Geriatrics – Fellowship Program
Message from our Program Director: Aman Nanda, MD
“For over 20 years our geriatrics fellowship includes training and mentorship by experienced faculty across our partner programs, which extends to the VA. Our program has graduated over three dozen specialists, most of whom have continued their careers in academic programs. We aim to produce new clinical and academic leaders and inspire careers that share our vision to improve the quality of lives of older adults.”
Overview
The Brown Geriatric Medicine Fellowship offers a one-year ABIM-accredited clinical track, a two-year advanced academic track and a three-year research-intensive program that includes a 2-year MPH program, in close collaboration with Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research of the Brown School of Public Health.
Graduates of the Brown Geriatric Medicine Fellowship program will be able to demonstrate the ability to:
- Deliver expert clinical care of ill older persons in the continuum of care, including acute care hospital, ambulatory care, long-term care, geropsychiatry, hospice, home care and rehabilitation.
- Understand the health care delivery system relevant to older adults, including funding, long-term care, and how health policy is made.
- Effectively understand and participate in aging research – in basic, clinical, or health services investigations.
Highlights of our Fellowship Program
- We offer several educational tracks: A one-year clinical ABIM track, a two-year track for advanced academic careers, and a three-year research-intensive program.
- Our Division is diverse, equitable and mutually respectful; the culture is supportive and family friendly. In addition to our experienced physician faculty, fellows learn and work in collaboration with experienced geriatrics and palliative medicine nurse practitioners, who hold Brown faculty appointments.
- Nationally eminent Co-management programs with Orthopedics (fracture and joint replacement), Trauma surgery, and Colorectal surgery.
- A highly structured research program with both didactics as well as project mentorship, led by our Division Chief, Stefan Gravenstein, MD, MPH, David Dosa, MD, MPH, James Rudolph, MD, and other faculty. Opportunities abound for fellows to take on research projects based on clinical questions, yielding a poster and/or manuscript by the end of year 1 of fellowship. For example, currently, 4 funded NH Covid-19 projects are available for fellow participation.
- Fellows learn and collaborate closely with Palliative Medicine and Geriatric Psychiatric faculty and fellows in weekly education-driven 3-hour sessions.
- The founder of our Division, Dr. Richard Besdine is still working as faculty, teaching, doing research and mentoring of fellows and faculty.
- Highly structured both Block and longitudinal nursing home experience, mentored by experienced faculty and nursing home Medical Director.
Fellowship Tracks
1-Year Track:
The training program, as specified by ACGME, is one clinically intensive year; all fellows have the same didactic and clinical curriculum, as well as Medical Directorship in nursing homes and Research Skills course2-Year Track:
Fellows have the option of additional training; a second year emphasizes learning to teach and scholarship to pursue a faculty career as educator-clinician.Each fellow undertakes a scholarly project in year 2. The balance among research, teaching, and administrative training in year 2 is determined individually, depending upon career goals.
3-Year Track:
For fellows pursuing research-intensive careers, a 3-year program includes master’s in public health at the Brown School of Public Health.For more information on Brown MPH program, please visit: https://www.brown.edu/academics/public-health/home.
Fellowship Curriculum
Clinical Experience
Fellows provide direct patient care during all rotations mentored by a teaching faculty.
Clinical components consist of the following rotations:
(Click here for a sample rotation schedule)- Longitudinal Ambulatory Primary Care: 1/2 day per week with a personal patient panel for the duration of the fellowship
- Nursing Home Rotation: Two 1.5 month blocks
- Inpatient Geriatric Medicine, Ortho and Trauma surgery Co-management: 1.5 months
- Hospice Rotation: 1month
- Inpatient Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care Consultation: 1 month
- Acute inpatient Rehabilitation: 0.5 month
- Geriatric Psychiatry In-patient rotation: 1 month
- Hospitalist Rotation/Colorectal co-management service: 0.5 month
- Geriatric Psychiatry In-patient Consult Rotation: 0.5 month
- Ambulatory Care Rotation: 1.5 months
- Research- One month
- Subspecialty Clinics: Half day a week all year long
- Outpatient Geriatric Psychiatry – 8 weeks
- Dementia- 4 weeks
- Movement and Gait Disorders – 8 weeks
- Rheumatology – 4 weeks
- Endocrine – 4 weeks
- Urogynecology – 4 weeks
- Outpatient Neuropsychology – 4 weeks
- Dermatology – 4 weeks
- Wound Care – 8 weeks
Conferences
Fundamentals of Geriatrics
For the first 10 Thursdays of the academic year beginning in July, core clinical topics in geriatric medicine, palliative medicine and geriatric psychiatry are presented from 8-11 AM. Speakers are Brown faculty experts.Case Conference
One geriatric medicine or palliative medicine or geriatric psychiatry fellow is assigned every other week to present a case conference under the supervision of one faculty member, from 8-9 AM on Thursday morning, following completion of the summer Fundamentals of Geriatrics series (above).Journal Club
One fellow or Internal Medicine Resident rotating through geriatrics is assigned monthly to choose 1-2 recent and important geriatrics-relevant articles from peer-reviewed general medicine or geriatrics journals to present on Thursday morning from 8-9 AM. The assigned individual describes and analyzes each article.Advanced Geriatric Seminars
During the 8AM – 12PM session, seminars during the remainder of the year cover additional topics that were not covered in the summer. Senior faculty or invited guests present topics on aging.Multidisciplinary Ambulatory Care Conference
