Prior to the on-site consultation, hosting institutions are asked to provide the Consortium faculty consultants with information regarding their geriatrics program, including key people and programs, strengths and weaknesses, and areas on which hosting institutions would particularly like to focus development efforts. These materials will be vital to ensuring a successful and productive site visit.
Below is an outline of the information you should submit.
1. Current Geriatrics Teaching Activities and Programs
Please provide an outline of your current geriatrics educational efforts and programs. The goal is to list all aspects and information you feel is relevant to a complete assessment of your program. Think of it as an inventory of your current programs.
You may want to highlight (but are not limited to) the following information:
- Number of geriatrics faculty within department/program
- Number of faculty affiliated or collaborating with your department/program
- Any geriatrics fellowship or advanced fellowship programs that the department directs
- Any specialized educational and/or training programs, including interdisciplinary efforts
- Partnerships or collaboration with other departments within the medical school e.g. Internal Medicine, Family Practice, Rheumatology etc.
- Partnerships or collaboration with other departments/schools, e.g. School of Public Health, Social Welfare, Psychiatry, Dentistry etc.
- Specific mentoring or junior faculty development initiatives
- Specific research activities or opportunities
2. Resources
Please provide an outline of the available resources your department/program has access to.
- Personnel resources – faculty and staff
- Funding resources – grants (new opportunities or already established funding streams), endowments, etc.
- Technological resources – Web resources, tech support
- Physical plant – office and clinical space, available space at other sites
3. Key Local People
Please provide a list of key people at your institution. This could include:
- Program directors
- Dean for education
- Director of CME
- Course directors
- Geriatrics program leaders and key faculty members
- Program leaders and faculty in affiliated departments (e.g. Geriatric psychiatry, Neurology etc.)
- Any individuals that play or could play a role in the development of your program
After consulting Consortium faculty receive and review the pre-visit materials, they will be in contact with host institution program leaders to develop the agenda for the site visit. Details regarding the format of the consultation, meetings with key people that should be scheduled and any materials or information that should be made available during the visit will be decided. Hosting institutions should clarify any specific meetings/training sessions/etc. in which they would like the consultant to participate.
Prior to the visit, consultants will also confirm with the hosting program leaders the goals for the site visit. Hosting institutions should be clear as to what they expect from the visit. The consultant will also outline what he/she thinks should be the goals for the site visit based on the program information provided.
The agenda for site visits will vary according to the specific teaching program and goals set. The following sample agenda outlines some of the sessions that may occur during the site visit.
- Introductory meeting with geriatrics program leader(s)
- Overview of program, SWOT, resources, challenges
- Initial impressions
- Discussion of site visit goals
- Meeting(s) with geriatrics and related faculty
- Faculty to discuss their impressions of challenges, strengths, etc.
- Brainstorm
- Meeting(s) with other key people
- Program directors, Dean for Education, CME program director, affiliated faculty
- Participation in Grand Rounds OR geriatrics lecture by consultant OR participation in specific teaching activities/sessions
- Meeting with trainees (fellows/residents)
- Development and discussion of action plan by consultant with geriatrics program leader
- Next steps
- Goals and objectives
- Measures and milestones
- Debrief with geriatrics program leader
After the site visit, the Consortium faculty consultant will develop and forward a formal report outlining main issues identified during the visit, the action plan including next steps for both the hosting institution and the consultant, and final recommendations.
Follow-up conversations between the hosting program leader and the Consortium faculty consultant will be scheduled. A follow-up site visit can also be arranged if deemed necessary.
After the report has been submitted, Consortium faculty consultants will contact hosting institutions on an annual basis moving forward to assess progress and discuss new issues, challenges, or obstacles that have presented themselves.
Finally, the D.W. Reynolds National Consortium will host a pre-conference at annual AGS meetings to which hosting institutions are invited to attend. This pre-conference will off participants in the On-site Consultation program an opportunity to discuss their experience and offer insights into improvements to the program. More information on the AGS pre-conference will be forwarded to hosting institutions as the meeting approaches.
