Geriatric Fellowship New Jersey/NJ

The Department of Medicine at Jersey Shore University Medical Center offers two one-year fellowship positions in geriatrics. The program faculty nurtures and mentors fellows in the development of practice management, clinical, research, and publication skills. The faculty not only participants in cutting edge research and publication in peer-reviewed journals, they also provide role models in the provision of humanistic care.

The fellowship program serves an economically and culturally diverse population of elderly patients. It educates fellows in the medical, social, and psychological aspects of aging, with particular emphasis on the physiology of aging and the pathophysiology of associated diseases.

The fellow participates, under supervision, in a full spectrum of integrated, comprehensive services for the elderly, including primary care, home care, long-term care, adult medical day care, inpatient, and post-acute care. The curriculum serves as a road map to recognizing the difference in the presentation of diseases and the importance of maintaining functional independence in elderly patients.

With increasing age, presentations of disease become less classical and are often muted. Timely recognition requires attentiveness to subtle signs and symptoms. Appropriate management requires a balance of astute patient observation, judicious diagnostic intervention and acceptance of limits as defined by the patient. Effective management of problems may be complex and may necessitate an interdisciplinary team approach that carefully considers social support and the patient's physical environment.

Medical and psychological problems, acute and chronic, frequently co-exist. For that reason, special attention is directed to the behavioral aspects of illness, socioeconomic factors, and ethical and legal considerations as the impact management decisions.

Successful completion of our twelve-month program allows graduates to sit for the American Board of Internal Medicine's examination leading to the Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatric Medicine.