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Geriatric News Items for the week of January 23, 2012 Louise Walter, MD has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) for her research to improve cancer screening in older patients.  Dr. Walter was the first to suggest that cancer screening will not benefit older people with serious limitation in life expectancy - because cancer screening saves lives from cancer only in the long run (>5 years), and most older people with shortened life expectancy don't live that long. Election to ASCI is the highest honor for U.S. physician-researchers who are less than 45 years old.  Dr. Walter is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, which may now be the only Division of Geriatrics to have 3 members of ASCI.  Janice B. Schwartz, MD (Professor of Medicine) has been named the 2012 recipient of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) William B. Abrams Award for Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology  Dr. Schwartz’s research seeks to understand why and when the effects of pharmacological agents are different in older individuals compared to younger individuals.  Dr. Schwartz also serves as Director of Research for the Jewish Home of San Francisco. Drs. Bonnie Chen, Brie Williams, Ken Covinsky and Nancy Adler, with Irena Stijacic-Cenzer, published a paper in the Journal of General Internal Medicine exploring the relationship between subjective social status and health outcomes including functional decline. Their paper, based on a review of data from the Health and Retirement Study, concluded that older adults who self-identify in the lowest rungs of social status are at particularly high risk for functional decline and death.  Particularly because this remained true even when adjusting for traditional objective measures of socioeconomic status, the data for this paper suggest that subjective social status may serve as a simple tool providers can use to assess their older patients’ socioeconomic status and subsequent risk for functional decline. Dr. Chen will be a Fellow in Palliative Care at Harvard starting in July 2012. Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Associate Director of the Program for the Aging Century. Dr. Covinsky is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Edmund G. Brown Sr., Distinguished Professorship in Geriatrics. Irena Stijacic-Cenzer is a senior statistician with the Divsion of Geriatrics. Geriatric News Items for the week of January 16, 2012   Brie Williams, MD, recently delivered a talk on aging and health to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office as part of their Distinguished Visitor lecture series. Dr. William’s presentation was part of larger training program she’s conducting to prepare criminal justice professionals for the increasing number of older adults involved in the criminal justice system as offenders, victims, or witnesses. Attendees included current and retired District Attorneys, attorneys from the elder abuse division, victim and witness advocates, and lawyers for the San Francisco Police Department. Tacara Soones and Cyrus Ahalt joined Dr. Williams in facilitating the training. Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Associate Director of the Program for the Aging Century. Tacara Soones, MD, is a resident in the Department of Medicine and is collaborating with Dr. Williams on research to examine how the medical and legal communities interact around issues of aging. Cyrus Ahalt, MPP, is a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatrics. The Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care Student Interest Group is thriving! UCSF medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy students interested in geriatric and palliative care meet monthly to design interactive activities, organize speakers, and run the Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care elective. A variety of additional events are in the works. This fun, dynamic group is open to new members and new ideas. Interested students should contact Lena Driscoll for more information. The faculty advisor is Josette Rivera, MD. Dr. Rivera is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics. ePrognosis is a website with tools for calculating prognosis developed  in the Division of Geriatrics by Drs. Lindsey Yourman, Sei Lee, Eric Widera, and Alex Smith and with the assistance of Cyrus Ahalt. ePrognosis has received loads of press coverage which started with the JAMA Article on which Alex Smith is senior author, then it went into several New York times articles and it has inspired yet another New York times article titled, “Why Doctors Can’t Predict How Long a Patient Will Live.” The ePrognosis website already has over a half a million page views in its one week of existence! Lindsey Yourman is an intern at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego and former UCSF Medical Student. Drs. Sei Lee, Alex Smith and Eric Widera are Assistant Professors in the Division of Geriatrics. Cyrus Ahalt, MPP, is a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatrics. Rebecca Brown, MD, a research fellow in the Division of Geriatrics, published a paper in the Journal of General Internal Medicine describing the high rate of geriatric syndromes in older homeless adults. The issue includes an editorial by Margot Kushel, MD, discussing the importance of providing supportive housing for this vulnerable older population. A group from the Division published a review of prognostic indices for older adults in JAMA last week. Lindsey Yourman, who took a year off from UCSF medical school to work on the project, is first author. Other division authors include Sei Lee, Eric Widera, and Alex Smith. With help from Cyrus Ahalt, they concurrently launched a website called ePrognosis, viewable at www.eprognosis.org, that compiles the 16 reviewed indices into an easy to sort through and use set of online calculators.  