Since 1978, the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Multi-Campus Geriatric Medicine Fellowship has attracted physicians who aspire to become leaders in the field of Geriatric Medicine. The success of the program has been due in large part to its affiliation with a number of Harvard Medical School teaching institutions; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Element Care (a PACE program), Hebrew SeniorLife, Mount Auburn Hospital, and the VA Boston Healthcare System. Since the inception of the fellowship, BIDMC and the other HMS teaching institutions have contributed to the clinical and academic training of approximately 350 geriatric medicine fellows and over 50 investigators who now hold leadership positions in geriatric clinical, research, and education programs around the world. This is the largest number of geriatric fellows trained by any single teaching institution in the United States.
Our program is one of the premier educational sites for geriatric medicine, as we engage our fellows in a large variety of clinical activities, including outpatient primary care and consultation, inpatient geriatric care and consultation, long-term care, post-acute care, home care, palliative care, and hospice. Subspecialty areas of clinical expertise include the management of diabetes, arthritis, falls, blood pressure, dementia, delirium, frailty, polypharmacy, and multi-morbidity. Areas of research include geriatric diabetes, blood pressure regulation, mobility, cognitive impairment, frailty, predicting postoperative outcomes, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, the genetics of bone disease, end-of life care, and medical decision making.
Our ACGME accredited first year track (July 1st - June 30th) focuses on clinical care. We have seven (7) funded fellowship positions. After completing the ACGME accredited first year, fellows are eligible for the Board of Certification in Geriatric Medicine Exam. In addition, our program offers opportunities for Advanced Fellowship Training (NON-ACGME accredited) for interested and qualified fellows to explore further into geriatric medicine. The selected fellows could stay for an additional one (1) year or two (2) years, to prepare for an academic career in either Medical Education, Research, Health Care Policy, and Quality Improvement.
- Clinician Educator: Designed for those who plan to serve as clinician-educators in an academic geriatric setting.
- Research: For physicians who wish to pursue a research career in geriatrics.
- Health Care Policy or Quality Improvement: Fellows have the opportunity to work in the area of health care policy or quality improvement.
The curriculum consists of clinical, didactic, and research components designed to expose trainees to the essential elements of geriatrics and gerontology. The curriculum is organized to train clinicians who are competent in the six (6) ACGME competencies. The curriculum fulfills all requirements of the ACGME subspecialty training program for Geriatric Medicine in year one of the program.