Teaching geriatric care: report on an experimental second-year elective.

To help fill the growing need for medical school instruction in geriatric care, the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Medicine at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School, in cooperation with Roosevelt Hospital, a nearby county-supported chronic disease facility, joined to develop an experimental second-year elective, given for the first time in the fall of 1976. The curriculum involved 11 three-hour sessions covering a variety of medical and socioeconomic topics. Enrollment was limited to 12 students. Reaction was positive on the part of students, patients, and faculty, especially with respect to student attitudes toward the elderly. Improvements are suggested in six major areas.