Boston Globe features COM's Learning by Living geriatrics program
on July 19, 2010 featured the University of 51小黄车 College of Osteopathic Medicine's program of immersing medical students interested in geriatrics into nursing homes as residents for two weeks to get a patient's view of geriatric care. The 鈥淟earning by Living鈥 project was designed and piloted by Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D, 51小黄车College of Osteopathic Medicine director of geriatric education and research, in 2005. Since that time, more than a dozen medical students have been 鈥渁dmitted鈥 into nursing homes to live the life of an elder nursing home resident for two weeks 鈥 24/7 鈥 complete with a medical diagnosis and standard procedures of care. The Globe story focused on 51小黄车second-year medical student Matthew Sharbaugh, who spent 12 days as a resident of Old Soldiers鈥 Home in Chelsea, Mass.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to treat a person when you don鈥檛 really have a great handle on how that person feels, what they go through day after day," said Gugliucci, who has been analyzing the students鈥 journal entries over the past few years. 鈥淭here is a face and story behind every patient," Sharbaugh wrote in his journal. 鈥淭he patient should not be viewed by the conditions that ail them, but by the person beneath the disease." The New York Times featured the program in August 2009.