![[Image of UBHC Logo]](ubhc4c.gif)
Geriatric Psychiatry is a recognized medical subspecialty within psychiatry that is eligible for accreditation through the Council for Graduate Medical Education. The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) offers New Jersey's first and only accredited Residency in Geriatric Psychiatry through the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) and University Behavioral HealthCare (UBHC).
The Geriatric Psychiatry training program provides advanced training in the subspecialty. Emphasis is on scholarship, self-instruction, development of critical analysis of clinical problems, and the ability to make and carry out difficult treatment decisions. Geriatric psychiatry fellows provide both primary and consultative care for patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Focus is on multidimensional biopsychosocial concepts of treatment and management as applied both in inpatient facilities (acute and long-term) and in the community or home settings. There is also an emphasis on the neuropsychiatric and iatrogenic aspects of illness as well as on sociocultural, ethnic, economic, ethical, and legal considerations that may affect psychiatric management.
At UMDNJ's Comprehensive Services on Aging (COPSA), there are extensive geropsychiatric community and academic services. COPSA has New Jersey's first Dementia Day Program. The Dementia Diagnostic Clinic is the state's premier academic dementia evaluation service. In the innovative Dementia Management Clinic, families are assisted with coping and improving the patient's quality of life with appropriate behavioral, psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic interventions. The Dementia Resource Center supplies the entire state with information regarding dementia and other geriatric mental health issues. The Geropsychiatry Outpatient Clinic serves central New Jersey and treats the entire range of psychiatric disorders. The Community Outreach Program assesses individuals in the community and is vital towards expediting evaluation, care and follow up. The Clinical Trials Program conducts investigations of novel therapeutic agents for dementia.
The Program's research interests are primarily clinical and include diagnostic, descriptive and treatment efficacy studies. Rarely does a statewide or national conference in geriatric mental health pass without several academic presentations by the faculty. The fellow will partake in active research and is encouraged to initiate new investigative endeavors. Approximately 8 hours per week are protected for research purposes.
Applicants must have completed at least PGY-IV in an accredited psychiatry program, must have passed the USMLE Step 3, and must be eligible for a New Jersey medical license or a New Jersey permit (or already have a New Jersey medical license) prior to enrollment. To be eligible for the Added Qualification Examination in Geriatric Psychiatry, the trainee must complete a PGY-V of Geriatric Psychiatry training.
Program Director: Shailaja K. Shah, MD
Program Coordinator: Judi Bopp
The Faculty collaborates in the continued development of the program, the selection of trainees, and the ongoing evaluation of the training. (Click on underlined faculty names to send e-mail.)
The primary site of the geriatric psychiatric residency training, University Behavioral Healthcare (UBHC) is located at the UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School campus in Piscataway, New Jersey. UBHC serves as the primary teaching facility for medical students, residents in psychiatry, family practice residents, and graduate students in psychology, social work, and psychiatric nursing. Outpatient clinical experiences in individual short and long-term therapies, family therapy, group therapy, behavior modification, outpatient psychopharmacology, and geriatric outpatient psychiatry are provided. Seminars and conferences are conducted at this site throughout the year. This is a four month, full-time rotation.
Throughout the year, the fellow spends one half day per week in this clinic in direct patient contact conducting psychiatric diagnostic interviews, medication management, and psychotherapy sessions. An eclectic faculty versed in geriatric psychopharmacology, family therapy, and individual insight-oriented, cognitive-behavioral, and supportive psychotherapy, offer individual and group supervision. The Geropsychiatric Clinic carries an active caseload of approximately 260 patients per year. Diagnoses of patients include major depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, delusional disorder, psychosis, alcoholism and other substance abuse, schizophrenia, personality disorder, and adjustment disorder. An average caseload for a fellow would consist of one new patient interview per week. The fellow would also be expected to treat long-term management cases.
Fellows on the COPSA-RWJ rotation take part in two diagnostic clinic evaluations per week, assessing co-morbid psychiatric and behavioral alterations. They participate in a multidisciplinary evaluation of the patient and present their findings to the clinic team. Faculty in psychiatry, family medicine, and neurology lead the discussions. The evaluation team is also composed of trainees in these disciplines, and in social work and psychology. Fellows experience the full range of disorders that cause dementia with attention to its impact on the individual and their family. Diagnoses of patients include Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, mixed (AD and VaD) dementia, alcohol dementia, depression, Parkinson's disease, Lewy Body disease, Huntington's disease, head injury, frontal lobe dementia, and schizophrenia.
