CELEBRATING THIRTY YEARS OF AGING
AND HEALTH 2012 ANNUAL REPORT
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INFUSE GERIATRICS INTO CURRICULUM

1983

Chief Resident Immersion Training in Care of Older Adults

2007-2012 During the residency period of medical training, doctors who have just received their medical degree practice medicine under the guidance of licensed physicians, usually in a hospital. A senior resident physician is often selected as chief resident to act as a clinical and administrative director.

In 2003, as part of its Donald W. Reynolds Foundation geriatrics training center grant, the Boston Medical Center created a program called the Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) program to improve chief residents’ understanding of geriatrics principles and leadership and teaching skills. In 2007, the Hartford Foundation provided funding to replicate the CRIT program nationally reaching 13 additional medical schools.

In 2011, the program received additional outside funding with a four-year, annual renewal award of up to $2.2 million from the Hearst Foundation, which would support 19 new CRIT sites. The program also received about $1 million from the Reynolds Foundation through a subcontract from Duke University to support six CRIT sites.

The Chief Resident Immersion Training program has been disseminated to 27 institutions nationwide, producing institution-wide cultural changes in residency training. Chief residents who have participated in the program demonstrate increased geriatrics knowledge, confidence to teach geriatrics, and improved leadership and teaching skills.

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