Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) awarded the Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society – Western Division (PAGS-WD) with its 2018 AGS State Affiliate Achievement Award for Innovative Educational programming. This prestigious award is given to an AGS state affiliate who has successfully achieved continued growth of educational programs.  The Society was recognized for the Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine Conference (the largest CME event in the region), the Controversies in Geriatric Medicine (June) Program, and the annual Fall Program. The David C. Martin Award (DCM), the Society’s student scholarship program, was also highlighted.  A portion of the profits from the educational series sustains the DCM honorariums that are awarded to recipients. Honorariums are used by awardees to offset the costs of attending the AGS national conference where they have the opportunity to display their work.

Neil Resnick, MD, COSAR Representative, and Fred Rubin, MD, President, accepted the award on behalf of the Society at the AGS Awards Ceremony, held in conjunction with the AGS national meeting on May 3-5, 2018 in Orlando, FL.   Dr. Resnick was also invited to speak at a separate AGS State Affiliate Chapter meeting. He presented highlights and implementation strategies on the Society’s award-winning programs. The valuable resources and tools shared served as a guideline for other state affiliates to create and implement programming in their respective region.  In addition to being recognized at the AGS meeting, the Society received an honorarium of $1,500.

This is the third honor bestowed on the Society. In 2003, the AGS awarded the State Affiliate Achievement Award in the area of continuing education for members to the organization, specifically, the overwhelming success of the Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine conference.   In 2011, the Society was honored for their accomplishments in membership recruitment and retention.

26th Annual Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine

More than 380 geriatrics professionals from all disciplines, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, and health care administrators participated in the 26^th Annual Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine conference held at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center Hotel April 5-7. The course attracted registrants from numerous states, including California, North Carolina, New York and Washington.

Previously awarded the American Geriatrics Society Achievement Award for Excellence in a CME program, this

conference continues to be a well-respected resource to educate healthcare professionals involved in the direct care of older persons by providing evidence-based solutions for common medical problems that afflict older adults daily and for which rapidly evolving research (much done in Pittsburgh) is revealing new approaches that are feasible for the real world.

Under the leadership of course directors Shuja Hassan, MD, Judith S. Black, MD, MHA, and Neil M. Resnick, MD, who worked tirelessly with the planning committee, the course is a premier educational event in the region. The course attracts prominent international and national lecturers and nationally renowned local faculty. William Applegate, MD and Barbara Messinger-Rapport, MD comprised this year’s exceptional guest faculty.

Nearly 40 state-of-the-art sessions taught by highly regarded clinician-educators and researchers were offered during the three-day event. Each lecture, symposium and breakout session offered participants evidence-based “pearls for practice” designed to be immediately incorporated into the realities of daily practice. 

The conference is jointly sponsored by the Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society – Western Division; UPMC/University of Pittsburgh Aging Institute; and University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences.

Geriatrics Society Recognizes 2018 Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award Recipients

The 2018 Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award presentation was held prior to the dinner symposium at the 26th Annual Clinical in Geriatric Medicine conference. Jordan F. Karp, MD and Heather Sakely, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCGP were honored with a special recognition for their dedication and commitment to geriatrics education.

Rollin Wright, MD, MS, MPH, awards chair, and Fred Rubin, MD, president, shared the podium to highlight the achievements and significant contributions each awardee has made to the education and training of learners in geriatrics and to the progress of geriatrics across the health professions. More than 65 attendees were on hand for the plaque presentation.

Jordan F. Karp, MD received the 2018 Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award, recognizing a physician.

Dr. Karp has maintained a clinical practice of psychiatry since 2003, in which he focuses on the care of older adults and patients living with both psychiatric and chronic medical conditions, in particular, chronic pain.

He has served as medical director for psychiatry at UPMC Pain Medicine at Centre Commons from 2006 to 2017, is the director of Student Mental Health Services at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, serves as medical director for the UPMC LifeSolutions Employee Assistance Program, and is a staff physician at the VA Pittsburgh Medical Center.

He is a prominent teacher, mentor, and researcher in geriatric psychiatry and has worked to help strengthen the relationships between the educational missions of the geriatric psychiatry and geriatric medicine training programs at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has provided scholarly mentorship to 20 trainees and serves as a faculty mentor on the University of Pittsburgh NIH-funded training grant, "Clinical and Translational Research Training in Geriatric Mental Health."

Heather A. Sakely, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP received the 2018 Healthcare Professional Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award.

Dr. Sakely is a leader in teaching geriatrics to both physicians and pharmacists. She directs UPMC St. Margaret's PGY2 Geriatric Pharmacy Residency program and has developed a curriculum for a geriatric pharmacy residency that includes an integrated system

of collaborating pharmacists and doctors in inpatient, outpatient, and long-term care settings.

Dr. Sakely is faculty in the Family Medicine Residency Program and Geriatric Fellowship at UPMC St. Margaret and adjunct instructor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Dr. Sakely complements her role as an educator with strong research experience.

She has been principal investigator and leader of the PIVOTs research (Pharmacist-led Reduction of Drug Therapy Problems in an Interprofessional Geriatric Practice) since 2012, which has helped assess the impact of collaboration between pharmacists and doctors in nursing home, assisted living and independent living environment for seniors.

A call for nominations for the 2019 Geriatrics Teacher of the Year award will begin in September 2018. Award eligibility, criteria and details will be available on the society website in August (www.pagswd.org).

2018 David C. Martin Award Award Recipient

The Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society – Western Division is proud to announce the 2018 recipient of the David C. Martin Award: Mr. Benjamin Cahill, a medical student attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 

Mr. Cahill was recognized at the 2018 Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine dinner symposium, where he was presented with a certificate of excellence and honorarium. The honorarium will aid in defraying expenses to attend the 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society conference, where he will present his abstract, Contact Frequency and Older Adult Participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation.

The award was named after David C. Martin, MD, who established the first geriatrics fellowship in Pittsburgh, PA. The ultimate goal of this prestigious award is to encourage and prepare future physicians in the field of geriatric medicine.

Since its inception, the Society is proud to have awarded over $81,000 to area medical students interested in the field of geriatric medicine.