Fellows on the COPSA-RWJ rotation take part every other week in Day Care Program rounds with multidisciplinary staff discussing patient and family caregiving issues and needs. The fellow will offer consultation to nonmedical staff on management issues related to dementia and the patient's mental and physical health. Fellows will gain an appreciation of the role of day care in the treatment of dementia patients. The Day Care Program carries an active caseload of approximately 25 patients at any one time; up to 15 patients are on-site five days per week, with each individual patient attending an average of two days a week.
The Francis E. Parker Memorial Homes is comprised of two facilities in Piscataway and New Brunswick, NJ, with a total of 110 beds. Geriatric Psychiatry Residents have an opportunity to see patients with dementia, affective disorders, and anxiety disorders. Educational activities include case discussions, readings, and direct supervision by Residency faculty. Residents have a four-month required, part-time rotation in this facility. Geriatric Medicine Residents also rotate through this facility.
The New Jersey Veterans' Memorial Home at Menlo Park is a new, state-of-the-art, 360 bed long-term care facility located in Edison, NJ. Geriatric Psychiatry Residents will see patients, round with staff, and join a multidisciplinary team for care decisions. Modal problems include dementing illnesses, depression and anxiety, and a variety of medical/pain problems. Residents will interface with other disciplines, perform assessments, and consult with staff regarding patient care during this part-time, four-month rotation.
At the long-term care sites, fellows spend two 1/2 days per month on-site providing psychiatric consultation and liaison. Diagnoses of patients include Alzheimer's disease (AD), AD with delusions, AD with depression, vascular dementia (VaD), mixed (AD and VaD) dementia, alcoholic dementia, major depression, bipolar disorder, delirium, head trauma, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. Fellows will be directly observed examining patients and will have the opportunity to discuss their findings at the bedside where appropriate. Additionally, fellows will be expected to learn and implement the liaison role of the psychiatrist in the long-term care setting.
Located 20 miles from the primary site, this 600 bed medical center has one of the largest V.A. psychiatric services in the nation, including a new state of the art geriatric psychiatry unit, and a specialized dementia unit. It is also a teaching site for medicine and neurology residents.
During the four month rotation, fellows participate in several clinics, including: 1) psychotic disorders, 2) movement disorders, 3) dementing disorders, 4) general geropsychiatry. They also assist the full-time academic faculty with consults for treatment-refractory inpatients, and nursing home patients. In addition, fellows attend psychiatry grand rounds and journal club at the VAMC at Lyons. Extra time for research is also scheduled during this rotation.
The Division of Geriatric Psychiatry teaches and supervises medical students, Psychiatry, Medicine, and Family Practice Residents and Fellows in the Family Practice Geriatric Program as well as PAs, MSWs, Ph.D.s, and Nurses. Our established curriculum includes Topics in Geropsychiatry, Applied Neuroscience and Neurobehavior, Research Meetings, Journal Review, Clinical Rounds and Topics in Individual and Family Psychotherapy. The fellows will attend both seminars and conferences to fulfill training needs. In addition, the fellows will have ample opportunity to develop their own teaching skills.
Fellows participate in a variety of clinical research project areas. Fellows will participate in studies assessing the efficacy of experimental medications and behavioral studies for the treatment and management of dementia and/or will also work with faculty on other clinical research projects identified at the start of the geriatric fellowship. Fellows will have hands-on experience developing and implementing clinical research in geriatric mental health. Grantsmanship, data organization, Medline and Internet computer resources are reviewed. Conjoint research and educational experiences with UMDNJ Masters of Public Health Program, Department of Neurology, Neurosciences, and Neuropsychology are offered.
![[Image of UBHC Logo]](ubhc4c2.gif)
Created and maintained by:
Andrew C. Coyne, Ph.D.
Director, Accreditation & Standards
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
UMDNJ - University Behavioral HealthCare
671 Hoes Lane, P.O. Box 1392
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1392
(732) 235-3493 (office)
(732) 235-2101 (fax)
e-mail: coyne@umdnj.edu
Last updated: January 14, 2010
URL: http://www.umdnj.edu/copsa/fellowship.htm