Pennsylvania GeriatricS Society

Purpose: The Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award will be presented to two (2) outstanding teachers for their dedication and commitment to geriatrics education. The Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society will recognize a physician and a professional from another healthcare discipline (ex. nursing, advanced practice, physical therapy, pharmacy, occupational therapy, dentistry, audiology, speech-language pathology, social work) for their geriatrics teaching excellence.

Eligibility: This annual award will honor both a physician and a healthcare professional who have made significant contributions to the education and training of learners in geriatrics and to the progress of geriatrics education across the health professions. Members and non-members of the Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society will be considered.

Eligible nominees have demonstrated leadership and inspired learners to better the care of older adults and have contributed to the growth of geriatrics in their professions. The ideal candidate meets some or all of the following criteria:

• Contributes significantly to the teaching of students/trainees
• Coaches and mentors the career development of students and trainees
• Inspires students, trainees and even colleagues to join the field of geriatrics
• Demonstrates innovation in geriatrics education
• Exhibits dedication and sustained commitment to teaching and education in the field of geriatrics
• Champions the teaching mission and the growth of the subspecialty of geriatrics

Teaching expertise and/or education program development are valued in the selection of the recipient for this honor.

Nomination Process: Nomination letters must outline the candidate’s specific contributions to geriatrics education according to one or more of the above criteria.  One letter of support must come from a learner of the candidate being nominated. The candidate’s updated curriculum vitae and one or two additional supporting letters of recommendation are required.

Teachers who were previously nominated may be renominated if the nominator sends a brief update letter re-emphasizing the nominee’s unique qualifications, submits additional support letters, or submits an entirely new nomination letter(s) and updated CV. Winning nominations will be selected by the Awards Committee and presented to the Board of Directors for confirmation.

Award: To recognize his/her outstanding achievement, the Geriatrics Teacher of the Year awardees will receive an award letter and a plaque to be presented during the annual Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine Conference. Each awardee also will receive a complimentary membership for the remainder of the year (non-member awardee) or a complimentary membership for the following year (member awardees).

Amy M. Westcott, MD, MHPE, CMD, FAAHPM, AGSF, received the 2020 Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award. Dr. Westcott joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania following her Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania. During that time, she was a two-time recipient of the Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), completed the Harvard Palliative Care Education and Practice (PCEP) Program, and certified in the Stanford Clinical Teaching Framework having trained over 200 healthcare professionals to date. During her tenure at the University of Pennsylvania, she created and implemented system-wide interprofessional geriatric education across undergraduate and graduate medical education.

Dr. Westcott was recruited to serve as associate professor, Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in 2014. While at Penn State she designed, launched, and obtained ACGME-accreditation for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship as well as developed a teaching nursing home that incorporated a longitudinal experience for Family Medicine Residents, patient navigation opportunities for medical students and medical direction electives for Internal Medicine Residents. She continues to be involved with the Geriatric Fellowship and volunteer precepts at the Bethesda Mission.

In 2018, Dr. Westcott accepted an industry position with Optum, a health care coordination and delivery organization, as the medical director for the Pennsylvania and Delaware-based providers, where she utilizes her skills as a teacher, educator, and role model for over 150 advance practice providers. In this role she is most passionate to improve the quality care in long-term care through coaching her team on communication skills related to advance care planning and de-prescribing.

Elizabeth A. Mulvaney, MSW, LCSW, lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work (SSW), was presented with the 2020 Healthcare Professional Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award. Ms. Mulvaney holds a clinical social work license in Pennsylvania and has 14 years practice experience as a gerontological social worker providing medical, care management, and program administration services, with experience in long-term care including behavioral care planning, dementia care, and end of life care. 

She has been a leader among SSW faculty in advancing interprofessional educational opportunities for SSW students, primarily teaching within both the MSW and BASW programs at the university.

Ms. Mulvaney served as the first Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh from December 2005 to 2011. As coordinator, she played an instrumental role in operationalizing a program design into a successful model for geriatric practice and leadership training, organizing fellowships in aging, aligning with the purpose of the program to partner with community agencies to innovate and change geriatric social work education and develop new practitioners.

Ms. Mulvaney’s current research and practice interests include geriatric workforce development, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, ethics, palliative care and problem gambling prevention for older adults. She developed and led a gambling-related Webinar, Older Adults and Gambling: Keeping it Safe, for the American Society on Aging Webinar Series. In 2014, the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania recognized her as the Person of the Year-Research and Academic.

She has also been part of the team working on the Health Resources Services Administration grant funded Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program for the past four years, which is designed to improve health and human service professionals’ capacity to serve people with dementia and their families.