Interprofessional Curriculum Design: From Conception to Delivery

TL;DR

This paper describes the development of an interprofessional post-graduate certificate program in Geriatrics and Gerontology designed to train a diverse workforce in aging-related care.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel interprofessional curriculum model for geriatric education involving multiple disciplines and stakeholder collaboration.

Findings

A five-course post-graduate certificate program was conceptualized to include students from diverse academic backgrounds.

A work group successfully engaged faculty from geriatrics, neuropsychology, social work, and occupational therapy in syllabus development.

The program aims to merge theory with practical approaches through interdisciplinary didactics and activities.

Abstract

With funding awarded through the DHHS-HRSA Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program Grant, the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine (RV-SOM) has partnered with the Rowan University- Masters in Social Work Program (RMSW) to develop an interprofessionally designed and delivered post-graduate certificate in Geriatrics and Gerontology. RMSW is a new graduate program launched in 2023 and currently has no elective courses in aging. In 2024, initial pre-planning meetings were convened between both departments to conceptualize the components necessary to train the future workforce in geriatric and gerontology best practices with a specific focus on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia. A (5) course elective program was conceived to be offered to master level students university-wide, not just RMSW matriculated students, aiming to recruit a diverse target audience including students in non-clinical programs. Once complete, the (5) course program will be offered as a post-graduate certificate. During AY 24/25, a work group began syllabus development for the first elective course, “Introduction to Geriatrics and Gerontology”. The work group has a tripart mission; (1) to obtain stakeholder buy-in from multiple disciplines to co-develop modules from their scope of practice, (2) obtain buy-in from those practitioners to teach in the graduate program, allowing students the opportunity to learn directly from multiple disciplines and (3) create a syllabus which merges theory with practical approaches and interventions. To date, we have successfully engaged high-level faculty in geriatrics, neuropsychology, social work, and occupational therapy. All disciples will be engaged in didactics, small group activities, reading assignments and evaluation.