Resident and Medical Student Training

Geriatrics for Internal Medicine & Family Medicine Residents

The Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology provides a one-month Geriatric Rotation for PGY2 or 3 Internal Medicine residents through training activities at the Wesley Woods Center campus and a one-month rotation for PGY 2 or 3 Family Medicine residents through training activities at the Atlanta VAMC campus. The goals of these rotations are to teach the resident the principles of medical, functional, and psychosocial assessment and management of the elderly patient. These goals include areas of basic geriatrics such as differentiation of "aging" versus "disease", pharmacology of aging, functional assessment, diagnosis and management of geriatric depression and dementia, management of specific geriatric syndromes such as falls and urinary incontinence, and working within the interdisciplinary geriatric team. Geriatric electives are available for visiting residents.
Geriatrics for Medical Students

Integrating Geriatrics into Medical Student Training
As a direct result of funding from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the Emory medical students will be better prepared for the unprecedented growth of the older population.  Reynolds funding has supported the Division’s efforts to integrate geriatrics into the medical student curriculum and expose medical students to Geriatrics in each year of their medical school training. 

This training initiative begins with a “Geriatrics week” for first year medical students and a lecture on the Basic in Geriatrics (BIG) 10 Principles. (The 10 principles that differentiate the care of older patients from other patient populations.)

Second year medical students are exposed to geriatric assessment and common assessment tools through the use of standardized patients.

Third year medical students participate in a 2-hour geriatric discussion sessions on Falls and Delirium. Students also take an Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) on Falls. 

Many of the third and fourth year students take advantage of the opportunity to participate in the one-month geriatric electives offered by the Division.

Fourth year medical students complete three online modules on transitions in care of the elderly.

Medical Student Geriatrics Interest Group (GIG)
The GIG meets several times a year to create opportunities for students to explore their interest in medical care and research related to Geriatric Medicine. The group also provides information on funded summer student research opportunities, clinical electives, and medical student awards in Geriatric Medicine.

Research Opportunities
Faculty from the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology provide assistance to medical students interested in submitting MSTAR http://www.afar.org/medstu.html research applications. All students who receive MSTAR funding participate in an eight to ten-week clinical and research training program in Geriatric Medicine.

Annual Art and Aging Contest
Students are encouraged to submit recently created, original art work for judging and display. Submitted art work can include short stories, poetry, paintings, collages, sketches, photography, sculptures and other works related to aging. Prizes of up to $500 are awarded to the winners.