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Education
Outpatient Geriatrics Rotation for
Family Medicine and Internal Medicine Residents
Penn Memory Center
Ralston-Penn Center
3615 Chestnut Street, 1st Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215-662-7810
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/ADC
Physician education at the Alzheimer’s Disease Center involves in-clinic “hands-on” training, reading and formal didactics. Physicians will learn how to:
- Perform and interpret the tests of cognition, affect and health.
- Perform a focused history and physical.
- Diagnose, stage and treat dementia.
The following are course topics with the goals of each topic. To achieve
these goals, the student is expected to review the assigned readings and
lectures, and participate in the Penn Memory Center.
Course Topics
- The epidemiology, differential
diagnosis and clinical course of dementia
- Describe the pathology,
clinical presentation and course of dementia
- Understand the controversies
and changing concepts in the nosology of dementia
- The work up of cognitive
complaints
- Have the skills to perform
an office-based assessment of the patient with cognitive complaints
- Understand the domains
of cognitive function
- Understand the instruments
available to measure the domains of cognitive function
- Understand the tests
available and that may become available to diagnose dementia
- The treatment of patients
with dementia: primary treatment
- Understand the difference
between disease slowing and symptomatic treatments for dementia
- Be able to describe
the symptoms of dementia
- Be able to identify
effective treatments for dementia
- The treatment of patients
with dementia: management of neuropsychiatric symptoms
- Understand the spectrum
of common neuropsychiatric symptoms
- Understand the role
of medications and non-medication strategy in the treatment of neuropsychiatric
symptoms
- The treatment of patients
with dementia: bioethical issues and caregiving
- Describe the four roles
of the caregiver of the patient with dementia
- Understand the impact
of dementia on each of the caregivers’ roles
- Understand the standards
for assessing a patient’s decision-making capacity
- Develop strategies to
practice effective decision-making with caregivers and patients:
focus on decisions about treatment, research, end-of-life care and
driving.
Methods to Achieve Course Topics
- Participation in Penn Memory Center:
| Week
1: |
Observe psychometric testing and assessment of patient and review test scoring
and interpretation and physical exam |
| Week 2: |
Observe follow-up and initial patient visits, and review the structure of an interview
with a knowledgeable informant |
| Week 3: |
Perform and dictate a patient assessment |
| Week 4: |
Perform and dictate a patient assessment |
Students will provide Carol Edwards with their contact information so
they can receive results of the diagnostic work-up of their patients that
become available after they complete their clinic rotation.
- The following are the instructional materials organized by topic. The student is responsible for reading and viewing these materials in their off-clinic time. The papers and lectures are available via the ADC Web site. The links for these papers and the PowerPoint lecture on staging are “causes,” “diagnosis,” and “treatment and disease management” under the heading “Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias.”
Readings
Course Director |
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Division
of Geriatric Medicine |
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Ralston
House |
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3615
Chestnut Street |
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Phone:
215-898-8997 |
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Fax:
215-573-8684
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