Look for coverage about ePrognosis in the New York Times and other papers! Lindsey Yourman is an intern at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego and former UCSF Medical Student. Drs. Sei Lee, Alex Smith and Eric Widera are Assistant Professors in the Division of Geriatrics. Cyrus Ahalt, MPP, is a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatrics. 2011 Awardees visit to Legion of Honor   The UCSF Division of Geriatrics is excited to announce the second annual Geriatrics Scholarship Award Summit open to ACGME interns and residents in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine. The goal of the Award is to stimulate interest in a career in academic geriatrics by recognizing residents' scholarly or research achievements in aging or geriatrics. Each award carries with it a cash prize of $500 plus a stipend to cover travel and lodging in San Francisco to present at a special award summit on June 7th-8th, 2012. The deadline for applications is April 1st, 2012.   For details of the award and to download the application: click here   Geriatric News Items for the week of January 9, 2012 Edgar Pierluissi, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Medical Director, Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit at SFGH, will be featured in a national telephone conference on “Two Key ACE Interventions: patient-centered interdisciplinary care & medical care review." This national conference call is scheduled for Tuesday, January 17, 2012, from noon - 1pm, Central Time. The goal of the call is to hear about ACE units at several sites from across North America. Dr. Pierluissi will provide his expertise in his summary teaching points and discuss the challenges of developing and managing an ACE Program.   Geriatric News Items for the week of January 2, 2012 Josette, Rivera, MD, Assistant Professor, and Michi Yukawa, MD, Associate Professor, in the Division of Geriatrics recently gave plenary session presentations at the Institute on Aging Health Professionals Education Conference entitled “Falls Prevention in Older Adults: A Multidisciplinary Approach for Maintaining Independence”.  Dr. Rivera spoke on “Fall Risk and Prevention” and Dr. Yukawa followed with “Hip Fractures: Risk, Prevention and Outcomes”. The full-day conference in San Francisco was attended by over 100 health professionals from multiple disciplines. The Division’s NorCal Geriatric Education Center, led by Louise Aronson, MD, Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics, collaborates with IOA on two conferences each year to provide interprofessional continuing education to improve the care of vulnerable older adults.   Alex Smith, MD was featured in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in a piece titled, “The Unspoken Diagnosis: Old Age”, and gives his perspectives on discussing prognosis with very elderly patients who may not have a dominant terminal condition. “The point of the article is to get a national conversation started about this,” says Dr. Smith who is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and a Staff Physician at the San Francisco VA. Dr. Smith invites readers to join in the conversation comments section.     John Newman (a research fellow at UCSF’s Division of Geriatrics) and Robin Feldman, a professor of law at the University of California Hastings, were featured in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) perspectives piece titled “Copyright and Open Access at the Bedside”  Dr. Newman  and Robin Feldman discuss the serious issues about copyright laws and their affects on medicine. Geriatric News Items for the week of December 19. 2011 Last week, Geriatrics fellows Dandan Liu, MD, and Jackie Yuen, MD, taught a session on “Patient Centered Care” to the entire first year class as part of Clinical Interlude, the medical students’ first serious exposure to hospital medicine. As reported by Louise Aronson, MD, Associate Professor in the Division, it’s unusual for fellows to teach such critical information but more remarkable was the way Drs. Yuen and Liu engaged the class of 150 students, commanding their attention through use of at least seven educational techniques and helping them synthesize for themselves and each other the lessons of their hospital experience. With support from Helen Kao, MD, who provided mentorship and the opportunity, both young doctors delivered a virtuoso performance worthy of the best medical educators!     Geriatric News Items for the week of December 12, 2011 Brie Williams, MD, recently delivered the first in a series of trainings on aging and health to San Francisco police officers and  lieutenants participating in the Department’s first ever Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program. Dr. Williams’ presentation marked the start of a training partnership between UCSF’s Program for the Aging Century and the City’s new CIT program, which aims to train police officers to effectively handle a variety of crisis situations, including encounters with at-risk elderly and those with physical and mental disabilities. Rebecca Brown and Cyrus Ahalt joined Dr. Williams in facilitating the training. Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Associate Director of the Program for the Aging Century. Rebecca Brown, MD, MPH, is an Advanced Research Fellow in the Division of Geriatrics. Cyrus Ahalt, MPP, is a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatrics.   