Training Future Leaders in Aging Research

现代公共卫生和医学的一个巨大成功是，我们大多数人现在可以预期长寿并在老年死亡。越来越多的人一致认为，医学教育系统无法以适当的方式满足人口的保健需求;这项改革早就应该进行。培养下一代的方法之一是尽早培养他们对老龄化研究的兴趣。研究是医学教育的重要组成部分。即使是在最基本的水平上，从事研究也会使医学生参与知识的创造。他们需要明白，知识不是被动接受的惰性物质，而是不断创造、辩论和重新表述的，他们在这个过程中要发挥作用。拟议的老龄化研究培训计划建立在西奈山卫生系统的临床，教育和研究培训的强大和成功的现有基础上，以及西奈山伊坎医学院非常成功的医学生老龄化研究培训（MSTAR）计划。拟议的8至12周的培训计划，称为培训未来的领导人在老龄化研究的总体目标是提供15个有前途的医学生学员每年夏天的基本知识和技能，在老龄化和姑息医学研究，并刺激和培养他们的开始兴趣在老年医学和姑息医学。我们建议通过为医学生实习生开发一个高度结构化的老龄化和姑息医学研究计划来实现这些目标，该计划将包括：1）参与老龄化和姑息医学研究计划，其中包括建立和成功的研究调查人员，并在学生指导方面有良好的记录; 2）与这些领先的研究教师发展正式的指导关系，并与以前的学生学员合作，他们将作为近同行的导师提供额外的支持; 3）为目标设定制定个人学习和研究合同; 4）参与基础研究方法和领导主题的结构化活动; 5）与研究项目目标嵌套和对齐的老年和姑息医学临床暴露; 6）指导研究演示和传播的导师。我们希望这些学员-导师关系将持续到培训期甚至研究项目之后，并发展成为终身导师。我们假设，积极引入老龄化和姑息医学研究以及老年人的临床护理将导致许多计划学员从事老年医学和/或姑息医学的职业，承担学术领导角色，并成为老年人健康的不懈倡导者。

One resounding success of modern public health and medicine is the fact that most of us can now expect to live a long life and die in old age. There is a growing consensus that the medical education system is unable to meet the health care needs of the population in an appropriate way; this reform is overdue. One of the ways to prepare the future generation is by developing their interests in aging research early on. Research is a valuable part of medical education. Even at a rudimentary level, engaging in research implicates medical students in the creation of knowledge. They need to understand that knowledge is not an inert substance they passively receive, but is continually created, debated, and reformulated—and they have a role to play in that process. The proposed training program in aging research builds upon the strong and successful existing foundation of clinical, education and research training at the Mount Sinai Health System and the highly successful Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The overall aim of the proposed 8- to 12-week training program called Training Future Leaders in Aging Research is to provide 15 promising medical student trainees per summer with the basic knowledge and skills in aging and palliative medicine research and to stimulate and nurture their beginning interest in geriatrics and palliative medicine. We propose to accomplish these goals by developing a highly structured program in aging and palliative medicine research for medical student trainees that will include: 1) Participation in aging and palliative medicine research initiatives with established and successful research investigators with proven track records in student mentoring; 2) Development of formal mentoring relationships with these leading research faculty and partnering with prior student trainees who will serve as near-peer mentors for additional support; 3) Development of individual learning and research contracts for goal settings; 4) Participation in structured activities on basic research methodology and leadership topics; 5) Clinical exposures in geriatric and palliative medicine nested and aligned with their research project goals and; 6) Guided mentorship for research presentation and dissemination. We expect that these mentee-mentor relationships will endure beyond the training period or even the research project and develop into a lifelong mentorship. We hypothesize that a positive introduction to aging and palliative medicine research and to clinical care of older adults will lead many program trainees to pursue careers in geriatrics and/or palliative medicine, assume academic leadership roles, and become relentless advocates of older adult health.