Arkansas Geriatric Education Mentors & Scholars (AR-GEMS) is a 60-hour faculty enrichment program designed for faculty who teach students in the health professions. The program provides current didactic education and clinical experiences in geriatrics to faculty members who wish to incorporate or update geriatric content in the courses they teach. Support for this program comes from a US Health Resources and Services Administration grant awarded to the Arkansas Geriatric Education Center (AGEC).
For an application, please click Application Summer Institute 2012and return to AGEC via fax at 501-257-4531.
AR-GEMS Program Description
Each AR-GEMS Summer Institute participant will complete 40 hours of training in Little Rock.
These hours will include:
• Brief comprehensive course in geriatrics/gerontology (24 hrs) covering such topics as Palliative Care, OTC and Herbal Supplements, Exercise and Aging, Dementia Overview and Behavioral Interventions, Communication with Older Adults, Caregiver Issues, Elder Abuse and others. All course materials and appropriate web-links will be provided.
• Clinical training (16 hrs) will consist of shadowing activities with assigned mentors experienced in older adult care. Assignments will be made on the basis of individual interests and availability of clinical sites including but not limited to: Long Term Care, Adult Day Healthcare, Diabetes Clinic, Home Healthcare Service, Out-patient and In-patient Consult Service.
• Additional requirements include 20 hours of clinical shadowing experiences that will be scheduled at a participant’s convenience in geriatric settings within a 6 month period.
Locations for the training will include the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the Reynolds Institute on Aging.
AR-GEMS Program Goals
The Summer Institute goals are to increase geriatric knowledge of faculty and geriatric content of courses in Arkansas institutions of higher education, promote the concept and practice of the interdisciplinary healthcare team, and to establish regional experiential training sites for health professionals, students and faculty.
AR-GEMS Program Requirements
Participating faculty will:
• Complete 5 days of training in Little Rock (24 hrs are devoted to geriatrics topics and 16 hrs to mentored clinical experiences).
• Complete independently a 20-hour shadowing clinical program within a 6 month period.
• Evaluate didactic speakers and write a summary of the participant’s clinical program.
Continuing Education
Faculty teaching dietetics, nursing, physical therapy, psychology, social work, and others are invited to participate in this program.
Upon completion of all requirements, participants will receive a certificate of completion.
Program Director
Ronni Chernoff, PhD, RD, FADA
Director, AGEC
Program Staff
Kimberly H. Clement, BA
Educational Specialist, AGEC
Soledad H-D Jasin, PhD
Senior Education Specialist, AGEC
Robin McAtee, PhD, RN, FACHE
Nurse Educator, AGEC
Susan M. Porbeck, BS, CHES
Program Project Specialist