Teaching geriatrics during the COVID-19 pandemic: experience of a Brazilian medical school

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the discipline of geriatrics at the Santa Casa de Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences of Sao Paulo was adapted to a web-based learning environment due to social distancing measures. OBJECTIVE: To describe the full adaptation of the discipline of geriatrics to a web-based learning tool, of two activities that were developed including the current COVID-19 to illustrate some of the main concepts of geriatric medicine. METHODS: The course was fully adapted to the open-source course management system called MOODLE. The first activity was a COVID-19 clinical case discussion, whose main objective was to include COVID-19 in the content of our course, illustrating some of the main concepts of geriatrics. The second activity was a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) experience, done via videoconference, which also assessed the impact of social distancing measures on the health of older adults. RESULTS: A total of 43 medical students performed both activities, and 95% of the students considered the inclusion of the COVID-19 into the discipline of geriatrics useful, 88% approved the practical experience of CGA, and 84% felt that they contributed to the health of the interviewees after contact. CONCLUSION: Adapting our discipline to a web-based learning tool, while including the current COVID-19 in our course content and a practical experience of CGA via videoconference was possible and approved by students. The adoption of this initiative may not only be an academic strategy, but also a possible way to improve the quality of life of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic. KEYWORDS geriatrics;education, medical;education, distance;coronavirus infections;geriatric assessment.