Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine

About the Fellowship

The Geriatric Medicine Fellowship’s purpose is to train the next generation of geriatricians that can understand and be proficient in the physical, psychological, social and environmental needs of the aging person, to be able to provide them with the best possible care and meet their needs in the multitude of care settings.

The one-year fellowship program focuses on the care of patients ages 65 and older across the continuum of health care settings. This includes caring for patients in ambulatory, acute, sub-acute and home settings. Fellows will become skillful at collaborative care by working in an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, geriatric social workers and geriatric case managers.

Fellows will engage in learning through different curricular activities and develop teaching and leadership skills through one-on-one mentorship and consulting resources. Fellows will have the opportunity to teach patients, families, medical residents and students. This all resonates with the aims of Mass General to deliver the very best health care in a safe, compassionate environment; to advance that care through innovative research and education; and to improve the health and well-being of the diverse communities we serve.

Curriculum

The Geriatric Medicine Fellowship curriculum was designed using a competency-based framework to teach and evaluate based on the Curricular Milestones for Graduating Geriatric Fellows proposed by the American Geriatric Society.

Didactic Activities

Weekly activities include:

• Didactic sessions
  • Core Didactic Conferences (boot camp during the summer)
  • Geriatric Medicine Conference (September through June)
• Division of Palliative Care and Geriatrics Grand Rounds
• Department of Medicine Grand Rounds

Fellows also participate in:

• Monthly Journal Clubs
• Monthly Case Presentations
• Quarterly seminars on
  • Quality Improvement
  • Evidence-Based Medicine
  • Clinical Teaching
  • Communication
  • Leadership
• Develop poster/abstract to present at national or local meeting
• Develop, implement, evaluate and present a quality improvement activity
• Prepare a presentation under faculty mentoring to give at the Division’s Grand Rounds at the end of the academic year
• Mid-year Geriatric objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Fellows will participate in this inter-institutional educational activity with colleagues from other local geriatric fellowship programs
• Attend the Harvard Medical School Geriatric Review Course
• Attend the American Geriatric Society Annual Meeting

Other optional courses available to our fellows through the Mass General Brigham Centers of Expertise include:

Quality Improvement course with the GME-Mass General Brigham’s Clinical Process Improvement Leadership Program (CPIP)

CPIP has the purpose of engaging clinical teams in the use of process improvement tools to reduce variation in care and improve outcomes for patients. It is a fast-paced, immersion program that gives participants the tools they need to evaluate and improve a process at their own institution, within the span of four months.

Value-Based Health Care Delivery Course

Co-sponsored by the Center of Expertise in Health Policy and Management and Harvard Business School
Health care reform will require major strategic and organizational changes in delivery, measurement and reimbursement. The course is based on the book, Redefining Health Care by Professors Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg, and features lectures and case study discussions with Professor Porter and other members of HBS faculty, and senior leadership from Mass General Brigham. The course considers how to restructure health care delivery around value for patients, starting with providers, and encompasses strategies for health plans, employers and government. All sessions are held at Harvard Business School.

Health Policy Course

This course welcomes trainees with varying degrees of exposure to health policy, from a range of specialties, different PGY levels, and from across the Mass General Brigham system. The program provides foundational knowledge in health policy and health care systems through interactive presentations, discussions and a small group work. Participants also have the option to participate in a one-day local advocacy experience (funded by the COE) to further their understanding of health policy. Course locations alternate between Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Global Health Symposium

This course covers key topics in global health and provides exposure to leaders in the field. There are opportunities to engage in dialogue with colleagues in similar areas over lunch as well as across specialties. Starting in 2018, a mini-poster fair was incorporated into the symposium. It highlights global and community health work that has been funded by the COE travel grant as well as the work of other trainees happening across PHS hospitals.

For additional information about the Centers of Expertise, visit the site and watch their video.

Current Fellows

Rodolfo Reyes, MD
Rodolfo Reyes received his medical degree from Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in the Dominican Republic in 2014. He completed his internal medicine residency at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.

Gianni Bono, MD
Gianni Bono grew up in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he graduated with a degree in Microbiology & Immunology at McGill University. He then received his Medical Degree, cum laude, from St. George's University in Grenada in 2016. He also received a diploma from the Keith B. Taylor Global Scholar's Program, in conjunction with Northumbria University in Newcastle, England. Dr. Bono completed his Internal Medicine residency in June of 2019 at Albany Medical College and Hospital Centre. 

