UNMC To Increase Geriatrics Training with $2 Million Grant

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation has awarded the University of Nebraska

Medical Center a four-year, $2 million grant for education in geriatric

medicine. The funding will dramatically increase the amount of training

in geriatrics for physicians in Nebraska, beginning with medical students,

continuing with residents and reaching out to practicing physicians.

UNMC was one of 10 grant recipients announced today by the Donald W.

Reynolds Foundation, based in Las Vegas, Nev. The actual amount to be awarded

to UNMC is $1,997,188.

We are pleased that UNMC is one of only 10 medical schools nationwide

to receive this significant award, said James O. Armitage, M.D., dean

of the UNMC College of Medicine. This speaks well of our dedicated physicians

in geriatric medicine, and it is important for Nebraska.

Jane Potter, M.D., who will lead the project, said it is imperative

that all physicians be well-versed in geriatrics to meet the health-care

needs of the burgeoning older population in Nebraska.

Already, more than 200,000 Nebraskans are over age 65. In 2010, that

number is expected to grow rapidly as the oldest Baby Boomers reach retirement

age.

Half of all physician time is spent caring for older people. As physicians

we all need to understand geriatric care, said Dr. Potter, professor and

chief of geriatrics and gerontology in the UNMC department of internal

medicine. This program begins with first-year medical students in an effort

to stimulate interest and enthusiasm for careers in geriatrics. As part

of this project, students will develop positive attitudes on aging by exposure

to dynamic older people, which will complement the comprehensive curriculum

in their formal training program.

The project does not stop with medical school graduation, Dr. Potter

said, as the goal is to reach primary care residents with a new level of

training. All physicians will take additional training and the knowledge

gained during residency training also will be addressed. This award will

aid most of the primary-care training programs in the state to improve

geriatric teaching.

The cooperating programs are the UNMC Departments of Internal Medicine

and Family Practice, the Clarkson Family Practice Program, the Lincoln

Family Practice Program and Creighton Universitys Department of Medicine.

The goal is to reach primary care residents with a new level of geriatric

training.

We will emphasize activities that promote faculty expertise in geriatrics.

By the end of the project, geriatrics faculty will be closely networked

and help each other gain new information relevant to geriatric medicine

Dr. Potter said.  In addition, most primary care residents in the

state of Nebraska would begin geriatrics training during the first month

of their programs, and the quality of instruction on geriatrics throughout

all of the programs would be improved.

In a separate part of the program, UNMC will seek to foster development

of geriatric experts in the UNMC departments of anesthesia and general

surgery, said Edward Vandenberg, M.D., UNMC assistant professor of geriatrics.

Roughly 40 percent of surgical patients are over 65 years of age,

Dr. Vandenberg said. These people react very differently to the stress

of surgery.  By the end of the project, there will be formal geriatric

training in general surgery and anesthesia.

More importantly, there will be faculty in those departments to foster

ongoing geriatric training.

The project also will have a focus on good end-of-life care, a concern

for many older people, said Catherine Eberle, M.D., the only Nebraska physician

certified in palliative care.

Every Nebraskan deserves a comfortable and dignified death when that

time comes. During the next four years, a complete curriculum on palliative

and end-of-life care will be delivered across the entire state, at reasonably

convenient locations for anyone who wishes to attend, and at very low cost

to participants, said Dr. Eberle, an associate professor of geriatrics

and co-director of the project.

Said Dr. Potter: The Reynolds Foundation feels that making this kind

of significant investment in geriatric medical education will have a lasting

impact on Nebraska. We aim to prove them right!

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization

founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Reynolds

was the founder and principal owner of the Donrey Media Group, which he

started in 1940 with the purchase of the Okmulgee Daily (Okla.) Times and

the Southwest (Ark.) Times Record.

At the time of Reynoldss death in 1993, his organization had grown

to include 52 daily newspapers, 10 outdoor advertising companies, five

cable television companies and one television station. The sale of the

Donrey Media Group in 1993 provided for the Foundations endowment, making

it one of the largest private foundations in the United States.