A Study on Medical Management Students' Attitudes Towards the Elderly and Their Willingness to Pursue Careers in Geriatrics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71204/4ekse740Keywords:
Ageing Contexts, Medical Management Students, Geriatric Medicine Education, Attitudes Towards Older AdultsAbstract
Against the backdrop of rapid population ageing, this study examined whether geriatric medicine education can cultivate ageing-competent healthcare managers by focusing on medical management students. A total of 205 third-year students who completed a virtual simulation course on community hospital service optimization in ageing contexts were surveyed. Attitudes towards older adults, willingness to pursue careers in geriatric health management, and their influencing factors were analysed. The results showed that 70.7% of students demonstrated positive attitudes towards older adults, and 67.3% expressed willingness to work in geriatric health management. Female students, those reporting good relationships with older adults, greater attention to ageing-related information, and prior exposure to geriatric coursework scored significantly higher on both attitude and career intention measures. Evaluation scores of the virtual simulation course were positively associated with both outcomes, indicating that immersive, ageing-oriented simulation teaching can simultaneously enhance students’ emotional attitudes and professional willingness. However, further analysis revealed a partial masking effect: increased career willingness was associated with heightened perceptions of responsibility and stress, which offset approximately 26% of the positive impact of the simulation course on attitudes towards older adults. This “high willingness–high pressure” mechanism suggests that while geriatric simulation education strengthens professional identification, it may also activate emotional strain related to perceived occupational burden. These findings indicate that geriatric medicine education for medical management students should extend beyond technical training and empathy induction to incorporate career guidance and stress-management components. Such integrated curricular design may better translate positive attitudes into sustainable career commitment, providing scalable, evidence-based strategies for cultivating compassionate and resilient healthcare managers in ageing societies.
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