Knowledge of Medical Students on Geriatric Health Care

Background:Health care system faces the challenge of catering to the health needs of the rising elderly population, due to their unique morbidity pattern and lack of geriatric training for the health care professionals.Objectives:To compare (a) the knowledge of first and fourth year medical students regarding geriatric health care, (b) their felt need for specialised training and (c) geriatric care as their career preference.Methods:ln this cross sectional study, a self-administered personal data questionnaire and Quiz on Old People's Health covering basic information, were administered to 98 first and 77 fourth year students of a private medical college in central Kerala, South India.The results are presented by the objectives.Results:The groups were comparable with respect to gender, type of family, personal contact with elderly, and place of childhood residence, but seniors had significantly more Christians.The mean rank for knowledge did not differ significantly in the area of physical, mental or social health and also the total; the median scores were similar.Only around 4% of juniors and 1% of seniors opted a career among elderly; 58.4% of juniors and 72.4% of seniors considered working among those of any age.Significantly more of the first years felt the need for special geriatric training.Conclusion: The first three years of medical education has not changed the basic knowledge of the medical students regarding health care of older adults.Similar to paediatrics, a special course in geriatrics may be necessary considering the vulnerability of the elderly, morbidity pattern and the proportion of clientele.