Addressing Disparities in Geropsychiatry Education: Lessons Learned from 2020

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, numerous disparities in both geriatric mental health care and geriatric mental health education emerged as challenges for medical educators. Many of these disparities were known prior to the onset of pandemic, including unequal access to geriatric psychiatry educators and clinical experts across the country, as well as limited opportunities for clinical experiences in geriatric psychiatry for medical students and residents. Indeed, the Institute of Medicine Report of 2012, “In Whose Hands: The Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Adults”, had identified the current and projected gaps in geriatric mental health training to meet the needs of an aging population. Since 2020, additional gaps and disparities have been recognized that adversely affect the ability to adequately develop and train the next generation of geriatric psychiatrists, as well as geriatrics-informed general psychiatrists and primary care physicians. The year 2020 also brought to the fore, issues of racism and ageism, both of which may not have been adequately addressed before in geropsychiatry education. Yet, racism and ageism are both now more clearly understood as key factors affecting the lives of elders and adding to disparities in geriatric mental health care. At the same time, the challenges of the pandemic led to new innovations in both the delivery of geropsychiatry education and the content of the education strategies that will help to mitigate disparities for patients and trainees. This symposium will address 3 key areas related to disparities in geropsychiatric education and will share important insights that should inform future approaches to geropsychiatry education.