Once a month, geriatrics fellows take turns presenting a complex case during the conference to discuss challenging questions/dilemmas in the patient’s managementResearch Lectures
Faculty members cover basic concepts and strategies of clinical research in aging; emphasis is on critical reading of the literature and quality improvement.Department of Medicine Grand Rounds
Medicine Grand Rounds are held once a week, on Tuesday mornings at 8 AMMedical Directorship in Nursing home
Aman Nanda, MD, CMD, conducts a 5-lecture series on administrative and clinical issues related to nursing home care and medical directorship.-
Patient Care Sites
- Geriatrics Outpatient Practice
- Rhode Island Hospital
- Geriatric Trauma Co-Management Program – Iva Neupane, MD
- Geriatric Fragility Fracture Co-Management Program – Nadia Mujahid, MD
- Geriatric Oncology Clinic – Sakeena Raza, MD
- The Miriam Hospital
- Geriatric Elective Joint Co-Management Program – Mriganka Singh, MD
- Colorectal/general surgery/vascular surgery Co-Management Program – Ashna Rajan, MD
- VA Medical Center
- Butler Hospital
- Kent Hospital
- Hope Hospice of RI
- Steere House Nursing Home
- Tockwotton at Waterfront Nursing Home
- St. Elizabeth Home, East Greenwich
- Wingate Assisted Living
Our Fellows
Current Fellows
Pooja Ghai, DO (Geriatric Medicine)
Meryl Gold, DO (Geriatric Medicine)
Michael Quarella, DO (Geriatric Medicine)
Vishakha Sirpal, MBBS (Geriatric Medicine)Past Fellows - Where Are They Now
2022
Brinda Basida, MD – Rheumatology Fellowship, Augusta, GA
Ciera Leeder, MBBS – Rochester, NY
Aaron Nepaul, MD – Kent Hospital, RI
Nishay Tariq, MBBS – Lifespan Physician Group, Providence, RI2021
Sohaib Mannan, MD – Nocturnist, Tower Health Reading Hospital, Reading, PA
Haseeb Siddique, MD – Nocturnist, Tower Health Reading Hospital, Reading, PA
Rachel Sluder, DO – Geriatric Medicine, Maine Medical Partners, Norway, ME2020
Salah Elhamamsy, MD – Milford Regional Medical Center, Milford, MA
Ashna Rajan, MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI
Thomas Bayer, MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI
Marilyne Cadieux, DO – MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington DC2019
Rama Krishna Vura, MD – Attending at Akron Medical Center, Akron, OH
Philip Tsoukas, MD – Rheumatology Fellowship at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA2018
Syed Ashad Abid, MD- Geriatrician and Palliative Medicine specialist, GA2017
Yasin Abul, MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI
Matthew Levin, MD – Geriatrician, Laureate Medical Group, Atlanta, GA2016
Bradley Minter, MD – Hospitalist, Port Jefferson, NY
Stelley Smith, MD – Geriatrician and Palliative Medicine, Geenboro, NC2015
Manoj Bhattarai, MD – Private Practice, Belle Glade, FL
Iva Neupane, MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI2014
Erkan Ozturk, MD- Geriatrician, Medstar Health, Baltimore, MD
Yusuf Konuk, MD – Hospitalist, Southcoast Physician Group, New Bedford, MA2013
Sevdenur Cizginer, MD – Faculty, MGH, Boston, MA
Sylvester Sarfraz, MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Hospitalist, The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI
Ramesh Adhikari, MD – Hospitalist, Terre Haute, IN2012
Stephanie Chow,MD – Faculty, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY
Christina Rincon,MD – Geriatrician, Santa Cruz, CA2011
Mriganka Singh,MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI2010
Kapil Sharma, MD – Faculty, University of Maryland Medical System, Bel Air, MD
Yew-Xin Teh, MD – Faculty, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, ME
Nadia Mujahid,MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI2009
Anne-Halli-Tierney, MD – Faculty, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Anna Troncales, MD – Geriatrician, Hallandale Beach, FL2008
Gary Blanchard, MD – Faculty, UMass Medical School, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Worcester MA2008
Mia Tomas, MD – Geriatrician, Portland, OR2007
Rebecca Starr, MD – Medical Director, Geriatrics, Cooley Dickinson Health Care, Northampton, MA
Timothy Farrell, MD – Faculty, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT
Porpon Rotjanapan, MD – Faculty, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand2006
John Kleckley, MD – Geriatrician, Mount Pleasant, SC
Deepak Thiagarajan, MD – Chair – Division of Medicine, San Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino, CA2005
Ana Tuya, MD – Faculty, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, RI2004
Michael Gerardo, DO, MPH – Mercy Clinic Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, St. Louis, MO
Terri Lee Spencer, MD – Brockton, MA2003
Sourya Mahapatra, MD – Geriatrician, Nashua, NH
Ramona Rhodes, MD, MPH – Faculty, UT Southwestern Med Center, Dallas, TX2002
Rollin Wright, MD, MPH – Faculty, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Howard Nachamie, MD – Geriatrician, Bedford, MA
Steven LaFond, MD – Geriatrician, Kaiser Permanente, San Diego, CA
Applying for the Geriatrics Fellowship
Eligibility criteria for Geriatrics program: Preference will be given to applicants who have strong letters of reference; who have demonstrated excellence in residency training in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine; and whose personal statement demonstrates interest in and commitment to geriatrics.
The Brown Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program participates in the National Residency Matching Program. Applications are accepted through the ERAS system at www.aamc.org/eras. Completion of a U.S. internal medicine / family medicine residency program is required. To request additional information, please contact our Program Coordinator, Kimberly Chanlatte at kchanlatte1@lifespan.org or 401-444-5248 or Dr. Aman Nanda, Program Director at Aman_Nanda@Brown.edu.
Fellow Benefits: Benefits include four weeks of vacations per year, CME allowance, funding to attend one national meeting, health and dental insurance (individual or family), disability insurance, and life insurance. Details can be obtained through the Rhode Island Hospital Graduate Medical Education office.