Program Overview

Program Overview

The Diplôme d'Université (DU) in Medicine for the Elderly is a university diploma program designed for non-specialist physicians in geriatrics who care for elderly patients and wish to improve their practice. This program responds to the current and future challenges of better understanding, by all practitioners who care for elderly patients, the specificities of evaluation and medical, psychological, and social care for elderly individuals, as well as the prevention of disabilities and adaptation of their environment.

Objectives

Upon completion of the program, physicians will be able to care for elderly patients, taking into account their specific needs and integrating ethical and preventive issues related to loss of independence, including:

• Evaluating the physical, psychological, social, and environmental situation of an elderly person and the risk of loss of autonomy (fragility, geriatric syndromes).
• Establishing a precise diagnosis of common pathologies and their interactions (polypathologies).
• Choosing a therapeutic approach, adapted to elderly patients, in a preventive, curative, rehabilitative, or palliative context, including emergency situations.
• Prescribing care or referring patients for care, considering the social and managerial contexts of the structures and professionals involved.

Program Structure

• Theoretical teaching: 58 hours
  • Seminars: 6 half-days of 3.5 hours, totaling 21 hours
  • Competence-based learning: 37 hours
• E-Learning: 70 hours of theoretical teaching on the SIDES NG platform and 130 hours of personal work
• Optional and recommended participation in the local/regional Geriatrics Congress or the Annual Day of the Institute of Aging, or the Annual Day of the French Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (JASFGG)

Evaluation Modalities

• Attendance is mandatory and validated upon attendance at the 6 half-days of local seminars and 37 hours of face-to-face training. It is a prerequisite for taking the exams, except in cases of force majeure.
• The diploma is awarded if:
  • Attendance is validated
  • E-Learning modules are validated (100% success rate)
  • The national theoretical exam score is 8 or higher out of 20
  • The local practical exam score is 10 or higher out of 20
• In case of failure in one or both exams, a second session is organized

Specificities and Prerequisites

• Selection is based on a dossier review
• Required documents:
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Letter of motivation/professional project
  • Copy of diplomas
• For training outside a French-speaking country, a certificate of French language proficiency (level B2) is required

Target Audience

• Physicians wishing to ensure the functions of Coordinator of EHPAD (Housing Establishment for Dependent Elderly) or coordinator of territorial geriatrics devices
• Physicians wishing to strengthen their skills in geriatrics, particularly general practitioners, emergency physicians, or those working in polyvalent medicine services
• Physicians must hold a State Diploma of Doctor of Medicine and practice medicine in France
• Practitioners with a diploma from outside the European Union must be laureates of the knowledge verification test (EVC) as part of the access procedure to the exercise (PAE)

Recruitment Pool

• General practitioners, gerontology services, polyvalent medicine services, EHPAD, support devices for coordination (DAC), and territorial health professional communities (CPTS)
• All specialist physicians wishing to develop their knowledge and skills in the specific care of elderly individuals

Access Modalities

• Procedure for Registration:
  1. In the spring of 2025, request the agreement of the pedagogical manager by sending your CV and letter of motivation to the teaching managers.
  2. Administrative registration from August 25, 2025, with the positive return of the pedagogical manager, by downloading, filling, and transmitting the required documents for registration on the university's platform.

Teaching Units (UE)

• Year 1:
  • Teaching of DIU Medicine of the Elderly, Academic Year 2025-2026
  • Video conference on October 2, 2025, from 2 pm to 4 pm - Presentation of the teaching
  • Thursday, October 16, 2025 (9 am-12 pm) - Module 1 - Introduction to General Gerontology
  • Friday, December 18, 2025 (10 am-5 pm) - Module 2 - Infectious Pathologies
  • Wednesday, January 13, 2026 (9 am-5 pm) - Module 3 - Cardiovascular and Pneumology
  • Tuesday, February 24, 2026 (2 pm-5 pm) - Module 4 - Neurology and Psychiatry
  • Friday, March 20, 2026 (10 am-5 pm) - Module 5 - Functional and Mobility
  • Tuesday, March 31, 2026 (9 am-5 pm) - Module 7 - Hematology and Cancerology
  • Thursday, April 23, 2026 (9 am-12 pm) - Module 6 - Metabolism
  • Tuesday, May 26, 2026 (9 am-5 pm) - Oral presentations by students

Examination

• 1st session: Thursday, June 18, 2026, at 2 pm
• 2nd session: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 2 pm

Indicators and Statistics

• Surveys are conducted by the Statistical Support Pole for Steering Training and Student Life: access to statistics for all training programs.