You can't be what you can't see: a systematic website review of Geriatrics Online-Visibility at US medical schools

Background Graduating US medical students must build strong skills in caring for older adults, necessitated by shifting population demographics. Little is known, however, about current medical student exposure to geriatrics on a national scale. This systematic website review characterizes geriatrics opportunities at US medical schools, seen through the lens of publicly available information online. Methods Reviewers searched for 18 online Geriatrics Elements, in the domains of Information Prevalence, Geriatrics Environment, and Geriatrics Education, for all 191 US medical schools accredited as of January 2020. Latent Class Analysis was used to classify schools according to their publicly visible geriatrics opportunities. Results Schools had a median of 7 Geriatrics Elements identified online [IQR 4-10]. Optional geriatrics clinical activity was the most prevalent (76%), while fewer than half of all schools had online evidence of required geriatrics clinical activity (45%). A profile of the three groups of schools identified by Latent Class Analysis, termed Geriatrics Online-Visibility groups (High n = 39, 20%; Medium n = 90, 47%; Low n = 62, 32%), is presented. Online evidence of geriatrics-specific funding was the greatest distinguishing factor among the groups. Conclusions Examining US medical school websites collectively and comparatively across Geriatrics Online-Visibility groups can ground discussions of geriatrics education in current national data. Though many school websites present optional geriatrics activities, far fewer specify geriatrics requirements. High Geriatrics Online-Visibility schools present an array of both optional and required geriatrics opportunities on their websites, but this cohort comprises only 20% of schools. Recommended next steps are proposed to guide schools inspired to enhance their Geriatrics Online-Visibility.