Alex Smith, MD was featured in the Orange County Register in an article titled, Doctors Should Tell Patients the Realities of Aging. Dr. Smith gives his perspectives on discussing prognosis with very elderly patients who may not have a dominant terminal condition.  "Studies show patients want to discuss the realities of aging but they may be waiting for the physician to bring it up," says Smith, who is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and a Staff Physician at the San Francisco VA. "Often it's the doctor who doesn't want to talk about it," he says.   Louise Walter, MD was quoted in ABC World News in an article titled, Older Adults Get Cancer Screenings Against Recommendations.  Most adults 75 and older undergo cancer screenings, even though the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends against routine screening for certain cancers in that age group, according to a study published in Archives of Internal Medicine.  Dr. Walter wrote that rather than debate about whether screening in older adults is right or wrong, the more important issue is whether patients are well informed about the benefits of screening and can make decisions based on that knowledge.  Dr. Walter is a Professor of Medicine at the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and a geriatrician at the San Francisco VA.   Drs. Sei Lee and Deborah Barnes published a paper in Alzheimers Research and Therapy reviewing recent advances in Alzheimers prediction, as well as outlining remaining challenges.  They plan on building on their review and will present their ideas at the next Works-In-Progress seminar on 12/14/2011. Dr. Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Dr. Barnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF. Geriatric News Items for the week of December 5, 2011 Drs. Alex Smith, Brie Williams, and Bernard Lo published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that physicians should offer to discuss prognosis with very elderly patients.  Dr. Smith is interested in learning your perspective and invites you to leave comments about this piece at www.geripal.org.  Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor in Residence and Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics.   Josette Rivera, MD presented the curricular innovations of the UCSF Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care course at the Collaborating Across Borders conference, an international interprofessional education conference held November 19-21 in Tucson, AZ. The conference fostered discussions of interprofessional education, practice and policy in a national and global context by featuring best practices, supporting evidence, and lessons learned. Dr. Rivera is working to position geriatrics prominently within the growing national movement toward interprofessional education.   Lisa Leiva, Executive Assistant and Operations Analyst in the Division of Geriatrics, has been accepted to the San Francisco State University Instructional Technologies Masters Program. Lisa will continue working full- time while completing her coursework and will learn how to provide faculty with creative ideas for developing online courses, creating distance learning websites, and integrating emerging technology into the classroom.   Louise Aronson, MD MFA, has been invited to present at a national conference on "Integrating Student Research into the Medical School Curriculum" sponsored by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Aronson will  discuss “The Influence of a Research Experience on Students’ Commitment to Academic Medicine.” The conference will take place on Friday, February 24, 2012 from 8:15 AM - 7:30 PM at the New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Aronson is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Director of the Northern California Geriatric Education Center and the UCSF Pathways to Discovery program which trains the next generation of health care researchers, innovators, and leaders. The GEC Conference Room at the San Francisco VA has a new conference table. The new table is a better fit for the room and allows more space for all the various meetings that take place in this room throughout the day. Thank you Louise Walter, Ken Covinsky and Sarah O'Brien for all your efforts in making this possible.   Geriatric News Items for the week of November 28, 2011 Anna Chang, MD, Elizabeth Chur, Helen Kao, MD, Suzanne Kawahara, MBA and Brie Williams, MD were authors in the November issue of San Francisco Medicine Magazine.  The article titled, “Training Clinicians, Building a System for an Aging Century,” discusses what is being done to address the crisis in the health care of older adults in this Aging Century. The Division of Geriatrics is highlighted for its innovations in geriatrics education, clinical care, and research. Dr. Chang and Dr. Williams are Associate Professors of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics. Dr. Kao is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Medical Director, Geriatrics Clinical Programs. Suzanne Kawahara is the Deputy Director, Program for the Aging Century with the Division of Geriatrics.   Helen Kao, MD was featured in the fall edition of the UCSF Science of Caring Magazine which is published by the School of Nursing. The article highlights the UCSF Heart Failure Program and the people that contribute to its success. Dr. Kao's GeriTraCCC program is noted as a key piece of the program that ensures that frail older adults who are returning home from hospitalization receive a physician housecall within 48 hours of discharge. Dr. Kao is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics Medical Director, Geriatrics Clinical Programs.   