Briarwood Provides a “Living Classroom” for UMass Medical School Students

For ten years, UMass Medical School has been requiring their third-year students to dedicate a day of their learning experience to a focus on geriatric primary care. The day begins with classroom experience by lecturers in the field who address particular issues for seniors such as falls, finances, and medications. This is followed by an afternoon session at a number of Worcester assisted living facilities where students are paired with an older adult resident to conduct interviews. The goal is for the students to gain some experience with healthy elders, rather than having their education center only on patients in hospitals. After the interviews, the students meet in small groups with UMass Medical School faculty and members of the staff from the facility being visited.  Briarwood has participated in this educational program for many years. We are able to provide about 20 students with opportunities to interview Assisted Living level residents and also some Independent level residents. It’s a win-win situation: we get to meet some doctors of the future and we help in the education of our future health care practitioners.