Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship
Curriculum - Clinical Rotations:
Denver VAMC Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit
The psychiatric inpatient service at Denver VAMC treats patients with psychiatric illness who are medically or psychiatrically too complex for other settings in the mental health treatment continuum. There are 30 inpatient beds, 6 of which are dedicated to geriatric patients and assigned to a separate treatment team supervised by a geriatric psychiatrist. The role of the fellow is to serve with the attending psychiatrist as team leader. They are involved in running multidisciplinary treatment planning with social work, nursing, and at times occupational therapy and psychology. The fellow is responsible for supervising psychiatry residents and medical students assigned to this team. They may choose to follow selected patients following their discharge.
Denver Health Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit
The psychiatry inpatient unit at Denver Health Medical Center treats patients with a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. There are 36 acute psychiatric beds. Of these patients approximately 50% are female and 6-8 are ages 60 or older. Geriatric patients are assigned to a treatment team led by a geriatric psychiatrist. The role of the fellow is to serve with the attending psychiatrist as team leader. They are involved in running multidisciplinary treatment planning with social work, nursing, and occupational therapy. The fellow is responsible for supervising psychiatry residents and medical students assigned to this team.
Denver VAMC Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation Service
The fellow will be responsible for consultation issues of older psychiatric patients in non-psychiatric acute care, chronic care, and emergency settings. This allows fellows to collaborate with other health professionals in the evaluation of older psychiatric patients.
Denver VAMC Outpatient Longitudinal Care Clinic
The fellows are responsible for the longitudinal management of a panel of older psychiatric patients. The clinic provides experience in geriatric psychopharmacology, the use of relevant psychotherapies, and exposure to issues of family dynamics in the context of aging. Weekly supervision is provided by a member of the fellowship faculty.
Denver VAMC Consultation Clinics (Includes Telepsychiatry Clinics, Memory Disorder Clinic, and Denver VAMC Nursing Home Care Unit, and Community Nursing Home).
These experiences will serve to familiarize fellows with consultation issues regarding older psychiatric patients in a number of settings including office based appointments, an institutional nursing home, and community nursing homes. They provide opportunities to collaborate with other health professionals in the evaluation of older psychiatric patients.
Telepsychiatry clinics allow fellows to extend consultation to providers who otherwise would not have access to the expertise of a geriatric clinician due to their remote locations. This service extends to locations in Colorado, Wyoming, and soon to be Montana. Weekly supervision is provided by a member of the fellowship faculty.
The Memory Disorder Evaluation Clinic combines the expertise of a Geriatric Psychiatrist, Behavioral Neurologist, and Geriatrician in evaluating patients with cognitive complaints. The fellow will receive supervision from attending faculty in each of these modalities in the consultation of these patients.
