Primary Care Continuum Curriculum (PCC)

In 1994 the college established a new problem-based curriculum track focusing on primary care. The PCC curriculum provides an option for approximately twenty students each year who apply for inclusion in this self-directed educational approach. Students in the PCC spend much of their time in small group discussion, in the clinical setting or working individually. Each week, six-to-eight hours are devoted to group discussion and laboratory work. Our geriatricians, along with other clinical faculty members, have written several cases with a geriatrics focus for the PCC curriculum. The case topics include: arthritis, confusion/weakness, CVA, syncope, sleep disorders, glaucoma, diabetes mellitus with peripheral neuropathy, COPD, myocardial infarction, aphasia/dysphagia, dehydration due to heat stroke, Parkinson's Disease with dementia, CHF and influenza. Laboratory content with an aging emphasis includes "Interviewing the Well Elderly" and "Experiencing the Sensory Changes of Aging." All second year PCC students complete a 20-hour long-term care clinical experience with geriatrics faculty (four hours/week for five weeks).

Clinical Presentation Continuum (CPC)

In September 1999, the traditional systems-based curriculum at OU-COM was replaced by the Clinical Presentation Continuum curriculum. The CPC curriculum, a patient-focused, case-based approach to medical education, emphasizes hands-on learning, provides frequent opportunities for early clinical contact, takes advantage of the dynamics of small group learning and has fewer hours of large group lectures. The Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology faculty facilitate at least four groups per year.

The CPC’s three-week Geriatrics Block includes fifty contact hours:  27 hours of lecture, 18 hours of small group case discussion, and 5 hours of laboratory.

The OU-COM Geriatric Medicine Club, a student chapter of the American Geriatrics Society, provides networking opportunities for students with an interest in the health care of older adults. Guest geriatricians are invited to campus by the Club, and members provide service projects in the community at senior centers and nursing homes.

Students with an interest in geriatrics may participate in an informal program to receive career mentoring in geriatrics. This may involve spending additional time doing electives in geriatrics at OU-COM and/or taking advantage of external opportunities such as the AFAR Medical Student Geriatric Scholars Program, the Edinburgh Geriatrics Tutorial and the Summer Institute in Geriatrics at Boston University Medical Center.

All OU-COM medical students complete at least one two-week geriatrics clerkship. At four sites – Athens, Youngstown, Massillon and Dayton – students are required to complete four weeks of geriatrics. During the geriatrics rotation, students work with older adults in a variety of settings, including ambulatory clinic, hospital, home care, assisted living, long-term care and hospice. In addition, students learn about community resources such as senior centers and "meals-on-wheels." The clerkship experiences are taught through the college's Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) teaching hospitals located throughout Ohio. The CORE system, a consortium comprised of OU-COM, three other colleges of osteopathic medicine and twelve Ohio teaching hospitals, integrates osteopathic clerkship, internship and residency programs statewide. An annual faculty development program provides geriatric preceptors from around the state of Ohio with updates on teaching clinical geriatrics.

Since 1985, the Geriatrics department has sponsored a four-week summer geriatrics tutorial for two OU-COM students to study at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, a world-class center for research and training in geriatrics. The tutorial consists of study and clinical experience with the University of Edinburgh's geriatrics faculty. Clinical work is done at the Royal Infirmary, in day hospitals and through making house calls throughout the city. Rachel Liptak and Amanda McConnell are the two newest students who spent four weeks in Edinburgh beginning July 10, 2006. Students selected for 2008 are Rebecca Teagarden and Katherine Ritchey. Generous donations from previous participants fund over 75% of the cost. The University of Edinburgh is no longer taking OU-COM students because of changes in their curriculum and increased class sizes.

2008

• Rebecca Teagarden

• Katherine Ritchey

2007

• Lauren Wasson

• Jennifer Drost

2006:

• Click to read Amanda McConnell's paper from summer, 2006.

• Click to read Rachel Liptak's paper from summer, 2006.

2005:

• Click to read Andrea Geise's paper from summer, 2005.
• Click to read Erika Oleson's paper.
• Click to download survey used by Andrea Geise and Erika Oleson.
• Click to download overview presentation. (62MB)
• Click to download Erika Oleson's presentation on Balfour Hospital. (54MB)
• Click to download Andre Geise's presentation. (78MB)

2004:

• Click to read about Scott Grogan and Kim Wells Edinburgh geriatric tutorial experiences. 
• Click to read Scott Grogan's paper.
• Click to ready Kim Wells paper.

2003: Click to read about Sunyata Austin's and Candice Flaugher's experience.

2002: Click to read Caroline Stevens and Eric Kagaruki experience.

MSTAR 2009

Summer Research for Medical Students

What: Medical Student Training in Aging Research Program (MSTAR) is sponsored by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR). It offers summer research scholarships, providing medical students an enriching experience in aging-related research and geriatrics, under the mentorship of top experts in the field. The stipend level is approximately $1,731 per month. Actual amounts vary based on the specific appointment period of individual students. Students train at a National Training Center supported by the National Institute on Aging. Research projects are offered in basic, clinical, and health services research relevant to older people.

