Geriatrics Fellowship Program
Program Description
Our Fellowship Program seeks to give geriatric residents the knowledge, skills, experience and clinical competencies needed to provide excellent and compassionate care to older patients. In addition, the fellowship seeks to teach participants to function effectively as part of an interdisciplinary team, to prepare for and shape the future of geriatric medicine by learning to be able to critically evaluate clinical and research data, to analyze clinical research studies, and to be critical and independent thinkers. The is achieved by providing a wide variety of clinical experiences in a variety of settings across the continuum of care, under the close supervision of interested and experienced key faculty, by working in interdisciplinary teams, and by participating in scholarly activities which involve the collection, evaluation and presentation of data. In addition to participation in interdisciplinary teams, behavioral aspects of illness are emphasized. Following completion of the Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine, graduates are expected to pass the qualifying examination for the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine.
Features
The program provides a well-supervised experience at a sufficient level for the resident to acquire all of the competencies of a physician with qualifications in the field of Geriatric Medicine. The program is conducted by an accredited residency program in Internal Medicine.
Clinical experience includes opportunities to manage elderly patients with a wide variety of medical problems on an inpatient and outpatient basis. Geriatric medicine residents are given the opportunity to provide both primary care and consultation for patients in acute, ambulatory, community, and long-term care settings in order to understand the interaction of natural aging and disease as well as the techniques of assessment, therapy, and management. Additionally, residents are given the opportunity to care for persons who are generally healthy and require primarily preventive health care measures.
The program includes an emphasis on the physiology of aging, the pathophysiology that commonly occurs in older persons, atypical presentations of illnesses, functional assessment, cognitive status and affective assessment, and concepts of treatment and management in both acute and long-term care settings, as well as in the community and in the home. Attention is also directed to the behavioral aspects of illness, socioeconomic factors, and ethical and legal consideration that may impinge on medical management. Practice-based learning and systems-based practice are highly emphasized.
Although the emphasis of the program centers on the care of older persons, geriatric medicine residents are expected to maintain their basic primary skills during the course of this training. To facilitate this, fellows spend at least one-half day per week in a continuity of care experience in the resident’s primary discipline.
Positions
The Geriatric Medicine Fellowship has two positions at the University of Virginia, each lasting 12 months.
Application Process
Applicants are asked to complete and submit the universal application along with three letters of recommendation and a photo.
Deadline
Deadline for submission is Jan 29, 2010.
Director:
Seki A. Balogun, MD
Fellowship Program Director
PO Box 800901
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Contact Information
Elizabeth C. Carras
Fellowship Program Coordinator
Email: ecc4n@virginia.edu
Phone: 434.243.4849
Fax: 434.243.9282