Geriatrics Fellowship
Teaching Sites
All teaching sites for the geriatrics fellowship are conveniently located within 1/2 mile of each other.
Ambulatory Clinic
The Geriatric Center operated by the Department of Family Medicine is the primary training site for the fellowship. This ambulatory setting provides the focus for:
- understanding treatment of chronic illness
- multidisciplinary approach to care for the elderly
- maintenance and improvement of the patient's level of function, including independence and noninstitutional care
- development of flexible treatment plans
- practice of appropriate referral
The Center presently serves more than 1500 patients. Services include routine medical care, minor surgery, geriatric psychiatry services, sexual dysfunction evaluation, and nutrition and pharmacotherapy counseling. Other patient services are available through the ECU Family Medicine Center.
Teaching Nursing Home
Golden Living Center in Greenville has been the site of the Department of Family Medicine's teaching nursing home project for over 20 years. The Department of Family Medicine is responsible for approximately 90 nursing home patients and supervises learners at different levels and in different disciplines, including:
- family medicine residents
- internal medicine residents
- physician assistant students
- clinical pharmacy residents and students
Our goal is to teach care of the elderly that is compassionate, comprehensive, and cost effective.
Hospital and Outpatient Rehabilitation Center
An understanding of rehabilitative principles is essential in the total management of geriatric patients. Through care of patients in the nursing home and both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services in the hospital, fellows have an opportunity to apply rehabilitative principles to the treatment of conditions such as stroke, hip fracture, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, and cardiopulmonary disorders.
Home Care
The home care component of training provides experience in assessment protocols for patients, their home environment, and their family and social support systems in order to develop an appropriate management plan, help the patient and family set goals for improving the quality of life and care, and to evaluate patient progress. Home visits are scheduled several times a month.
Hospital
Pitt County Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in the county and serves as an acute care referral center for the 29-county region. Private physicians make up half the medical staff at the hospital, giving fellows a balance of contact with community physicians and university faculty attendings.
The hospital is licensed for 700 beds, and is the only Level I Trauma Center in eastern North Carolina. Specialized facilities include the Regional Rehabilitation Center, Children's Hospital of Eastern North Carolina, the Leo W. Jenkins Cancer Center, and the Heart Center.
