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.