Curriculum

The Kaiser Permanente Fontana Fellowship is a teaching program that provides residents with a variety of challenging learning environments, comprising of grand rounds, conferences, and weekly lecture series. The fellowship also partners with UCLA to offer an optional Intensive Course in Geriatric Medicine. The program’s conferences and their frequency include:

Conference	Frequency
Geriatric Didactic Sessions	Weekly
Geriatric Journal Club	Weekly
Geriatric Core Lectures by Family Medicine Residents	Monthly
Eldercare Symposium	Every 18 months
Dementia Symposium	Annually
UCLA Intensive Course in Geriatric Medicine	Optional
Family Practice Journal Club	Monthly
Geriatrics Board Review	Weekly
Core Curriculum	Monthly

Academic skills development sessions are held monthly with the program director. Geriatrics fellows conduct bedside and clinical rounds with other trainees, and fellows present didactic talks to their peers, faculty, and house staff at a weekly fellow conference. In addition, formal and informal conferences by fellows are given during their rotations at the clinical sites.

Intensive careers are equally emphasized as a goal of fellowship training.  Learning to teach and exposure to academic administration are viewed as vital to fellowship training, and there is strong emphasis on teaching skills such as learner-centered techniques, small groups, precepting, feedback, role play, and curriculum development. Teaching responsibilities of fellows include: house staff in acute hospital, teaching nursing home, clinics, and home care settings. The fellow also will serve as consultant to the rotating third-year Family Practice residents who have an inpatient geriatric service.

In addition to the program’s breadth of learning environments, challenging research opportunities are funded by the department of Continuing Care at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana, with assistance from Academic Affairs and the Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

Clinical Experiences

Fellows receive both Inpatient and Outpatient experience. For the Inpatient program, Geriatric medicine consults will be provided on an as-needed basis; fellows work with Internal Medicine rounding teams to provide acute consults and assistance with discharge planning and/or skilled admission criteria. For the Outpatient program, fellows participate in Geriatrics clinic where they have the opportunity to provide consultation services and primary care.

Call schedules vary from one to three days/nights, averaging one week every six weeks.  This is a beeper call only that is taken from home.  Coverage includes SNF and NH patients, Palliative Care patients, and Hospice patients. The program offers strong support for its attending physicians, with 24-hour supervision and precepting from faculty mentors.

Fellows also rotate in various medical subspecialty clinics including cardiology, nephrology, infectious disease etc.

Rotation schedules by PGY:

• Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (4 weeks)
• Hospice/Palliative Care (4 weeks)
• Community-Based Sub-Acute Care (8 weeks)
• Geriatric Psychiatry (4 weeks)
• Home Care/Home Health (4 weeks)
• Neurology (4 weeks)
• Hospital Liaison Consultation (4 weeks)
• Subacute/Skilled Nursing Facility Experience (8 weeks)
• Internal Medicine Subspecialties (4 weeks)
• Outpatient Geriatrics (4 weeks)
• Vacation (4 weeks