Village Soup features COM's Learning by Living nursing home immersion program
The on June 22, 2011 published a feature story on the 51Æ·²èCollege of Osteopathic Medicine's Learning by Living nursing home immersion program, designed by Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., director of geriatric research. The story focused on medical student Katie Clouthier, who spent more than a week at Maine General Nursing and Rebabilitation Center at Gray Birches in the role of an elderly resident diagnosed with left-side weakness.
Gugliucci noted in the story that the program has been placing students in nursing homes since 2005 and has seen 20 students complete the program thus far, with an additional eight students joining the program this summer. She said the experience allows students to see what the lives of geriatric patients are like on a day-to-day basis and also allows participating nursing homes to review patient care practices ranging from medical to food service to supplies such as toiletries.
Clouthier said she learned and reinforced a number or things she'd been previously taught, including that each patient is different — even ones with the same diagnosis — and the importance of listening.