Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

Message from the Program Director

Aloha, and welcome to the University of Hawaii Department of Geriatric Medicine! We are delighted that you are interested in pursuing a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine. We provide comprehensive and diverse clinical training experiences, as well as a very strong didactic curriculum. Our faculty and mentors are thoughtful and dedicated leaders and teachers who will prepare you well for whatever clinical, educational, or leadership endeavors you wish to pursue after graduation. We encourage you to explore this website, and speak to our faculty, staff, fellows, and graduates to hear first-hand the impact our program has had on their careers!

Aida Wen, M.D.
Program Director

The Fellowship Program provides a well-balanced year of training in the care of elderly patients. Fellows are trained in primary care and consultative medicine, care of well and frail elderly, preventive care, rehabilitation, geriatric psychiatry, and palliative end-of-life care. Multiple, diverse clinical training sites are available, including inpatient, outpatient, nursing home, home care, hospital-in-home, community-based sites, rehabilitation, palliative care and hospice. Interdisciplinary team care is a focus in many settings. The fellowship program provides a strong didactic curriculum, with fully protected time and many innovative curricula. There are many opportunities and mentorship for research, quality improvement, and medical education projects.

Hawaii has the longest life expectancy in the United States and an ethnically and culturally diverse population, providing unique experiences for our fellows. The field of Geriatric Medicine is currently in a rapidly changing phase with new recommended entrustable professional activities, curricular milestones and ACMGE evaluation milestones and program requirements.

The program began in 1986 and currently has 7 funded fellowship positions each year. As of the summer of 2023, there are 214 fellowship graduates. The program has been reaccredited several times and has received written commendations from accreditation site visitors. We currently have the maximum possible years of accreditation. Graduates of the program have an excellent pass rate on Geriatrics Boards, many with scores well surpassing the national average. In the past 7 years, Board pass rates have been over 97%.

The mission of the fellowship program in Geriatric Medicine is to help alleviate the critical shortage of geriatricians both in the State of Hawaii and in the nation, and to promote an appreciation and understanding of Geriatric Medicine and aging research among other physicians and health care providers. Fellows will be prepared to fill roles in academic and clinical medicine, research, administration, and policy development.

As experts in multimorbidity, complexity, and frailty, we seek to enhance the quality of life for seniors in our community through the training of fellows who provide excellent and evidence-based geriatric clinical care, demonstrate exceptional communication and teamwork skills, participate in scholarly activity, positively impact the healthcare system.

We envision a healthcare system that is age-friendly and dementia-friendly by being a catalyst for developing providers who are role models for providing quality care for our patients and families.

Core Faculty & Staff

We have over 75 geriatrician faculty, who are involved in the training of fellows, residents and students. We also have over 25 other faculty who are physicians, doctoral level, masters level faculty from other disciplines.

Aida Wen, M.D.
Program Director
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program

Kamal Masaki, M.D.
Chair
Dept. of Geriatric Medicine

Associate Director Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

Cody Takenaka, M.D., MSc
Associate Director
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

Bruce Tamura, M.D.
Director
Geriatric Education for Teaching Nursing Home Program

Chair
Fellowship Selection Committee

Serena Lo, M.D.
Director
Medical Education, Kaiser Permanente

Jennifer Nakamatsu, M.D.
Director
Medical Education, Queen’s Medical Center

Lavonda Mee-Lee Nakamoto, M.D.
Director
Medical Education, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System- VA Home

Diane Suzuki, M.D.
Director
Medical Education, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System- VA Clinic

Danielle Kamalani-Patoc
Key Staff

Julie Katayama
Key Staff

Program Details

Curriculum

Didactic Curriculum

  • Lectures on Core Geriatrics Topics
  • Palliative Care and End of Life Care Curriculum
  • Dementia series
  • Wound and Skin Care series.
  • Law and Ethics series
  • Monthly Department Grand Rounds
  • Evidence Based Medicine series.
  • Research Methods course.
  • Journal Club
  • Teaching and leadership skills
  • Board review (>97% board pass rate)
  • Field trips (e.g. Care homes, senior programs, driving assessment program, rehabilitation programs, etc.)
  • Quality Improvement case presentations and root cause analysis (M&M and patient safety)
  • Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) curriculum and project
  • Medical Directorship of Nursing Homes series
  • Healthcare Systems Leadership series
  • Career Development and Planning

Clinical Training

  • Longitudinal Primary Care Clinic
  • Longitudinal nursing home patients
  • Inpatient Consultative geriatrics
  • Outpatient Consultative geriatrics
  • Post acute and long-term care nursing home
  • Assisted Living
  • Home Care, Hospital at Home
  • Kaiser Permanente HMO
  • Veterans Administration
  • Palliative medicine, Hospice, and Geriatric psychiatry experiences
  • Conferences
  • Misc. specific to and absolutely necessary for program

Grants, Research, and Project Opportunities

  • Several large epidemiological research programs, including the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program and Honolulu Asia Aging Study, Women’s Health Initiative, and many others
  • Center of Biomedical Research (COBRE) on Translational Research in Aging
  • Educational grants: Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP); previous grants include a John A. Hartford Foundation, Center of Excellence in Geriatrics grant, Donald W. Reynolds Foundation grants, Pacific Islands Geriatric Education Center (GEC), Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) grant, several faculty received Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACAs
  • Previous national training center for the MSTAR (Medical Student Training

Rotation Schedule

FIRST-YEAR FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

BLOCK ROTATIONS:
Each first-year fellow will experience clinical rotations lasting 1 to 2 nursing home, and home care, and provides comprehensive experiences in primary care and months each. The program offers training in various settings, including in-patient, out-patient, consultative geriatrics, rehabilitation and palliative care.

