Undergraduate,Education, Undergraduate Medical,Undergraduate Medical Education
D005853 Geriatrics The branch of medicine concerned with the physiological and pathological aspects of the aged, including the clinical problems of senescence and senility. Gerontology
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults

Related Publications

Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
January 2022, Gerontology & geriatrics education,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
January 1977, Annual Conference on Research in Medical Education. Conference on Research in Medical Education,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
September 2002, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
January 2003, WMJ : official publication of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
April 2006, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
December 2021, WMJ : official publication of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
July 2004, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
September 2000, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
September 2020, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Tovah Bates, and Mary Cohan, and Dawn S Bragg, and Joan Bedinghaus
September 2010, Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Copied contents to your clipboard!