Geriatric News Items for the week of November 14, 2011 The Aging Century has reached another demographic milestone: for the first time in history, there are nearly 2 million Americans at least 90 years old, the US Census Bureau reported recently in "90+ in the United States: 2006-2008" (report).  “These older Americans herald a new frontier for medicine as well as for society,” said Seth Landefeld, MD, Director of UCSF’s Program for the Aging Century and Chief of the Division of Geriatrics.  The UCSF Program for the Aging Century was founded in 2011 to catalyze the transformation of health care for the oldest Americans www.agingcentury.com   Theresa Allison will be presenting research about music and dementia on two very different panels.  "Music and Memory, Dementia and Song" will be presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology annual conference on the panel, "Engaging Ethnomusicology and the Health Sciences."  Dr. Allison will also be presenting at the annual conference for the Gerontological Society of America on an international panel, "Applying for Ethical Approval in Research on People with Dementia: Stories from the UK, the US and Sweden." Dr. Allison is an Assistant Clinical Professor with a joint appointment in the Division of Geriatrics and the Department of Family and Community Medicine.   Geriatric News Items for the week of November 7, 2011 The UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science and Health Policy will take place at the SF VA Medical Center's Teak Room on Tuesday, 11/8 from 4-5pm.  Rebecca Sudore and Eric Widera will be leading a discussion on "Cognitive Changes in the Elderly: Implications for Legal and Health Decisions" Tuesday November 8, 2011 4:00pm-5:00pm San Francisco VA Medical Center Teak Conference Room (1st floor building 200, room 1a122)  4150 Clement Street San Francisco, CA 94121 415-221-4810 | 877-487-2838 | Directions More Information Dr. Widera is Assistant Professor of Medicine with the Division of Geriatrics, Director, Hospice & Director of the Hospice & Palliative Care Service at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, Program Director for the Geriatrics Fellowship at UCSF, and VA Site Director for the UCSF Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Sudore is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, a Clinical Research Investigator, and a Hospice and Palliative Care attending. On Sunday, an Associated Press story described the shortage of geriatricians:  "It's a nationwide shortage and it's going to get worse as the 70 million members of the baby-boom generation — those now 46 to 65 — reach their senior years over the next few decades…. There's roughly one geriatrician for every 2,600 people 75 and older, [and] the ratio is projected to fall to one geriatrician for every 3,800 older Americans by 2030. Compare that to pediatricians: there is about 1 for every 1,300 Americans under 18." The article further reported that "Many young doctors aren't receiving even basic training in caring for older patients. Only 56 percent of medical students had clinical rotations in geriatrics in 2008..." UCSF currently trains 5% of geriatricians who graduated from US medical schools. Geriatric News for the week of October 31, 2011 AWARE for All: Clinical Research Education Day is coming to San Francisco this Saturday, November 5th, 2011. The event will be hosted by the Center for Information & Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) and will be held at The Center at 1800 Market Street from 10:00am – 4:00pm. AWARE for All is one-day, free and open to the public, and provides an opportunity for the San Francisco Community to learn about the clinical research process and the lifesaving potential for clinical trial participants and future generations.  There is no registration or recruiting for trials; it is simply an outreach and educational initiative that is critically needed to engage the public and those in the healthcare field as partners in -- and beneficiaries of -- clinical research.  Many recent reforms and measures have helped improve clinical research.  However, until now, little has been done to educate and inform the community, especially minorities and underserved populations, about the process and its value in improving public health.  The mission of CISCRP, an independent, non-profit, is to empower individuals to know how and if they would like to be involved in the clinical research process. More information Josette Rivera, MD, founded and will direct a new Special Interest Group for the American Geriatrics Society focused on Interprofessional Education and Practice. The mission of the group is to advance the joint training and team care skills of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and other health professionals who care for older adults. Activities of the Interprofessional Education and Practice special interest group will include AGS annual meeting workshops and symposia that cover interprofessional curricular design, implementation, assessment, and faculty development, among other topics generated by members’ interest, and creation of a national network to promote interprofessional education in geriatrics. The group encourages engagement of the full range of professionals represented at AGS, and will hold its inaugural meeting at the 2012 AGS annual meeting. Anyone interested in joining should email Josette: jarivera@medicine.ucsf.edu. Josette Rivera is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and a