Education

Division of General Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care:
EDUCATION

UVA School of Medicine

The Division of General Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care provides the educational bedrock for medical students and Internal Medicine residents at UVA. Almost all faculty members are engaged in either undergraduate or graduate-level medical education, and the division provides extensive education for trainees from other departments as well, including Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Psychiatry, and Surgery.

Undergraduate Education

The division’s programs in undergraduate medical education include:

Ambulatory Internal Medicine Clerkship
Geriatric Clerkship
Clinical Performance Development (CPD) Directorship; 15 CPD leaders
End-of-Life Care Curriculum Thread Leader
Patient Safety Thread Leader
Foundations in Medicine Course
Social Issues in Medicine Course
Mindfulness Elective
Palliative Medicine Elective
Geriatrics Elective

Under the direction of Huai Cheng (winner of the 2014 Robley Dunglison Award), the division successfully re-launched a required geriatrics clerkship for 4^th-year medical students in March 2014. Evan Heald continues to direct the popular Ambulatory Internal Medicine (AIM) clerkship, ranked #1 by the 2014 SOM graduating class.

AIM preceptors came to Charlottesville from all over the Commonwealth in October 2013 to participate in the three-day “Recent Advances in Clinical Medicine” symposium, directed by Andy Wolf. Other initiatives include the “Social Issues in Medicine” course for first-year medical students, designed and led by Mohan Nadkarni to help nurture humanism and professionalism in medical students. Numerous faculty members serve as “Curriculum Thread” leaders, including Laurie Archbald-Pannone (Geriatrics), Josh Barclay (End-of-Life care), and Margaret Plews-Ogan (Patient Safety and Quality).

Graduate and Post-Graduate Education

Graduate education programs run by the division include:

Ambulatory Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents
Primary Care Residency Program
Residency Continuity Practice
Geriatrics Fellowship
Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Division faculty have helped establish UVA as a national leader in residency curriculum development that reflects their commitment to ongoing assessment, improvement, and advancement of systems-based practices for treatment of chronic illness in underserved patients. University Medical Associates serves as the residency continuity practice, and General Medicine faculty cover over 25% of the ward attending slots. Over the last year, the Department of Medicine has planned the reorganization of the General Medicine wards into four “firms”—a system that allows groups of residents to remain together throughout their training, promoting group cohesion, a stronger sense of community, and better accountability for patient safety and care. GMGPC faculty Benjamin Sneed and Brian Uthlaut were chosen to lead two of the four firms — the Beckwith Firm and the Wheby Firm, respectively. As firm leaders, they are responsible for ensuring high-quality education for residents and students, reviewing quality data, and implementing quality improvement plans. They meet with faculty members of their firm on a quarterly basis to review data and formulate plans. The firm system will be launched in July 2014.

As associate program director for the Department’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, Brian Uthlaut is in charge of medical resident recruitment. Andy Wolf, associate program director, is responsible for the Primary Care Residency Program, which has successfully recruited three residents each year despite a highly competitive environment. The geriatrics fellowship, directed by Seki Balogun, and the palliative medicine fellowship, directed by Josh Barclay, both received full five-year accreditations in FY 2013.

Continuing Medical Education

The division, home to the Center for Mindfulness, Center for Appreciative Practice, and the Institute for Quality & Patient Safety, has been instrumental in developing CME programs that advance wellness and facilitate cultural change. The Mindfulness Center has tripled its enrollment over the last two years, and doubled its course offerings. Mindfulness Center faculty members also work with many university organizations outside the UVa Health System.

The Center for Appreciative Practice organizes the bimonthly Schwartz Rounds, with standing-room-only audiences of healthcare providers. Schwartz Rounds provides a moderated setting for discussing the social and emotional issues that arise in caring for patients. The Center also launched the “Wisdom & Wellbeing” speaker series, a forum for presenting the latest research in improving well-being and life satisfaction and cultivating wisdom.

GMGPC CME offerings include: