Education
UNC Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program
The mission of the UNC Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine is to build the clinical knowledge, skills, and acumen needed to care for older adults and to produce future leaders in geriatric clinical care, medical education, and quality improvement. We take pride in being able to tailor our Geriatric Fellowship Program to the personal career goals of each fellow. Our goal is to nurture the professional growth of each of our fellows and share our love of Geriatrics.
Our fellows have:
- gone on to academic positions in many institutions
- become clinical leaders in hospital, skilled nursing facility and clinic settings
- combined their geriatrics fellowship with other subspecialties, gaining a special niche within that subspecialty
Faculty members in the Division of Geriatric Medicine are experts in medical education and program development, experienced researchers and quality improvement leaders, and also clinical role models in multiple settings. Our fellowship is highly integrated with Hospice and Palliative Care at UNC, including its fellowship program. We have affiliations with UNC’s myriad professional schools, including Public Health, Nursing, PA, Pharmacy, Physical and Occupational Therapy, and Social Work.
This year, we are excited for our Fellows to start the fourth year of our continuing Quality Improvement project and curriculum. Through this project Fellows have been published in the Journal of American Geriatrics (JAGS) and have presented in the Presidential Poster Session at the American Geriatrics Society National Meeting (2017 through 2019). In Fall of 2019 we will also have fellows rotating through our newest clinical site, Parkview Health and Rehabilitation Center, a subacute rehabilitation center and long-term care facility under the medical directorship of UNC Geriatrics.
We would be excited for you to join our program. Please contact us with any questions or requests for additional information.
Maureen Dale, MD
Program Director
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
maureen_dale@med.unc.edu
See what’s new and noteworthy from our Faculty & former Fellows
 Joshua Niznik, PharmD, PhD, has been named as an inaugural member of the US Deprescribing Research Network’s Junior Investigator Intensive Awardees. Dr. Niznik and fellow awardees will expand support for deprescribing research.  2019 UNC Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) student Kayla Darris, University of Arizona College of Medicine at Tucson and Brian Diekman, Assistant Professor in the UNC-NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and member of the UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center, have been awarded the American Geriatrics Society’s 2020 Best Abstract Award for their research on cellular senescence! Congratulations to Lindsay Wilson, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Geriatric Medicine & John W. Foust Medical Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor, on receiving a 2019-2020 Academy of Educators Foundation Phase Teaching Excellence Award!
UNC Geriatrics clinic social worker Bryan Godfrey, LCSW, presented key resources on supporting family caregivers of older adults in times of stress and isolation. Find the webinar recording and resources here.
A recent study from Assistant Professor Joshua Niznik, PhD, PharmD, Division of Geriatric Medicine, in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society suggests de-prescribing Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors (AChEls) as a reasonable approach to lowering polypharmacy and risk of serious falls or fractures without increasing risk for all-cause negative events in nursing home residents with severe dementia.
Meredith Gilliam, MD, MPH, was interviewed by WRAL’s Ken Smith on the importance of lowering falls risk for older adults.
Modern Healthcare featured our dementia friendly training in a recent Care Delivery / Transformation Hub story.
Dr. Maureen Dale was interviewed on WCHL about dementia friendly training at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus. NC’s Governor Roy Cooper declared September 26, 2019, as ‘Dementia Friendly Hospitals Day.’
Our 2019 meeting of the Dementia Friendly Hospitals Initiative advisory board preceded an afternoon event to recognize achievements of UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus in training nearly 400 staff from 24 departments in dementia-friendly communication and care.
Congratulations to Dr. Juneve Toche, 2018-2019 Geriatrics Medicine Fellow, on her recent appointment as Outpatient Chief Resident!
Enjoy these recent stories about Faculty achievements & Division of Geriatric Medicine initiatives.
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NPR’s Here and Now interviews 
Kevin Biese
Research Associate Professor of Geriatric Medicine Dr. Ellen Roberts and Senior Mentor Will Plattner describe the experiences of first-year medical students partnering with seniors to learn about age-friendly health care and issues of concern to older adults on UNC’s 
Dr. Lindsay Wilson was quoted in this 
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program Associate Director for Education and Clinical Care Maureen Dale, MD, is featured in a recent New York Times 
Kevin Biese, MD, MAT, Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Co-Director of the Division of Geriatric Emergency Medicine is featured in a recent Washington Post 
Division Chief Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, and Adrian Austin, MD, MSCR, Geriatrician and Pulmonary Critical Care Physician, are featured in a JAMA Surgery interview about their American Geriatrics Society 2019 Meeting Highlights
