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BIDDEFORD, Maine

‘New Hampshire Union Leader’ article highlights SWAGƵ’s leadership in geriatrics education

Second-year medical student Matt Rocheleau uses the virtual reality program "We are Alfred.”
Second-year medical student Matt Rocheleau uses the virtual reality program "We are Alfred.” He was quoted in the article.

A New Hampshire Union Leader article titled, “Using virtual reality to teach medical students empathy for elders,” sheds light on the SWAGƵ’s extensive commitment to educating students in providing health care for older adults.

The article describes the innovative “We are Alfred” virtual reality experience the SWAGƵ College of Osteopathic Medicine is using to teach medical students empathy toward older adults. Through the program, students experience life as a 74 year-old man with macular degeneration and hearing loss.

"It really puts in perspective what the patient is going through, and you don't really understand it until you experience it," second-year medical student Emily Szuba stated in the article. "Emotionally, it was very difficult and even though you are only Alfred for a few minutes, he still really sticks."

The article points out that the program is just one of many that contributed to SWAGƵ being recognized as an Age Friendly University (AFU) by the international Age Friendly University Global Network, which highlights the role higher education plays in meeting the challenges and opportunities of an aging population. The network is led by Dublin City University with support in the United States from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. The article states that SWAGƵ medical students are required to spend 34 hours on geriatrics in their first two years, which is nearly seven times what most medical schools require.

The Union Leader published a second article titled, “Teaching medical students through personal stories of caring, dying,” about research efforts at SWAGƵ to collect stories about caregiving and dying in order to build a database for medical students. According to Professor Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., the project aims to teach students about the humanity of aging and dying. "It's a way to honor their lives and teach students from the older adults' perspective," she said.

 To learn more about the SWAGƵ’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, visit

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The SWAGƵ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.