Alice Gray, MD Canada

Course Director, CAEP Geriatric EM Course.    

The Geriatric Emergency Medicine Committee at the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians is now in its third year of offering a virtual and a live four-hour course in clinical topics specific to the care of older ED patients.  The course grew out of the pandemic when everyone was looking for online educational options. The committee members include nearly a dozen people who have completed fellowships in GEM and wanted to share their knowledge and experience with other practising physicians.  As such we have developed a group of ten different presenters from whom we select the 4-5 who are required for each course, lightening the load and spreading the learning around. The topics cover core topics in EM that need special attention in older adults: 

• Trauma
• Critical Illness Resuscitation
• Medication Management
• Delirium and Behavioural Disturbances

It also offers eight “shallow dives” – a range of short, small-group sessions from which participants can choose four. These typically are topics that may be outside the usual skill set of emergency doctors –triage challenges; gait assessment and aids; end-of-life care; multidisciplinary assessment; and others. 

The course, accredited by the two physician colleges in Canada, has been accessed by mixed groups of emergency doctors, trainees, and interdisciplinary colleagues from across the country. And we have also offered it to larger academic and community groups that wanted the whole department to upskill its approach to older person care. 

Participants have reported several benefits; including increased comfort with basic skills and knowledge around aging physiology; a sense of how their own practice compares to peers; a sense of shared purpose among members of a group; as well as a greater appreciation of what interdisciplinary colleagues contribute to older person care.   

The course welcomes international participants. Check the CAEP website for the next offering of the course; or contact the author if you’d like a special course for your group.