Faculty

• Sharon Levine, MD, AGSF
  
  • Section Chief, Geriatric Medicine
• Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH
  
  • Director of Research, Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine
  • Director, Mongan Institute Center for Aging and Serious Illness, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Esteban Franco Garcia, MD
  
  • Director, Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program
  • Medical Director, Geriatric Inpatient Fracture Service (GIFTS)
• Matthew Russell, MD
  • Medical Director, Mass General Senior Health
• Juan Carlos Nunez Medina, MD
  
  • Mass General Senior Health. Geriatric Primary Care. GIFTS Program Attending
• Masaya Higuchi, MD
  
  • Mass General Senior Health. Geriatric Primary Care. Harvard Medical School Preceptor for 3rd Year Primary Care Experience. Board Member, Mass General Primary Care Operation Improvement. Fellow Primary Care Clinic
• Terry O’Malley, MD
  
  • Marquis Rehabilitation and Long Term Care. Senior Health Urgent Care. Member, Federal Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, Co-chair: U.S. Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) Task Force. Former Medical Director Non-Acute Care PHS and Cochair Clinical Transitions PHS
• Chuck Pu, MD
  
  • Mass General Hospital, Complex Care Team, McGovern Services. Mass General GIFTS Attending. Medical Director Mass General Brigham Center for Population Health, overseeing Care Continuum, Post Acute Care Programs (Mass General Brigham SNF Network, Mass General Brigham SNF Waiver Program, Transitions Care Program, Advanced Home Programs (Hospital at Home, Mobile Obs, CHF Telemetry) and Mass General Brigham Hospice Network)
• Cornelia Cremens, MD
  
  • Mass General Senior Health, Geropsychiatry

Affiliated Faculty

• Pamela Walsh, MD
  • Site Director, Geriatric-Psychiatry North Shore Medical Center
• Mark Yurkosfsky, MD
  • Spaulding Brighton, Medical Director. Skilled Nursing Facility Rehabilitation
• Sara Emami, MD
  • Spaulding Brighton. Skilled Nursing Facility Rehabilitation
• Louis Waldman, MD
  • Spaulding Brighton. Skilled Nursing Facility Rehabilitation

Clinical Experience

Fellows will learn expert care of older patients across the continuum of care supervised by Geriatric Medicine faculty from Mass General and affiliated sites. Rotations include acute care, rehabilitation and long-term care and palliative care as well as outpatient continuity experiences through home visits and specialty care.

4-week Block Rotations

• Three blocks of Skilled Nursing Facility Rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehab Brighton

• Two blocks of inpatient care at the Mass General Geriatric Inpatient Fracture Service (GIFTS)

• One block of Palliative Care at Mass General Inpatient Pall Care consult service

• One block of Home Care in the different home-based care programs available at Mass General

• One block of Geriatric Psychiatry at NSMC

• One block with the Mass General Memory Care Initiative

• One block at Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

• One block of Specialty clinics at Mass General

• One block of elective rotation

Longitudinal Rotations

• Weekly half-day geriatric primary care clinic at the Mass General Senior Health practice

• Monthly 1-day session at Marquis, North End Nursing home for long-term patient care

Requirements

Requirements to apply for our ACGME-accredited Geriatric Medicine Fellowship include:

• Applicants must have completed residency in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine successfully and in good standing prior to the start of their fellowship
• ABIM or ABFM board-certified or board-eligible
• Completion and passing of all three USLME steps prior to the start of the fellowship
• A valid ECFMG certificate for all foreign medical graduates
• Applicants with H-1B or J-1 visa are accepted
• The accepted applicant must obtain a full or limited Massachusetts license (limited license if on a visa) 

How to Apply

The Massachusetts General Hospital Fellowship Program in Geriatric Medicine will be processing applications through the Electronic Residency Application (ERAS) Fellowships system. Only applicants who have completed a 3-year residency in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine at an ACGME-accredited residency program will be considered.

We will offer two fellowship positions through the National Matching Program (NRMP®) each year starting July 1.

Please submit the following application materials via ERAS portal by August 15:

• Curriculum vitae
• A personal statement describing the applicant's interest in and commitment to a career in geriatric medicine
• Three or four letters of recommendation, one of which should be from the applicant's department head, program director or division chief
• USMLE transcript

Timeline

• Early June: Applications accepted via ERAS®
• September 1: Application deadline (we do not review applications submitted after this date)

• Program starts reviewing applications mid-August. Interviews conducted September through October. To abide by public health recommendations regarding limited travel and continued social distancing, and for the health and safety of applicants and program staff, this year all interviews will be conducted via live video-conferencing with our program leadership and faculty. No candidates (even local) will be interviewed in person

• Early December: Match results released

• For more information about the Match process, please visit the NRMP® website