KUAKINI TEACHING NURSING HOME ROTATIONS (TNH) (3 rotations, 1 month each): During these rotations, the fellows will provide primary care to patients at our primary major Participating Site Kuakini Geriatric Care, Inc., as well as several community nursing homes. They will gain experience in subacute and long-term care. The fellows will receive instruction and experience in medical directorship of nursing homes, rehabilitation, assisted living facilities, end-of-life and palliative care, and the hospice program. Other Participating Sites for these rotations are listed under our Clinical Curriculum.

KAISER HMO ROTATION (1 month): This major Participating Site provides fellows with experience in the delivery of health care for older adults in an HMO setting. Fellows will be supervised by geriatricians and palliative medicine faculty at Kaiser. It includes a range of experiences, including inpatient and outpatient geriatric and palliative care consultations.

QUEEN’S MEDICAL CENTER ROTATION (2 months): This major Participating Site provides fellows with experience performing in-patient consultations at Queen’s Medical Center and participating in the House Calls Program. Fellows also gain experience in rehabilitation, telemedicine, palliative care, and working with the geriatric psychiatry team.

VA CLINIC ROTATION (VA-Clinic) (1 ½ months): This major Participating Site provides out-patient care for older adult Veterans. The VA out-patient clinic is located next to Tripler Army Medical Center, and fellows provide primary care and consultations to older adult veterans. Inpatient care is currently delivered to veterans at Tripler Army Medical Center and is not part of this rotation.

VA HOME ROTATION (1 ½ months): The VA in Hawaii has a strong Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) home care program as well as a Hospital-in-Home (HiH) program. Fellows make home visits and participate in inter-disciplinary team evaluations.

VA COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER (VA-CLC) (2 months): As one of the VA major Participating Sites, the VA-CLC is located on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center and provides fellows with an excellent opportunity to learn about sub-acute care, long-term care, rehabilitation, palliative care and hospice, dementia behavior management, and working with an interdisciplinary team.

Application

How to apply:

The University of Hawai’i Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Applications will be accepted through ERAS: https://www.aamc.org  Click on: Residents- ERAS for Fellowship Applicants.

Fellows are selected solely through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). All applicants must register for the MATCH. http://www.nrmp.org

What are the eligibility requirements?

  • Career interest in clinical practice, teaching and/or research in Geriatric Medicine.
  • Successful completion of a U.S. residency program and board eligibility or board certification in either Internal Medicine or Family Medicine in the U.S. 
  • Successful completion of USMLE Steps I, II and III or COMLEX-USA Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. 
  • A permanent Hawaii medical license must be obtained prior to beginning the fellowship. 
  • Applicants must be in good standing with their program at the time of application and at the time they start Fellowship. 

** Please note that we will only sponsor a J-1 VISA.

What documents must be included in my ERAS application to be considered for an interview?

  1. ERAS common application.
  2. Personal statement describing your interest and experience in Geriatric Medicine. 
  3. Curriculum vitae- be sure to account for any gaps in training or practice. 
  4. 3-4 letters of recommendation. A letter from a geriatrician is desirable. One letter must be from the U.S. Internal Medicine or Family Medicine Residency Program Director. 
  5. Please have your Program Director document board eligibility or board certification in either Internal Medicine or Family Medicine in the U.S. 
  6. Official Medical School Diploma (in English or an official translation). 
  7. Copy of your ECFMG Certificate (International Medical Graduates only). 
  8. USMLE Steps 1, 2, and 3 or COMLEX-USA 1, 2, and 3 Transcripts.
information on drug testing requirements

Fellows

Level 1:

Stephanie Lu, DO
Mountain Vista Medical Center – Internal Medicine
Mesa, AZ

Maxwell Shen, MD
Tripler Army Medical Center – Internal Medicine
Honolulu, HI

Aarthi Sridhar, MD
Mercy Catholic Medical Center – Internal Medicine
Darby, PA



Level 2:

Pedro Ayau Aguilar, MD
SeaMar Marysville Family Residency – Family Medicine
Marysville, WA

Salary & Benefits

summary of salary & benefits

Contact

University of Hawaii Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program
347 N. Kuakini St., HPM-9
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
(808) 523-8461
(808) 528-1897

Danielle L. Kamalani-Patoc
dpatoc@hawaiiresidency.org