ABSTRACT
Background: The Caring Companions initiative was founded at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to address social isolation born from the COVID-19 pandemic while providing students with a unique opportunity to interact with older adults outside of a medical setting. First-year medical students were paired with older adults in New Jersey to foster longitudinal relationships. Few studies have explored similar opportunities in the pre-clinical years. We examined student reflections on this experience to provide insight on the students' perception of older adults in a non-clinical context. Methods: 31 first-year medical students and their companions conversed once a month through audio or video calls from September 2020 to May 2021. After each call, students wrote a 300-word reflection about general feelings, information learned, or topics discussed. Reflections were deidentified and coded based on themes determined from a preliminary reading of reflections. Using the framework of learning about patients in context, we coded reflections using the following categories: family, social support, living settings, socioeconomics;and individual patient characteristics, including acute, chronic, and psychological conditions. Results: Medical students met with their companions over an average of 7 months (range: 5-9 months). All students reflected on their companions' family dynamics, and 94% wrote about the companions' social support systems. Furthermore, 84% reflected on their companion's living conditions, while 58% noted their companion's description of their current or previous jobs. Interestingly, 68% of the students reflected on their companions' chronic health conditions. Finally, 61% noted their companions' psychological conditions, including anxiety or depression based on companion reports or student evaluations. Conclusion: Based on the 7-month interaction between medical students and their companions, nearly all students reflected on companions' family and social support systems. Furthermore, most students commented on companions' chronic and psychological conditions. Implementation of longitudinal programs distinct from the clinical setting enriches medical students' understanding of older adults' holistic wellbeing within their own unique contexts.