Clinical Training

Continuity Clinic Experiences

Fellows enjoy continuity in outpatient clinic at both Emory Clinic and the Atlanta VA, with half-day each week throughout the year in continuity outpatient clinic, alternating sites each week to allow exposure to a diverse patient population. Fellows follow a panel of long-term care nursing home patients for the duration of their training, allowing lasting relationships with patients and families.

Elective (Ambulatory)

Fellows spend one month in an ambulatory elective experience at the Atlanta VA in an area of interest. Previous fellows have enjoyed working with specialists in areas such as hematology and oncology, endocrinology, and pulmonary and sleep medicine. This experience allows fellows to integrate geriatric care principles into the specialist evaluation and management of older adults.

Home Care

Fellows work with faculty physicians, nurse practitioners (medical and psychiatric), as well as home health nurses, social workers, and therapists in providing care for veterans in their homes through the VA Home Based Primary and Palliative Care Service, as well as seniors living in assisted living facilities through the Emory domiciliary care program.

Hospice and Palliative Care

Fellows spend a month in clinical practice with palliative medicine specialists at Emory and the Atlanta VA Medical Center. End-of-life expertise, such as that provided by palliative and hospice care,
is a critically important component of providing high quality, high value patient-centered care to geriatric patients.

Inpatient Consultation/Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit

Fellows work with our geriatricians at Grady Memorial Hospital to provide inpatient consultation and coordinated care with an interdisciplinary team to older medical patients with complex care needs. Opportunities include evaluation and management of geriatric syndromes, such as delirium, falls, failure to thrive, and pre-operative evaluation.

Neurology and Psychiatry

Fellows work in outpatient practice with Emory neurologists and psychiatrists who specialize in caring for problems frequently seen in older adults. Fellows working in neurology will train with neurologists in clinics related to cognitive and movement disorders. Our fellows also work with Emory geropsychiatrists in clinics treating problems typical of our older population, like depression and behavioral problems related to dementia.

Primary Care Geriatrics

Fellows work with esteemed Emory geriatrics faculty in this primary care geriatrics experience. Emory geriatrics clinics are located throughout the Atlanta area, including the main Emory campus at 1525 Clifton Road, Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital and Tucker, Georgia.

Subacute Rehabilitation at AG Rhodes Nursing Facility

Fellows practice subacute care in a community setting within the Wesley Woods campus, with a practice similar to community nursing facilities in the area.

Subacute Rehabilitation at Budd Terrace Nursing Facility

Fellows practice and learn in a post-acute setting, taking care of patients recently discharged from the hospital who require skilled care in a nursing facility. Budd Terrace is the only Emory-owned nursing facility, and it specializes in caring for complex medical and surgical patients transferred from Emory and other tertiary care medical centers. Fellows on this rotation participate in quality improvement projects and nursing education, and also work with skilled therapists and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialists.

VA Outpatient Geriatrics and Specialty Clinics

Fellows serve as the primary care provider for a panel of Veterans enrolled in the Atlanta VA Geriatric Primary Care clinic. Fellows spend one day each week working in the VA Cognitive Disorders Center of Excellence, where geriatrics, neurology, geriatric psychiatry, psychology and social work faculty provide coordinated specialty care for Veterans and their caregivers. Trainees work within a "medical home" model, with a dedicated geriatric clinical pharmacist, social worker, and dietician in the clinic, and access to a full range of onsite ancillary services, including Physical and Occupational Therapy.

VA Specialty Clinics

The Atlanta VA Medical Center is a level 1A tertiary care facility providing comprehensive medical, surgical and geriatric specialty services to Veterans in northeast Georgia. Fellows work with an array of interdisciplinary services integral for care of older adults to include physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, audiology, and ophthalmology. Fellows gain training in specialty services, such as wound care and continence care through specialty clinics staffed by experienced geriatricians.