A narrative overview of undergraduate geriatric medicine education worldwide

There is a mismatch between the healthcare needs of the ageing population worldwide and the amount of education medical students receive in geriatric medicine. In 2014, Mateos-Nozal et al. published a systematic review of all undergraduate education surveys in geriatric medicine—a decade on, it is timely for an up-to-date overview of the state of undergraduate geriatric medicine education globally. In this review, we outline the international evidence in the field, exploring the results of national and multi-national teaching surveys, and discussing the relative strengths and weaknesses of nationally recommended curricula. We set these findings in the context of ageing population demographics, concluding with recommendations for the future of education and educational research in geriatric medicine, that aims to build capacity in the healthcare workforce and improve quality of care for older people.