Residents

As a Wake Forest School of Medicine resident, there are several opportunities for exposure to geriatric medicine.  Our faculty participate regularly in didactic aspects of the residency program, and they are available to support you in any clinical or research interest in geriatric medicine.

There are two structured rotations in geriatric medicine that are supported and supervised by experienced faculty:

Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE):  This rotation is designed for upper-level (second or third year) residents to hone skills in the expert inpatient care of older adults in a multidisciplinary team setting. We have successfully implemented the ACE Unit Transitional Program (ATP) in which patients are followed for a short period of time after leaving the hospital.  This facet of the program improves the transitions of care of hospitalized elders from an inpatient stay to home, subacute/acute rehabilitation, or other discharge settings.  Weekly teaching rounds with the discharging upper-level residents, attending and geriatric fellow are held to discuss ATP patients.

Ambulatory Geriatrics Experience (AGE):  Interns in the Internal Medicine Residency Program rotate through this experience, which includes Ambulatory Primary Care Clinic, Geriatrics Consultation, Memory Assessment Clinic, house calls, nursing home-based subacute care, long-term care, and assisted living.  Additionally, interns in this rotation may participate in the ATP as described above.

Electives:  There are several electives available to residents requiring further clinical experience in geriatrics or to do dedicated research in aging.  Residents should contact the geriatrics house staff liaison to arrange these rotations. 

Globally, goals for each Internal Medicine resident include:

• Having exposure to the geriatric approach to care in inpatient and outpatient settings. 
• Being able to perform appropriate cognitive, functional, and psychosocial assessments of older adults.
• Being able to demonstrate appropriate care for patients with a variety of geriatric diseases, including geriatric syndromes such as polypharmacy, dementia, depression, urinary incontinence, and gait instability/falls. 

    Application Requirements for Residency

For a comprehensive statement of educational goals for Internal Medicine residents, please see the Internal Medicine Residency website.