Volume 55, Issue 8 p. 1287-1294

A Curriculum to Teach Internal Medicine Residents to Perform House Calls for Older Adults

Jennifer L. Hayashi MD

Jennifer L. Hayashi MD

From the * Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

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Karran A. Phillips MD, MSc

Karran A. Phillips MD, MSc

From the * Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

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Alicia Arbaje MD, MPH

Alicia Arbaje MD, MPH

From the * Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

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Anirudh Sridharan MD

Anirudh Sridharan MD

From the * Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

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Rachelle Gajadhar MD

Rachelle Gajadhar MD

From the * Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

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Stephen D. Sisson MD

Stephen D. Sisson MD

From the * Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

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First published: 05 June 2007
Citations: 12
Address correspondence to Jennifer L. Hayashi, MD, 5505 Hopkins Bayview Circle, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Physician house calls are an important but underused mode of delivering health care to a growing population of homebound elderly patients. One major barrier to internal medicine physicians making house calls is a lack of training in this setting. This article describes a needs assessment survey of residents from nine internal medicine residency programs for a house call curriculum that combines a longitudinal clinical experience with Internet-based learning. Implementation of the curriculum was begun in July 2006, and data will be collected and results evaluated for at least 2 years. Several educational outcomes from the intervention are anticipated, including increased learner knowledge of house call medicine, improved learner confidence in making house calls, and program director satisfaction with the curriculum. This early work lays the foundation for determining the effect of a carefully designed curriculum on the number of practicing internists with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to meet the growing need for physician house calls.