- Inpatient Geriatric Medicine
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Duration: 12 weeks
Fellows serve as one of the multiple team members in the geriatric inpatient service. At the beginning of the year, the focus is on developing skills in geriatric patient care and effective patient and family communication. Fellows will gain further experience with discharge planning and develop a deeper understanding of issues that arise at transitions of care. As the academic year progresses, fellows will have graduated responsibilities for oversight and supervision of the service with a role in teaching and providing feedback to residents and students.
- Palliative Care
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Duration: 6 weeks
Fellows should develop the ability to use hospice and palliative care services to provide geriatric patients with quality, patient-centered care. Fellows should be comfortable leading goals conversations with patients and families and managing symptoms at end of life. Several weeks are spent with the St. Margaret Palliative care team, and several weeks are spent with the Palliative care team at UPMC Presbyterian, Shadyside, or Magee.
- Hospice (Inpatient and Outpatient)
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Duration: 2 weeks each
Fellows' time is split between the inpatient hospice service in Lawrenceville and spending time doing hospice home visits. This time is spent with the hospice doctors affiliated with UPMC/Family Hospice.
- Neurology
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Duration: 3 weeks
Fellows spend time with the neurology specialists at the Pittsburgh Veterans hospital. Outpatient time is spent with the movement disorder specialist. Inpatient consults are performed along with neurology residents. Fellows also spend time with the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
- Geriatric Psychiatry
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Duration: 4 weeks
Fellows should develop an understanding of the unique presentation of psychiatric illness in the geriatric population. They spend 2 weeks at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in the geriatric ward, and 2 weeks working with the geriatric psychiatrists at UPMC St. Margaret Geriatric Care Center.
- Rehabilitation
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Duration: 3 weeks
Fellows should recognize the impact of physical function on the health of geriatric patients and be able to complete a functional assessment. One week is spent at St. Margaret with the rehab doctors, and 2 weeks are spent at the Mercy stroke unit.
- Rheumatology
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Duration: 1 week
Fellows should be able to distinguish characteristics of common rheumatologic conditions in the elderly. They work with our rheumatology specialists at St. Margaret.
- Wound Care
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Duration: 4 weeks
Fellows should have a framework for the assessment, diagnosis, and management of chronic wounds. They work for 2 weeks with our plastics surgeons in the nursing homes and 2 weeks with the inpatient wound team.
- Pain Management
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Duration: 2 weeks
Fellows learn the impact of pain on the health of geriatric patients, the nonopioid and opioid management of pain, and the interventional management of pain. The fellows work with pain management specialists at St. Margaret.
- Urology
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Duration: 2 weeks
Fellows should gain comfort in the common urologic conditions that impact geriatric patients, such as urinary incontinence. Fellows spend 1 week with urology at St. Margaret, and 1 week with the urogynecology specialists at UPMC Presbyterian hospital.
- Geriatric Consults
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Duration: 2 weeks
Fellows round with geriatricians at Presbyterian hospital completing geriatric medicine consults on the trauma service for 2 weeks. The focus is on developing a skill set in providing consultant services.
- Scholarly Activity
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Duration: 2 weeks
The goal is to permit fellows to have ample time to prepare projects. Common projects include posters for the American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Conference, working on QI projects that are then presented at St. Margaret’s Fellowship Day, or medical education work that can be presented at UPMC Medical Education Day.
- Elective
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Duration: 2 weeks
Multiple electives are available through the many resources available in the UPMC system. Commonly pursued is the geriatrics consult elective at UPMC Presbyterian, or time with community life, the local PACE program.
- Faculty Development Fellowship
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Duration: 4 weeks
In August, fellows have the opportunity to work with the faculty development fellows during a 4 week intensive, 8 sessions per week, developing the skill set to become clinician-educators and clinician-leaders. Fellows will attend didactics that range from leading small groups to teach in the inpatient or outpatient settings, giving formal presentations, or undergoing a QI project. This didactics series helps fellows prepare for multiple leadership roles that they will maintain throughout the year.
- Community Life/ADRC
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Duration: 1 week
The fellows work with the local PACE program, Community Life. Fellows attend the adult day center to get a sense of how the center works. Fellows help lead patient visits with the Community Life team, including doctors, social workers, and nursing staff.
Fellows work with the interdisciplinary team at the ADRC. This group includes researchers, neurologists, psychiatrists, and neuropsychologists, who are evaluating patients with dementia for treatment options.