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MPBN featured a series of interviews with Marilyn Gugliucci, Ph.D., director of geriatrics education and research, and Anthony Pastore, a medical student who checked himself into the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough as part of the Learning by Living program founded by Gugliucci. The interviews took place on July 16, 22, and 29, 2013.

Pastore, 25, who is in excellent health, is living as an 85 year-old wheelchair-bound man with weakness on his dominant side, the result of a “stroke,” and pneumonia.

Through the eyes of Pastore, the interviews take the listener through the various stages experienced by nursing home residents when they first are admitted.

In part two, Anthony reports feeling depressed.  “I'm kind of losing control in a lot of aspects, whether it's what I having for lunch, or what time I get dressed, or what kind of activities I'm allowed to do,” he said.

Interviewer Patty Wight paraphrases Marilyn Gugliucci, stating that according to Gugliucci, “Pastore's experience is a condensed version of what happens to residents,” and that “it typically takes them three to four months to fully adapt.”

The Living by Learning program has, since its inception, placed over 30 medical students in nursing homes to live as elders with various age-related health problems.  The program gives medical students a new perspective on patient care as they pursue their careers as doctors.