Geriatrics training in family practice residencies.

To determine how teaching objectives in geriatrics are being met in the family practice residencies in the United States, a questionnaire was sent to each residency site. This questionnaire, consisting of six parts, asked questions about the geriatrics training concerning: the time allotment, the facilities used, the faculty carrying out the training, the mode of didactic teaching evaluation strategies and funding for the graining. The results indicate preference for a continuous training experience throughout the residency, a high value placed on nursing homes and family practice centers for teaching sites, and a high value placed on family practice faculty members as teachers of geriatrics. Patient care experience is preferred over didactic learning and no evaluation scheme unique to geriatrics is used. Most programs are not self-supporting from patient revenues but depend on outside funding. To determine learner satisfaction with current teaching methods in geriatrics, a sampling of physicians who had trained in family practice residencies offering geriatrics were identified by asking each such program to identify three gradates of its institution who were seeing geriatrics patients in their practices. These physicians were asked to identify and to rate their geriatrics training components (limited to the first four areas of the questionnaire sent to the residencies). Of the 183 eligible candidates, 111 returned the questionnaires. The results indicate a high degree of satisfaction with most methods being used for teaching geriatrics, including a high value placed on nursing homes, family practice centers, and family practice faculty members as teachers. The results imply a need for faculty development in geriatrics for all family practice faculty members and a need to routinely utilize nursing homes and family practice ambulatory centers for geriatrics training.