Housecalls physician in the Division of Geriatrics. On October 25th Brie Williams and Cyrus Ahalt hosted an interdisciplinary Roundtable "Older Adults and Realignment: A Consideration of Potential Risks and Benefits Posed by California’s New Policy supported by the Langeloth Foundation and The Program for the Aging Century. The Roundtable was attended by 25 leaders in the legal, medical and criminal justice fields, including from the Stanford Criminal Justice Research Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, National Veterans Health Administration, and Transitions Clinic, and the Offices of the Public Defender and District Attorney. Several UCSF clinicians brought important medical perspectives to the discussion. The Roundtable developed and achieved consensus on recommendations to improve outcomes for older adults affected by California’s new criminal justice Realignment Policy.  Cyrus Ahalt is a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatrics. Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professors of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Staff Physician at the SFVAMC. In the October 26 issue of JAMA, Ken Covinsky, Edgar Pierluissi and Bree Johnston discuss hospitalization-associated disability (HAD) and its causes and prevention.  Dr. Covinsky and his colleagues tell the story of a patient who developed HAD, review relevant research (including their pioneering work), and make practical recommendations.  The article appears in JAMA's "Care of the Aging Patient" series.   In an accompanying commentary, Walt Ettinger, MD, MBA, CEO of the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, discusses how health policy can help prevent HAD and ameliorate its affects.  Dr. Covinsky is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Edmund G. Brown Sr., Distinguished Professorship in Geriatrics, staff physician at the SFVAMC. Dr. Pierluissi is an Associate Professor of Medicine with the Division of Geriatrics and Medical Director, Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit, SFGH. Dr. Johnston is a professor of medicine with the Division of Geriatrics. Article Commentary The third annual National Association for Health Advocates Conference will take place on November 4-5th. Saturday November 5th will be open to public on with a choice of four different workshops. It includes a case discussion on how to advocate for older adult patients, and things to think about to protect someone you know who is a patient. Dr. Helen Kao, Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Medical Director for UCSF Geriatrics Clinical Programs will be presenting “Case Study #3: My mother is sick and my father needs help.” Brochure Event Details Geriatric News Items for the week of October 17, 2011 Brie Williams is a co-organizer and will be a moderator in the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science and Health Policy conference: “Food Deserts: Legal, Social, and Public Health Challenges.” This conference will bring together scholars from health sciences and the law, as well as policymakers, activists, and food industry members, to discuss two important sites where "food deserts" exist (neighborhoods and prisons) where access to a nutritionally-adequate diet is severely restricted. Dr. Williams will moderate the session entitled “Food and Nutrition inCorrectional Institutions” which will consider food issues relevant to prisons and jails including whether policy changes that aim to improve the nutritional value of food served in the correctional setting could be cost-beneficial, and whether such decisions should consider the government's responsibility for the healthcare of prisoners. Date of conference: October 24th, 2011  At UC Hastings School of Law – Open to the Public, CLE and CME credit available. Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professors of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Staff Physician at the SFVAMC.   Twenty five first and second year medical, pharmacy, dental and nursing students (including PhD and entry level nursing students) participate in a workshop in the new Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) at the UCSF library to experience what it’s like to manage everyday activities as an older adult facing one or more age-related health challenges. This activity is part of the Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care (IAPC) Elective, a Geriatric Education Center (GEC) course held in the Fall and Winter quarters, that introduces students to the theory and practice of geriatrics, palliative care and interprofessional teamwork through lectures, seminars/group discussions, self-study and clinical service learning and/or shadowing experiences. Dr. Josette Rivera, Course Director, collaborates with Lynda Mackin (SON), Kirby Lee (SOP) and Susan Hyde (SOD) on the curriculum for this innovative interprofessional education activity. Cary Sweeney, Program Manager for the GEC, coordinates the course. Dr. Rivera is Assistant Professor with the Division of Geriatrics.   The Northern California Geriatric Education Center, directed by Louise Aronson, is co-presenting a day-long conference with the Institute on Aging: “Falls Prevention in Older Adults: A Multidisciplinary Approach for Maintaining Independence” on Wednesday, November 9 at The Event Center, St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. Topics include: Hip Fractures: Risk and Prevention; Drugs, Falls and Alcohol/Substance Abuse; Accurate Fittings for Assistive Devices and more. CME credit available.  