The development of a geriatric postgraduate education assessment instrument using a modified Delphi procedure

New horizons in geriatric medicine education and training: The need for pan-European education and training standards

“…The significant heterogeneity in geriatric medicine training programs across Europe is likely to further compound this insecurity. Efforts are underway to better understand the similarities and differences between training across Europe, through the recent development (using a modified Delphi procedure) of a geriatric postgraduate education assessment instrument [50]. We contend that the heterogeneity seen in both service provision and post-graduate training in geriatric medicine are inextricably linked, and argue that to safeguard the future of the specialty across Europe, there is a need for harmonisation of post-graduate training.…”

European postgraduate curriculum in geriatric medicine developed using an international modified Delphi technique

“…Due to wide variation in curricula across Europe, it was not thought possible to extrapolate common core components to be used as a starting template for the Delphi process. Consequently, the group decided to use the previously validated audit instrument [4] itself to start. The Template (Appendix Table 1 in the supplementary data, available at Age and Ageing online) incorporated four domains covering important aspects of curricula addressing content on knowledge and skills and touches upon assessment methods recommended to assess training progress in postgraduate Geriatric Medicine training [4].…”

“…As a first step, the developmental group of facilitators collected pre-existing national curricula for postgraduate training within the EU countries and mapped the contents of the curricula with the audit tool previously developed and published in 2016 [4]. In doing so it became clear, that due to the extensive differences in the structure, format and content of the curricula, it was impossible to extrapolate common core components from these national curricula to be used as a starting template for the Delphi process [3].…”

“…In doing so it became clear, that due to the extensive differences in the structure, format and content of the curricula, it was impossible to extrapolate common core components from these national curricula to be used as a starting template for the Delphi process [3]. The facilitators therefore decided to use the previously validated and published audit instrument [4] itself including additional items present in national curricula to start the process described in this paper (see Appendix Table 1 in the supplementary data, available at Age and Ageing online). This included 12 items on general considerations in Domain I, 59 items on knowledge in patient care in Domain II, 11 items about additional skills and attitudes required for geriatricians in Domain III and finally 7 items on assessment and quality of postgraduate education in Domain IV.…”

“…Early on in this process, it became clear that levels of competence as well as the content required to become a geriatrician differed considerably between different European countries, and indeed some had not yet established postgraduate training in the discipline [3]. Standardised comparison was only possible using a structured and widely-agreed template for core competencies [4]. Introducing this template into an international comparative analysis process allowed a solid foundation for the development of widely-approved recommendations for core competencies in postgraduate training of Geriatric Medicine across Europe.…”