The Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship (GEM) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a unique one-year, non-ACGME-accredited GEM Fellowship designed to offer recent Emergency Medicine Residency graduates an opportunity to develop an understanding of the complexities and specific needs of the increasingly large geriatric population who require emergency care.
The emergency physician of the 21st century requires an enhanced skill set and innovative strategies to provide the care necessary to enable geriatric patients to maintain their independent lives. The primary goals of the GEM Fellowship program are (1) to provide interdisciplinary training in the unique needs of the geriatric patient who requires emergency care, and (2) to provide residency-trained Emergency Physicians with the fundamental skills required to build both a teaching and research career in GEM through collaboration with nationally respected researchers in the Division of Geriatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s Weill Cornell Medical Center. The comprehensive clinical, research, and educational experience will enable the GEM Fellow to become a leader in this exciting new academic discipline.
Clinical Component
The GEM Fellow will develop expertise in the delivery of both primary care and consultative care for geriatric patients in a variety of health care settings including the emergency department, inpatient units, nursing homes, clinic settings, and during home visits. Emphasis will be placed on the interfaces between these various settings. As part of their training, GEM Fellows will participate fully in clinical, educational, and research activities at all three of NYPH’s Emergency Departments: the Weill Cornell Medical Center (WCMC) ED, the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) ED, and the Allen Hospital ED, a community hospital division of CUMC serving a large elderly patient population who reside in their homes or in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities nearby.
At New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Fellow will participate as an active member of the health care team on rounds led by attending physicians or senior fellows on the ACE unit, a new inpatient unit dedicated to the Acute Care of the Elderly. The Fellow will also participate in providing clinical care to elderly patients in several intensive care units, including the SICU, MICU, CCU, and Burn Unit. On these units, the focus will be on the interface between ED and ICU management of the critically ill elderly patients.
The GEM Fellow will also spend 2 weeks at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, a state of the art nursing home and long-term care facility in the Bronx. There, the Fellow will gain clinical experience on inpatient floors, taking “call” at night with the on-call doctor responsible for managing emergencies in nursing home patients. The Fellow will also help evaluate the inpatient clients at the Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse, and participate in the care of patients at the numerous specialty clinics available to their residents. The GEM Fellow will also spend time at the Amsterdam Nursing Home in Manhattan, as well as at the Irving Sherwood Wright Center on Aging on the upper East Side, a state of the art community-based outpatient care center. The Fellow will participate in the House Call Program, which provides health care to older homebound individuals.
Educational Component
The GEM Fellow will be the educational liaison between the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Geriatrics. Working closely with the Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director and the Geriatric faculty, the Fellow will help to develop a geriatric curriculum for the EM residency which will include a comprehensive written curriculum with a detailed bibliography and a required residency reading list, as well as a 36-month geriatric lecture cycle. Throughout the year, the GEM Fellow will participate in and help implement the formalized EM didactic curriculum and will be expected to present core content lectures, requested by the Program Director.
Research Component
In the beginning of the fellowship year, the GEM Fellow will be provided with all the basic tools required for research. Providing this preparation is a shared responsibility of the faculties of Emergency Medicine and Geriatrics. The training begins with an eight-week intensive summer program in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Sciences Research that provides an introduction and overview to research methodology, biostatistics, databases, decision analysis, qualitative research, and behavioral science and health services research. The Fellow is required to develop a significant research question, as well as the appropriate methodology, statistical analysis, and protocol design to study it, with the goal of obtaining extramural funding. The physician leaders of the Geriatric and Emergency Medicine Departments will supervise the grant application process. The GEM Fellow will be required to write an abstract of the research project and present the findings at a national scientific conference. Upon completion of the project, the Fellow will prepare a manuscript for publication in a peer review journal.
The Faculty
Emergency Medicine Faculty
Neal E. Flomenbaum, M.D.
Emergency Physician-in-Chief
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Co-Director,
Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Wallace A. Carter, M.D.
Program Director
Emergency Medicine Residency
Michael Stern, M.D.
Asst. Prof. of Emergency Medicine
Co-Director,
Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Tel: (212) 746-1114
Fax: (212) 746-4883
Email: mestern@med.cornell.edu
Alexis Halpern, MD,
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Assistant Fellowship Director
Jordan Foster, M.D.
Director, Research Committee
Emergency Medicine Residency
Anthony Mustalish, M.D.
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine in Surgery
Associate Professor of Public Health
Associate Attending Physician in Emergency Medicine
Sharon Hird, M.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Assistant Attending Psychiatrist
Michael Stern, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Co-Director,
Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Peter Wyer, M.D.
Director, Education Committee
Emergency Medicine Residency
Constance Peterson, M.A.
Department of Emergency Medicine
Patient Services Administration
Georgia Rose, M.A.
Administrator, Emergency Medicine
Anne Hoffmann
Residency Coordinator, Emergency Medicine
Geriatric Faculty
Mark S. Lachs, M.D.
Co-Chief
Professor of Medicine
Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
Ronald D. Adelman, M.D.
Co-Chief
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
Taryn Yeon Lee, M.D.
Director, Consult Service
Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
How to Apply
Qualified applicants will be invited to interview after receipt and review of a completed application. A current New York State Medical License is required for acceptance into the subspecialty program. Applications are reviewed beginning January 1, 2008, and the Fellowship may be offered by March 1, 2008. Applications must include the following items:
- Current CV
- Three (3) letters of recommendation (one must be from your Program Director)
- Personal statement (single page) discussing your interest in GEM
- Recent photograph
Contact
Neal Flomenbaum, M.D.
Emergency Physician-in-Chief
Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services
Professor of Clinical Medicine
New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical College
Emergency Department
525 East 68th Street
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 746-0780
Fax: (212) 746-0321
Email: nef2002@med.cornell.edu
Alexis Halpern, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Assistant Fellowship Director
Tel: (212) 746-0793
Fax: (212) 746-4883
Email: alh2007@med.cornell.edu
