fellowship program

The Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program:

The ACGME-accredited fellowship program in Geriatric Medicine began in 1986 as a two-year program, with one fellow accepted each year, and has grown to its current size of 12 fully funded fellowship positions. Both one and two-year programs are available, with second year fellows in either a clinician educator or research track. There have been 116 fellowship graduates to date, of whom 71 completed 1 year of training and 45 completed 2 years of training. The program has been reaccredited several times with no citations and has received written commendations from accreditation site visitors. The program is accredited for 12 first-year positions and has funding for all positions. The program has always filled all of its funded positions and takes a waiting list every year. All graduates are certified or eligible for Board Certification in Geriatric Medicine. Nearly all of the graduates have taken Geriatrics Board examination and the program has an excellent pass rate, many with scores well surpassing the national average.

HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM:

The fellowship program was established in 1986, and has been accredited continuously since 1987 (the first year that accreditation was offered in this field). The program is fully accredited for 12 first-year fellows. The program is currently one of the four largest fellowship programs in the United States.
There are 2 tracks:
  • Clinical Track: 1 year; graduates eligible for Board Certification in Geriatrics.
  • Academic Track: 2 years; research, medical education and administration tracks available.

FACULTY:

The program has a large and diverse faculty.
  • Core Faculty: There are 28 core faculty who work closely with the fellows, all are geriatricians.
  • Associate Faculty: There are 26 associate faculty, 18 physicians from a variety of disciplines (Geriatric Medicine, Geriatric Psychiatry, Neurology, Cardiology, Epidemiology), and 8 doctoral level faculty (Gerontology, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology, Nursing, Law, Audiology, Dentistry and Statistics).

CLINICAL EXPERIENCES:

Fellows receive training designed to improve their clinical skills with older patients. Experience is gained with a wide range of older patients, from relatively well ambulatory patients to more severely impaired elders. Fellows receive training in various settings, including inpatient, outpatient, nursing home, and home care. Experiences include primary care geriatrics, consultative medicine, rehabilitation, and palliative and end-of-life care. Clinical training sites include Kuakini Medical Center, Queen’s Medical Center, Hawaii Medical Center East, Kaiser Permanente, Department of Veterans Affairs, and nursing homes on Oahu.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES:

Fellows receive formal instruction in research methodology, epidemiology, and statistics, and are encouraged to participate in research. Hawaii is the home of several internationally known research projects in dementia, heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. Additionally, there are usually one or more clinical trials providing an optional experience for fellows with medications in the developmental stages. Fellows present scientific abstracts at local and national meetings, and prepare papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

DIDACTIC EXPERIENCES:

Fellows receive an average of 8 hours of didactic teaching each week. The curriculum of the program is extensive and prepares fellows well for the board certification examination. The didactic experiences include:
  • Core Curriculum lectures;
  • Journal Club;
  • Evidence-Based Medicine Seminar;
  • Chapter Review;
  • Board Review;
  • Morbidity and Mortality Case Presentations;
  • Medical Directorship of Nursing Homes Seminar;
  • Palliative Care Seminar;
  • Law and Ethics Seminar;
  • Teaching Skills Seminar;
  • Career Development Seminar.
In addition, fellows attend local and national conferences in geriatrics.
Link to Fellowship Information and Fellowship Application, Application Checklist, Pre-Employment Form and Background Disclosure Form

For more information on the Fellowship Program please contact:
Program Director : Kamal Masaki, MD
Email: km1@hawaii.rr.com

Program Administrator : Danielle Kamalani-Patoc
Email: dkamalani@netscape.net Tel (808) 523-8461


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