MCW Fellowship Program in Geriatrics

Program Objectives
The goal of this two-year Medical College of Wisconsin Fellowship Program in Geriatrics is to recruit highly motivated physicians with interest in geriatrics, and to prepare them to become skilled in the clinical, education, and research issues relating to health care for older adults. This goal is accomplished through a balanced, multifaceted, and evolving set of clinical, research, and academic experiences.

Curriculum
In the two-year course of study, the Fellow participates in clinical, educational, and research experiences designed both to achieve the objectives of the program, and to address the particular orientation and interests of the trainee.

The distribution of time and effort devoted to the various program components will vary with the individual's background and goals, but it is anticipated that the division of Clinical-Educational/Administrative-Research activities is approximately 90%-10%-0% in the first year, and 35%-10%-55% in the second year.

Clinical Experiences: Applied
The fellow will receive training in the key areas of geriatrics which are traditionally not well covered in family medicine or internal medicine training. This includes training in geriatric assessment and evaluation in an inpatient setting; rotation through a hospital based home care program, adult day health care programs, an inpatient experience at a rehabilitation hospital, and an inpatient geropsychiatry rotation. Outpatient clinic experienced is also required. These training experiences occur in the first year.

In the second year, training is primarily outpatient and consists of geriatric primary care clinic, dementia clinic, geropsychiatry clinic, incontinence clinic, a nursing home experience, and home care.

All clinical training is supervised by faculty of the Medical College of Wisconsin and is integrated with existing training of housestaff and students.

Clinical Experiences: Didactic
Geriatric Core Curriculum provides the Fellow with a strong foundation in geriatrics and gerontology. This lecture series is presented to fellows during the first year of training, and includes, but is not limited to presentations on:

Overview of Geriatrics
Diabetes in the Elderly
Depression
Urinary Incontinence
Nursing Home Medicine
Cardiovascular Changes Related to Aging
Intro to Geriatric Dentistry
Falls and Accidents
Geriatric Assessment
Geriatric Health Care Team
Economics of Aging
Infectious Disease in the Elderly
Delirium
Drug Therapy in the Elderly
Dementia
Metabolic Bone Disease
Decubitus Ulcers
Atypical Presentation of Cardiovascular Disease

Other didactic activities:

• Weekly meetings of the Multidisciplinary Geriatric Journal Club
• Monthly meetings of the Multidisciplinary Geriatric Journal Club
• Weekly Department of Medicine Grand Rounds
• Daily Housestaff Teaching Sessions (e.g. morning report, noon conference, and journal club).

Research Experiences
The Fellow receives regular exposure to a wide range of research methodologies as part of the Fellowship program. A monthly Research Seminar consists of a mixture of presentations by faculty and guests on subjects relevant to statistical analysis, study design, and research methodology.

In the second year, the Fellow undertakes a proposed research topic that is conducted under the supervision of a Research Mentor, selected by the Fellow. The particular set of research experiences in which a given Fellow participates depends on the trainee's interest and motivation, and on the projects in which the chosen research mentor is involved.

Depending on the Fellow's prior training, academic course work on Study Design and Statistical Analysis, offered through the Medical College of Wisconsin, may be recommended. No tuition charges will be assessed for such coursework.

Faculty
The faculty of the MCW Graduate Fellowship Program in Geriatrics is composed of experienced graduate educators in the field of Geriatric Medicine.

Fellowship Director
Dr. Kathryn Denson, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit at Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee.  Dr. Denson is a graduate of St. Louis University School of Medicine.  She first joined the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1996 where she completed her residency training in Internal Medicine.  She completed her Geriatric Medicine Fellowship at the University of Washington and rejoined the Medical College of Wisconsin as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in August 2002.  She is board certified in Internal Medicine and received her Certification of Added Qualification in Geriatric Medicine in 2001.  Her areas of interest include home and community care and palliative care.

Facilities
The Medical College of Wisconsin, the State's only freestanding, private medical school, is located on the grounds of the Milwaukee County Regional Medical Center. Fellows participate in various didactic and education/administrative activities at MCW, and have use of its Medical library and computing facilities. Office space, computing facilities, medical library, medical media production service, photocopying, and secretarial support are available.

Clinical activities take place in the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals (V.A. Medical Center - Milwaukee, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, and St. Luke's Medical Center). All of these sites are within a four-mile radius, and all have available parking. Schedules of trainees are arranged to minimize same-day travel between sites. Research facilities will depend on the interest to the trainee and the affiliation of the research mentor. Potential sites include the Milwaukee VA, the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Prerequisites
To qualify as a trainee, applicants must demonstrate:

• successful completion of a course of study including a MD degree;
• completion of a graduate medical education program in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine

Also, board certification is required for fellows to be eligible to sit for the ABIM/ABIP certificate of added qualifications in geriatric medicine.

Academic Year
The course of study will run from July 1 through June 30.

Stipend
Fellowship stipends are fixed in accord with all other training programs at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Professional liability coverage and health insurance are included.

Application Procedure
Physicians interested in pursuing application to the MCW Graduate Fellowship Program in Geriatrics should first ascertain that the prerequisites listed above are met. Application materials should be sent to Robin Karst - Fellowship Program Coordinator:

Fellowship Program Coordinator
Robin Karst
Fellowship Program Coordinator - Geriatrics
Department of Medicine - Educational Programs
Medical College of Wisconsin
9200 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53226
(414) 805-0438
rkarst@mcw.edu