==== Front
Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1736
igaa057.1736
Abstracts
Session 5020 (Symposium)
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
AGHE Program of Merit for Health Professions Education
Weinreich Donna  
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”536 536
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
In 2015, the Program of Merit was expanded and adapted to implement a voluntary evaluation process for health professions programs that are choosing to integrate gerontology/geriatrics competencies in order to prepare students for working with older adults as well as their informal care partners. These programs are now eligible to apply for the Program of Merit designation. The Program of Merit for Health Professions Programs is based on the AGHE Standards and Guidelines for Gerontology/ Geriatrics in Higher Education, Sixth Edition (2015), specifically Chapters 11 and 12. This session will provide an overview of the process, review the application content, and provide technical support for interested participants.