Effects of a Social Medicine Course on the Attitudes of Medical Students Toward the Elderly: A Controlled Study

The results of a moderately well-controlled study indicate little change in the attitudes of medical students as a function of exposure to a social medicine course focusing on the elderly. in terms of classifying both pre-and post-course attitudes, some tend toward the positive but more tend toward the negative. The few observed changes seem to reflect the learning of social facts about the aged rather than changes in underlying attitudes. Findings of students' preferences for treating younger patients and their lack of enthusiasm about becoming geriatricians suggest that much remains to be accomplished for society to cope successfully with the continued increase in the number of geriatric patients.