Seniors Assisting in Geriatric Education
S.A.G.E. Program

The word "sage" refers to someone who has wisdom, and the UNT Health Science Center has a unique philosophy and method to use the wisdom of older community members to help train our up and coming medical students. The SAGE Program helps ensure that graduating physicians from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine have a solid understanding of how to effectively provide medical services to older adults. The S.A.G.E. Program (Seniors Assisting in Geriatric Education), a partnership with Meals on Wheels in Tarrant County, was established to provide students with enhanced geriatric training.

During a given year, medical students go out into the community and work directly with their assigned senior mentor five times. During these visits, medical students gain valuable experience by working closely with senior patients. They practice taking history and physicals, assess nutrition, perform home safety evaluations, and listen to the life stories of these individuals. We believe this training will help future geriatric doctors be sensitive and respectful to seniors and relate to them as a whole person, not just a medical chart.

Enhanced geriatric training is being funded by a Reynolds Foundation grant awarded to Janice Knebl, DO, MBA, a geriatrician in Internal Medicine at UNTHSC. There are increasing numbers of older individuals in the US population, which will continue for the foreseeable future. Enhanced geriatric training is designed to meet future training needs of physicians who will be treating this population.

Many of the senior mentors have enjoyed meeting and talking to the students and have expressed their excitement and anticipation of the visits they have with students. There is a genuine mutual benefit to the S.A.G.E. Program and both mentors and students have commented that they believe it is a valuable experience.

One recent S.A.G.E. medical student enthusiastically commented upon the experience:

"Our senior(mentor) has a vast array of experiences and wisdom that I hope to absorb just a fraction of during our visits. Not only can she help us grow as student doctors (practicing our exam skills and learning how to work with older patients), but she can help us grow as students of life."

Health Science Center professor and chief of the Division of Geriatrics, Janice Knebl, DO, MBA, oversees the geriatric training program at the UNT Health Science Center. Dr. Knebl has been named on more than one occasion as a "Top Doc" by Fort Worth, Texas magazine. Knebl has noted that by 2030, the estimate is that 33,000 geriatricians will be needed to care for the elderly and that there are currently only 8,800 who are certified in geriatrics. She estimates that only 1 to 2 percent of students who graduate from medical school at the center go into gerontology and that there will be a growing need for specialists as the generally educated and affluent baby boomer generation becomes older.

The Healthy Aging Council is strongly supportive of the S.A.G.E Program and joins Dr. Knebl in her commitment to better prepare for what some have called the "coming health care tsunami" as millions of baby boomers retire in the next several years.