AOL News features Learning by Living Program

AOL News featured ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ's Learning by Living program, founded by Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ College of Osteopathic Medicine director of geriatric education and research, on its site August 19.  The article profiles ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ second-year medical student Amy Pratt, who spent two weeks at a Massachusetts nursing home in May, living the life of an elder resident, complete with a medical diagnosis and standard procedures of care.

Pratt stated, "The biggest lesson ... was that all of the people that I will help are people before they ever are or ever were patients," she said. "They lead full lives, they have families, they have important things to talk about."

The Learning by Living program provides a first-hand experience for future doctors to look beyond the disease to treat the whole patient. "They have to wheel a mile in the chairs of an elder before they truly understand the impact," Gugliucci said.

About the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ

The ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ 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.