Experiencing aging or demystifying myths? – impact of different “geriatrics and gerontology” teaching strategies in first year medical students

BACKGROUND: With the aging of the population comes a greater need for geriatric and gerontology teaching. However, there is currently a dearth of investigations on the impact of different educational methodologies for teaching in this area early in medical courses. The present study aims to determine the impact of two educational strategies on the topic “Geriatrics and Gerontology” (“experiencing aging” and “myths of aging”) as compared to a control group (no intervention) on the attitudes, empathy and knowledge of first year medical students. METHODS: An intervention-based study in education was conducted at the beginning of the first year of a medical course. Students submitted to educational strategies were compared against students with no intervention. The two strategies were: “Experiencing Aging” – also known as the “aging game” (simulation of the disabilities and physiological changes of aging), and “Myths of Aging” - a knowledge discussion based on a “quiz show”, questioning common myths about aging. All students were assessed on their attitudes towards older persons (Maxwell-Sullivan, UCLA attitudes), empathy (Maxwell-Sullivan), knowledge on facts and positive view about aging (Palmore), and cognitive knowledge. Data were analysed using Student’s t, Chi-squared or ANOVA tests. RESULTS: A total of 230 students were assessed. The “experiencing aging” intervention was associated with improvement in empathy but worsening of attitude. The “myths of aging” intervention was associated with an improved attitude overall and positive view about aging but with no change in empathy towards older persons. CONCLUSION: Educational strategies can influence the attitudes and empathy of students, leading to different outcomes. These data highlight the importance of assessing the outcomes of educational strategies in medical teaching to ascertain in what manner (how), situations (when) and settings (where) these activities should be introduced. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-017-0872-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.