Introduction

II Level Master in Geriatric Medicine “Giancarlo Ghironzi”

University of San Marino
In agreement with the University of Ferrara

The initiative was born in response to the progressive aging of the population, a phenomenon that in recent decades has affected all Western countries. In Italy there are over 12 million elderly people (aged > 65), of which more than 2 million are not self-sufficient and over 200.000 are institutionalized in hospital facilities. This segment of the population absorbs a significant part of national health resources.

La geriatric medicine has acquired a central role in the care of the elderly, developing its own clinical methodology, the Geriatric Multidimensional Assessment (MGA), necessary to address the peculiar characteristics of the elderly patient: comorbidity, atypical presentation of pathologies, cognitive and functional decline, clinical instability, social and economic problems.

Il Master is aimed at all healthcare personnel who works daily with elderly patients, but who does not have a specialization in Geriatrics. It aims to fill a training gap, given that the official offer today is limited to specialization schools only.

The training course offers:

• updated knowledge in the gerontological and geriatric fields;

• skills in multidimensional geriatric assessment and in the use of related tools;

• in-depth analysis of the main syndromes and pathologies of the elderly, with a focus on anamnesis, functional tests, diagnostic imaging, differential diagnosis and prognosis;

• practical training in the use of specific scales and tests for the assessment of the elderly population.

The goal is to provide a basic specialist training, comparable to that proposed in the most advanced countries, to improve the quality of geriatric care even outside of specialist departments, in territorial structures such as RSA, long-term care facilities and protected homes.

The Master is aimed at graduates in possession of the following entrance qualifications:

• Degree (new and old system) in Medicine and Surgery
• Master's Degree in Psychology
• Master's Degree in Nursing Sciences
• Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Health Professions
• Master's Degree in Nutrition Sciences
• Master's Degree in Prevention Health Professions Sciences

The doctor who will obtain the Master in Geriatric Medicine will be able to boast a competence essential but specific in the field of medicine for the elderly. This competence can be used both in the context of basic medicine that of territorial structures e residential dedicated to the elderly.

This demand is growing rapidly due to the progressive aging of the population and continuously increase in subjects over eighty years of age in our country. The professional tools provided will also allow those who obtain the Masters in Geriatric Medicine to share with their fellow specialists in Geriatrics a series of methodologies already extensively validated and used internationally.

The doctor will acquire specific skills of evaluation and treatment of the elderly patient.

In particular, the doctor:
• will develop a high standard of skill of geriatric multidimensional assessment (VMG) and in performing geriatric tests and scales

• will acquire the ability to analyze, critically, the clinical condition , prognosis of the geriatric patient, as a result of a process of integration of clinical experience and the best scientific evidence

• on the basis of the principles of Evidence Based Medicine, where available, will be able to decide on the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures more suitable for the specific elderly patient, evaluating any possibility of recovery of previous skills and proposing a individualized therapeutic-care plan