Registration is now open. Dr. Aronson is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and the Director of the Northern California Geriatric Education Center. more info about the conference   Geriatric News Items for the week of October 10, 2011 Suzanne Kawahara, Helen Kao, and Carla Perissinotto attended a literary reading on Monday, October 10th. The event “LitQuake”, San Francisco's Literary Festival showcased 3 physician writers from UCSF. Louise Aronson was part of an author reading called "The Intersection of Medicine and Literature" which was co-presented by the UCSF Medical Humanities Group. Dr. Aronson also read an excerpt from her upcoming book “A History of Present Illness” which will be published next year by Bloomsbury.   Suzanne Kawahara is a Project Manager with the Division of Geriatrics. Dr. Kao is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Medical Director, Geriatrics Clinical Programs. Dr. Perissinotto is an Assistant Professor of Medicine with the Division of Geriatrics. Dr. Aronson is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and the Director of the Northern California Geriatric Education Center. Geriatric News Items for the week of October 3, 2011 Drs. Sei Lee and Louise Walter published a commentary in the Oct 5 issue of JAMA entitled, “Quality Indicators for Older Adults:  Preventing Unintended Harms.”  Drs. Lee and Walter argue that current quality indicators encourage more care rather than more appropriate care.  Further, Drs. Lee and Walter argue for explicitly addressing life expectancy in prevention quality indicators.  Dr Lee was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal Health blog. Dr. Lee is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Associate Director of the VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program and a Staff Physician at the SFVAMC. Dr. Walter is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Co-Director of the UCSF Geriatrics Research Program and a Staff Physician at the SFVAMC.   On October 1st, Louise Walter, Anna Chodos, Dandan Liu, Veronica Rivera and Jacqueline Yuen, participated in the Longevity Walkathon as Team GeriPal. The walkathon was a big success! Team GeriPal raised over $2000 that will benefit Self-Help for the Elderly (SHFTE)! Dandan Liu, Anna Chodos, Veronica Rivera and Jaqueline Yuen are Clinical Fellows with the Division of Geriatrics. Louise Walter is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Co-Director of the UCSF Geriatrics Research Program and a Staff Physician at the SFVAMC.   Cyrus Ahalt will be presenting a poster at the upcoming Health Disparities Research Symposium on Oct. 7th at the UCSF Laurel Heights Conference Center. The paper titled, "Confined to Ignorance: The Absence of Prisoners from National Health Data" is co-authored Brie Williams by has been accepted for publication in a future issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.  Cyrus Ahalt is a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatrics. Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professors of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Staff Physician at the SFVAMC.   Dr. Ken Covinsky received a R01 grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research, titled “Needs and Outcomes of Elders with Hip Fracture: Supportive, Functional, Palliative.”  This 4- year grant will create the information database that is needed to guide policy makers and those planning intervention to better address the supportive and palliative needs of older persons who have hip fracture.  There will be a particular focus on the needs of patients who do not return to their prior level of functioning.  Collaborators include Geriatrics Division Faculty (Seth Landefeld, Louise Walter, Alex Smith, John Boscardin),  Senior Statistician Irena Stijacic Cenzer, Research Associate Sarah O'Brien, and School of Nursing Professor Meg Wallhagen.	Grand Rounds January 2012 Speaker: Catherine Sarkisian, MD, MSPH Associate Professor, Medicine David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Topic: The Los Angeles Community-Academic Partnership for Research in Aging (L.A. CAPRA) Center Date: January 25, 2012 Time: 3:00pm Location: HSW-303 Access recordings of past lectures The Challenge of Providing Quality Care for Older Adults: Preparing the Health Professions for the Aging Century Sept 2011- May 2012 An Interprofessional Faculty Development Course Course Co-Directors: Louise Aronson, MD, MFA, and Lynda Mackin, PhD, ANP-BC Associate Directors: Susan Hyde, DDS, MPH, PhD; Kirby Lee, PharmD and Desi Owens, LCSW ♦Intensive Seminars ♦ Mentored Projects ♦Collaborative Learning ♦ Leadership & Career Development presented by The NorCal Geriatric Education Center, University of California San Francisco Develop your expertise to teach the next generation of health professionals about best practices in the care of older adults and enhance your ability to lead the way in education, practice and health systems change. learn more More Division News Aging in the News GeriPal- A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Blog is a forum for discourse, recent news and research, and freethinking commentary   JAMA Series Care of the Aging Patient The editorial team for the Journal of the American Medical Association series, Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action invites you to contribute a patient story to inspire a future article. This series is produced by a UCSF Division of Geriatrics  editorial team and appears bi-monthly in JAMA. Contributors whose Patient Story is selected for an article will be acknowledged in JAMA and will receive a $500 honorarium. In addition, the editorial team can provide a letter confirming this peer-reviewed contribution.