Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey
Background: Dementia is an increasingly common condition and all doctors, in both primary and secondary care environments, must be prepared to competently manage patients with this condition. It is unclear whether medical education about dementia is currently fit for purpose. This project surveys...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
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BioMed Central Ltd
2013
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2564/ |
| _version_ | 1848790818094055424 |
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| author | Tullo, Ellen, StClair Gordon, Adam L. |
| author_facet | Tullo, Ellen, StClair Gordon, Adam L. |
| author_sort | Tullo, Ellen, StClair |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: Dementia is an increasingly common condition and all doctors, in both primary and secondary care
environments, must be prepared to competently manage patients with this condition. It is unclear whether medical
education about dementia is currently fit for purpose. This project surveys and evaluates the nature of teaching and
learning about dementia for medical students in the UK.
Methods: Electronic questionnaire sent to UK medical schools.
Results: 23/31 medical schools responded. All provided some dementia-specific teaching but this focussed more
on knowledge and skills than behaviours and attitudes. Only 80% of schools described formal assessment of
dementia-specific learning outcomes. There was a widespread failure to adequately engage the multidisciplinary
team, patients and carers in teaching, presenting students with a narrow view of the condition. However, some
innovative approaches were also highlighted.
Conclusions: Although all schools taught about dementia, the deficiencies identified represent a failure to
sufficiently equip medical students to care for patients with dementia which, given the prevalence of the condition,
does not adequately prepare them for work as doctors. Recommendations for improving undergraduate medical
education about dementia are outlined |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:18:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-2564 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:18:39Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | BioMed Central Ltd |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-25642020-05-04T16:35:56Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2564/ Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey Tullo, Ellen, StClair Gordon, Adam L. Background: Dementia is an increasingly common condition and all doctors, in both primary and secondary care environments, must be prepared to competently manage patients with this condition. It is unclear whether medical education about dementia is currently fit for purpose. This project surveys and evaluates the nature of teaching and learning about dementia for medical students in the UK. Methods: Electronic questionnaire sent to UK medical schools. Results: 23/31 medical schools responded. All provided some dementia-specific teaching but this focussed more on knowledge and skills than behaviours and attitudes. Only 80% of schools described formal assessment of dementia-specific learning outcomes. There was a widespread failure to adequately engage the multidisciplinary team, patients and carers in teaching, presenting students with a narrow view of the condition. However, some innovative approaches were also highlighted. Conclusions: Although all schools taught about dementia, the deficiencies identified represent a failure to sufficiently equip medical students to care for patients with dementia which, given the prevalence of the condition, does not adequately prepare them for work as doctors. Recommendations for improving undergraduate medical education about dementia are outlined BioMed Central Ltd 2013-03-27 Article PeerReviewed Tullo, Ellen, StClair and Gordon, Adam L. (2013) Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey. BMC Geriatrics, 13 (29). 1/6-6/6. ISSN 1471-2318 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2318/13/29 doi:10.1186/1471-2318-13-29 doi:10.1186/1471-2318-13-29 |
| spellingShingle | Tullo, Ellen, StClair Gordon, Adam L. Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey |
| title | Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey |
| title_full | Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey |
| title_fullStr | Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey |
| title_short | Teaching and learning about dementia in UK medical schools: a national survey |
| title_sort | teaching and learning about dementia in uk medical schools: a national survey |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2564/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2564/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2564/ |