UCSF Department Of Medicine | Division of Geriatrics

Josette Rivera is a clinician educator and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics. She is dedicated to providing primary and palliative care to homebound older adults throughout San Francisco through the UCSF Housecalls Program. Dr. Rivera’s educational focus is on training students and professionals how to collaborate within interdisciplinary teams to provide effective, patient-centered care for older adults. She recently received a Geriatric Academic Career Award with which she will create and expand interprofessional and geriatric education opportunities at UCSF.

Dr. Rivera received her medical degree from the University of Rochester and residency training in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview. She then completed a three year clinical and research fellowship in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at Johns Hopkins. At the conclusion of fellowship, Dr. Rivera became a staff physician at On Lok Lifeways, a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, which serves nursing home eligible seniors in the San Francisco area. She joined the Geriatrics faculty at UCSF in 2008.

Clinical Activities

Dr. Rivera provides primary and palliative care to homebound older adults through the UCSF Housecalls Program. This program serves approximately 100 patients throughout San Francisco, many of whom have not previously received primary medical care for years. Dr. Rivera teaches medical students, residents, and fellows how to do a home visit and related elements of geriatric care within this context, including assessment of functional status, care coordination, and establishing a patient's goals of care. Her goal is to ensure that trainees understand the unique needs of and resources for homebound older adults.

Dr. Rivera’s educational focus is on interprofessional education in the context of caring for older adults. She is a 2011-12 Scholar in the UCSF Teaching Scholars Program and a 2010 recipient of a five year Geriatric Academic Career Award. Dr. Rivera plans to design, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a curriculum that teaches interprofessional skills and clinical geriatric care to dental, medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physical therapy students at UCSF. This curriculum will be adapted for interdisciplinary teams of practicing health care professionals and offered in collaboration with the Northern California Geriatric Education Center for continuing education credit.

Dr. Rivera is the course director and faculty mentor for the Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care elective and student interest group. She has also recently established the American Geriatrics Society Special Interest Group in Interprofessional Education and Practice in Geriatrics.

Publications

Rivera JA, Levine RB, Wright SM. Completing a Scholarly Project during Residency Training. Perspectives of Residents who have been Successful. J Gen Intern Med. 2005 Apr; 20(4): 366-9.
Rivera, JA, Fried LP, Weiss CO, Simonsick EM. At the Tipping Point: Predicting Severe Mobility Difficulty in Vulnerable Older Women. J Am Geriatr Soc, 2008 Aug; 56(8): 1417-23.

Selected Presentations

Rivera JA, Mackin L, Lee K, et al. The UCSF Interprofessional Aging and Palliative Care Elective. Collaborating Across Borders III Third Biennial Interprofessional Education Conference, 2011.
The Tipping Point: Finding Women on the Brink of Dependency. Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging, 2007.
Putting Research Tools into Clinical Practice: Examples from Mobility Research in Older Populations. Grand Rounds, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2007.
Rivera JA, Simonsick EM, Weiss CO, Fried LP. Development of a Prognostic Index: Indicators Associated with Severe Mobility Disability. The Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2006.