OPIC: Leicester Medical School's (LMS) Innovation Preparing Graduates for the Needs of Patients with Dementia in the Modern NHS

Introduction

The Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) report ‘Health in an Aging Society’ (2023) states there is a rise in the prevalence of age-related conditions, such as dementia. This requires medical school curricula to shift to encompass a ‘new’ demographic within the modern NHS. Older Persons and Integrated Care (OPIC) was developed during a recent revision of the LMS curriculum to ensure local graduates are prepared for the realities of clinical practice, with the aim of improving graduates’ ability to recognise, assess and manage patients with dementia.

Method

OPIC is a six-week block, outside the acute hospital setting, delivered interprofessionally by Geriatricians, GPs, Psychiatrists and ANPs.  It builds on students’ previous pre-clinical knowledge, utilising workshops, assessments (both formative and summative), and clinical placements within settings such as mental health hospitals and care homes. Students are also taught to recognise the complexities of how health inequalities can affect both physical and mental health, as well as the medico-legal aspects of caring for those who are living with frailty and/or dementia. Quantitative and qualitative feedback is gathered at the end of the block using Likert questionaries and free-text boxes. This has been collected across multiple cycles since the integration of OPIC into the curriculum.

Results

The OPIC block has been altered and built upon since its introduction, informed by students’ feedback, utilising a stepwise and iterative quality improvement approach. The latest feedback from students showed that over 80% of students rated the ‘dementia’ component of the OPIC block as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ when preparing them for both exams and clinical practice.

Conclusion

OPIC better prepares graduates for the realities of the modern NHS, as assessing and managing patients with dementia is an essential competency for all doctors to have and maintain throughout their careers, especially considering the needs of our aging population.