Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program

Clinical Sites

Acute and Consultative Inpatient Care

Fellows will provide acute inpatient primary and consultative care at the following sites:

UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside
Part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, these hospitals comprise a large, medical school-affiliated tertiary care center located in the Oakland and Shadyside sections of Pittsburgh. UPMC Shadyside is a community-based tertiary care center, located 1.5 miles from UPMC Presbyterian. Fellows spend one month at UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside on the inpatient geriatric medicine service (UPMC Shadyside), where they are responsible for coordinating care with the house staff teams and interacting directly with patients and their families. Fellows also spend one month at Presbyterian Hospital serving on the Geriatric Trauma Consult Service. Teaching the residents and students—by both informal and didactic methods—is an expected component of these experiences. The palliative care and portions of the geriatric ENT and multispecialty rotations also are based at these facilities.

Primary and Consultative Ambulatory Care

Fellows hold one half-day clinic session per week, providing longitudinal and consultative care under the supervision of Division faculty.at one of the following sites:

UPMC Senior Care-Benedum Geriatric Center
Located at UPMC Montefiore and part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC Senior Care-Benedum Geriatric Center is a multidisciplinary ambulatory clinic designed to meet the diverse needs of the older adult population in Pittsburgh. It was founded in collaboration with the department of geriatric psychiatry, and provides primary and consultative medical and psychiatric care, geriatric pharmacy consultation, subspecialty geriatric care including osteoporosis clinic, chronic pain assessment and management, geriatric urology, and innovative models of care including group health visits and comprehensive dementia care.

UPMC Senior Care Institute-Shadyside
Located at UPMC Shadyside, this multidisciplinary ambulatory clinic was founded in 1987 as a primary care and consultative medical clinic for frail older adults living in the surrounding communities. The Senior Care Institute includes onsite psychiatric and psychological care, two full-time social workers, pharmacy, and audiology. Faculty at the Senior Care Institute also serve as geriatrics hospitalist teaching attendings for our patients admitted to Shadyside Hospital.

Post-Acute and Long-Term Care

Each fellow is assigned a panel of patients at one of our skilled nursing facilities. Fellows visit their site one-half day per week throughout the year, working collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team to provide care for both skilled rehabilitation patients and long-term nursing home residents with supervision from a faculty preceptor. Each facility is under the medical direction of a UPMC geriatrician, with an inter-professional team including a nurse practitioner, rehabilitation professionals, social work, wound care, geriatric psychiatry, palliative care and hospice. Several facilities also contract with the Pittsburgh PACE managed care program to provide care for dual-eligible elders needing respite or skilled nursing care. Our skilled nursing sites include:

Asbury Heights
Canterbury Place
Heritage Place

Specialty Clinical Sites

Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), University Drive
The VAPHS, University Drive is the site of the VA Pittsburgh Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Care Center (GRECC). This multidisciplinary collaboration of clinicians, educators, and researchers serves as a focus of geriatric care within the VA setting. The Geriatric Evaluation and Management Clinic is based here, where fellows do a month-long rotation and assume the role as leader in this interdisciplinary team. The University Drive VA hospital is also the site of our fellows’ Neurology rotation, comprehensive geriatric pain clinic, and the dementia consultation telehealth clinic (required for all fellows).

H. J. Heinz III VA Progressive Care Center
H. J. Heinz III VA Progressive Care Center is a sub-acute and long-term care VA Hospital. The Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) service, which provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary care to homebound veterans, is based at this site. Fellows spend one month providing primary care in the home environment as part of an interdisciplinary team.

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
WPIC is part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Geriatric medicine fellows round with the inpatient geriatric psychiatry service during their Geriatric Psychiatry rotation. This program provides comprehensive evaluation and short-term hospitalization for older adults with a range of mental health problems associated with aging.

UPMC Mercy
Part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC Mercy is a tertiary care teaching hospital located a few miles from UPMC Presbyterian. Mercy Hospital was Pittsburgh’s first charity hospital and retains this ethos. It now houses UPMC’s burn center and is the hub for the physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program. Our fellows’ rehabilitation, wound care, and ENT experiences are at Mercy Hospital.