When: Summer, 2009: These scholarships are for an 8 to 12 week period and include clinical experience in an ambulatory setting as well as research experience.  Completed online applications must be must be submitted by February 6, 2009. 

Who: Any allopathic or osteopathic medical student in good standing who will successfully complete one year of medical school at a U.S. institution by June, 2009. Applicants must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or have been legally admitted for permanent residence.

Why: Support medical students interested in geriatrics, with the goal of preparing future leaders in geriatric medicine. Last year two OU-COM students were selected.

Application Deadline: February 6, 2009  -- Past

Detailed information about these scholarships is available at the AFAR website: http://www.afar.org/medstu.html. Enclosed is a brochure with additional information.

The Department of Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology is available to discuss specific application information, particularly choosing a research topic and mentor. Contact Deborah Meyer, Ph.D., RN, for additional information: Grosvenor Hall 357, 593-2266 or dmeyer2@ohiou.edu.

2009 awardees

Chau Uong received a national award for 2009 to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Rachel Hart is headed for University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

2008 Awardees

Richard Lee received a national award for 2008 and will participate in the UCLA program and
 

Stephanie Urban went to the University of California San Diego. She presented her summer research at the American Geriatric Society 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting Presidential poster session April 30, and in the student poster session May 1, 2009. The poster, “The title is Stroke Risk in Mild Cognitively Impaired Patients,” examined patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitional stage of dementia, to see if they had increased stroke risk compared to normal individuals and to determine if increased stroke risk contributes to incident dementia among individuals with MCI. The research sought to determine if stroke risk was related to decreased neuropsychological test scores in those with MCI. The results showed that those with higher stroke risk are more likely to have MCI than those with lower stroke risk, and genetic and stroke risk factors combined to produce an even higher likelihood of the diagnosis of MCI.

She also co-authored a paper: Jak AJ, Urban S, McCauley A, Bangen KJ, Delano-Wood L, Corey-Bloom J, Bondi MW (2009). “Profile of hippocampal volumes and stroke risk varies by neuropsychological definition of  mild cognitive impairment.” Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society; 18 (1): 73-90.  

2007 Awardee

Katherine Ritchey received an Ohio AFAR award of $3,462 stipend for an eight-week period of research  at OSU summer, 2006 with Dr. Bonnie Kantor.

Call for 2009 Summer Institute in Geriatric Medicine Applications (Deadline: January 9, 2009)
June 1-5, 2009

What: The Summer Institute in Geriatrics - sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society and the Boston University School of Medicine with funding from the National Institute on Aging - is a week-long conference designed for medical students who are interested in pursuing careers in academic geriatric medicine and geriatric research. Activities of the program include clinical and research seminars on key geriatrics/aging topics, site visits to our clinical programs, and small group development of a research proposal. Faculty members will include nationally recognized academic geriatricians and Boston University faculty conducting aging research.

Who: 3rd and 4th year medical students interested in pursuing careers in academic geriatric medicine and geriatric research. Financial Support: Full financial support is available.

Selection Criteria:
Students will be selected based on:

1.  demonstrated strong interest in geriatric medicine, as reflected by curricular and extracurricular involvements;

2. prior relevant clinical or basic science research experience;

3. a letter of recommendation from a faculty member; and

4. the content of a short essay (200 words or less) outlining career goals, interest in geriatrics, and reasons for applying to the Summer Institute.

When: June 1-5, 2009 at Boston University Medical Center. Applications must be received either electronically or in paper format by Friday, January 9, 2009. Full financial support will be provided to successful applicants.

Where: Boston University Medical Center

Applications are due Friday, January 27, 2009 and can be downloaded from the AGS site:

http://www.americangeriatrics.org/education/geristudents/SummerInstituteGeriatrics/bu_info07.shtml

June, 2009: Steven Walston, OMS IV, presented his research at the June 3 (2009) Digestive Disease Week (DDW), a meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute in Chicago.  Walston’s presentation, “Association between risk factors for constipation and severity of stool retention as analyzed by abdominal x-ray,” was given during the Aging, Physiology and Clinical Gastroenterology Research Forum of DDW, the biggest national meeting among GI tract researchers and gastroenterologists.

Also participating in the research were Jen-Tzer Gau, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of geriatrics; Michael Finamore, OMS IV; and Christopher P. Varacallo, OMS II. 

Pictured are Jen-Tzer Gau, M.D., Ph.D. and Steven Walston, OMS IV

March, 2009: Laura Stachowicz, OMSI, won 2^nd place for her poster, Cancer Screening Behaviors in HIV-infected Older Adults, at ACOFP (Dr. Heckman is her mentor).

February, 2008: Utkarsh Acharya, OMS IV had his paper published in the Journal of Hematology & Oncology:

Utkarsh Acharya, Jen-Tzer Gau, William Horvath, Paolo Ventura, Chung-Tsen Hsueh,Wayne Carlsen “Hemolysis and hyperhomocysteinemia caused by cobalamin deficiency:  three case reports and review of the literature.” Journal of Hematology & Oncology; 2008, 1:26. http://www.jhoonline.org/content/1/1/26