2W: Team-Based Geriatric Care

School of Medicine

In this two-week elective, students will join a team of attending, resident, and interdisciplinary team members on the Vanderbilt Acute Care for Elderly (ACE) Unit in the mornings. Experiences will include diagnosis and management of geriatric syndromes including falls, delirium, dementia, and transitions of care. Students will become acquainted with several patients and present them on rounds. Afternoons will consist of geriatric primary care and consult clinics with exposure to geriatric medication management, chronic illness, and home and community-based services. In the second week students will round mornings with the VA Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit Team, following and presenting selected patients and contrasting VA with Medicare resources. Afternoons will consist of VA Geriatric Consult and Primary Care Clinics, including a new Patient-Centered Aligned Care Team with a patient-centered medical home model. Relevant handouts and orientation materials will be provided, and students will participate in the ongoing Geriatrics and Palliative Care didactic series with rotating residents. At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to perform a functional assessment, contribute to an interdisciplinary team meeting, appreciate the clinical decision tree concept while managing patients with multi-morbidity states, and have an awareness of the array of community and institutional resources required to successfully manage transitions of care for frail elderly.