Page 7 - Scene Magazine 43-03 March 2018

Our current rotation of students will collectively
spend well over 2,000 hours at our two center locations over the course of 18 months.”
al Clinical Experience–
Training Tomorrow’s Doctors to Care for Senior Adults
to the important and specialized field
of geriatric care; second, to give medi- cal students the opportunity to receive extensive hands-on training in the area of geriatric health care as well as one-on- one interaction with participants; third, to increase the possibility of new medical students moving into the underserved field of geriatric care as their chosen medical profession; and fourth, to in- crease the possibility of retaining medical student graduates to serve as physicians locally where the senior population is currently underserved.”
Through this program all the WMed students will systematically rotate through CentraCare’s extensive geriatric care pro- gram, working with various members of the Interdisciplinary Team to gain a holis- tic view of care for the medically complex older adult. The students have a total of ten visits to CentraCare over the course of their first two years of medical school, spending their first two visits interact-
ing with, learning from and observing CentraCare’s Interdisciplinary Team and its role in the care of older adults. In the subsequent eight visits they are paired up with a participant and together the stu- dent and their participant work through a comprehensive geriatric assessment that is comprised of a list of modules includ- ing, but not limited to, physical examina- tions, history-taking skills, cognitive and
neurological evaluations, and functional assessments.
“Our current rotation of students will collectively spend well over 2,000 hours at our two center locations over the course of 18 months,” said Alexandria Lueth, CentraCare’s CEO. She added, “It has been our hope that in working with our team and participants, the students have gained a unique appreciation for the challenges older adults face in navigating the healthcare system.”
Throughout their multiple visits to Cen- traCare, students have attested to gain- ing a much better understanding of the importance of getting to know the whole person as well as realizing how many non-medical areas of a person’s life can impact their care and health outcomes.
After their first two years of medical school are complete, some students are opting to return to CentraCare for a fourth year clerkship and/or making CentraCare part of their rotation when they become a medical resident. This continuity is one of the things students, participants and staff enjoy most.
“I love that students value their time
at CentraCare enough to return in their fourth year and beyond,” said Sarah Vollink, CentraCare’s educational liaison and student coordinator. She added, “We have students that have created incredi- bly powerful relationships with our
participants and friendships that last to this day. In one case, the relationship became so close that the participant stated she wanted to be able to attend the student’s graduation from medical school before she died.”
As the first class of students grad- uates this spring and become MDs, CentraCare takes great pride in having been a part of their education. To date, nearly 275 students have participated in approximately 3,200 visits to the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo centers. A portion of this program in Battle Creek has been underwritten by a generous grant from the Guido A. and Elizabeth H. Binda Foundation.
In addition to working with medical students, CentraCare also hosts a variety of learners from over a dozen disciplines, such as nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and more. Currently, Centra- Care receives students from more than fifteen different universities around the state and country.
Dr. Mehmet Ismailoglu, CentraCare’s medical director, said, “If we have done our job, then these experiences will have a positive impact on their careers. The opportunities we offer have been unique for the students, for us as a PACE organi- zation, and most importantly, for our par- ticipants, who are excited to have helped shape the future course of medicine.”
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