Division
Geriatric Medicine
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The Division of Geriatric Medicine specializes in aging medicine. Through clinical leadership, geriatric education and research partnerships, the division is dedicated to optimizing health, independence and what matters to people over the age of 65 across the continuum of care so that they can live fully on their terms and achieve their best quality of life.
Harry Albertman Chair in Geriatric Medicine and Associate Professor, Medicine
Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health foster a robust, intensely curious and collaborative research culture, with opportunities that abound at every level (from beginning to mentored early career to mid-career to late career researcher) and across the spectrum of scientific discovery (biological and bench research, health services research, and clinical and translational research). Researchers have access to research informatics, population research tools (such as TriNetX), and technology through the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which provides tools, services and training for students and faculty engaging in health research.
A key part of the Division of Geriatric Medicine’s mission and vision for the future with the expansion of its academic footprint is research. The division is actively recruiting geriatrics-trained clinician researchers who do aging research. Current faculty members are involved in multiple grant-funded and internally-funded research projects, serving in multiple roles from collaborators and mentors to co-principal investigators. For example, Dr. Nicole Osevala, interim Division Chief, led a multimillion-dollar Department of Human Services grant to address COVID-19 outbreaks in central Pennsylvania nursing homes. The College of Medicine is also partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the Long-Term Care Resiliency, Infrastructure Supports, and Empowerment (LTC-RISE) grant-funded initiative, which aims to help long-term care facilities weather and overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Medicine provides opportunities to apply competitively for funding to advance innovation in geriatric clinical care and to collaborate with clinician-researchers in other divisions who do research that is relevant to aging.
Nicole Osevala, MD, FACP
Chief, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Harry Albertman Chair in Geriatric Medicine
Associate Professor of Medicine
Education in Geriatric Medicine
The Division of Geriatric Medicine is rapidly expanding the footprint of geriatric education at Penn State College of Medicine. Faculty are engaged daily in teaching, geriatric curricular development and mentoring at every learner level (medical students, residents, fellows and faculty). The division has multiple touchpoints in undergraduate medical education, including the Penn State College of Medicine’s health systems hub and geriatrics elective.
The revised geriatrics rotation introduces Internal Medicine residents to geriatric patient care across the care continuum (outpatient geriatric primary and consultative care, a robust 5Ms-focused age-friendly inpatient geriatric consultative service, and post-acute and long-term care). The division offers two geriatrics continuing education series, a basic core geriatric competencies series for the Internal Medicine residents and Department of Medicine faculty, and a new, more advanced, interprofessional “current topics in geriatrics” series open to faculty with an interest in aging medicine and science across the Penn State Health and Penn State University communities.
Penn State College of Medicine is fortunate to have access to the at the College of Medicine as an incredible resource and community of master educators for geriatrics faculty to participate in and grow as educators and leaders in education.
Research in Geriatric Medicine
The Division of Geriatric Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine is engaged in a multi-year grant in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the Long-Term Care Resiliency, Infrastructure Supports, and Empowerment (LTC-RISE) grant-funded initiative, which aims to help long-term care facilities weather and overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The work promotes high quality front line long-term care staff education, along with leadership training, infection control support and emergency management preparation. The RISE grant includes collaboration with the Tressa Nese and Helen Discevich Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence and the Smeal College of Business at Penn State. Learn more about the Southcentral LTC-RISE team here.
In 2024, Geriatric Medicine will be a site lead at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in partnership with the Tressa Nese and Helen Discevich Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence on an NIH study on delirium in hospitalized older adults titled, “READI-SET-GO: Research Efficient Approaches to Delirium Identification-Sustaining an Effective Translation to Create Gero-Friendly Organizations.” This study is investigating the use of a two-step delirium identification screening in hospitalized older adults.
Through the Harry Albertman Endowment, the Division of Geriatric Medicine provides opportunities to apply competitively for funding to advance innovation in geriatric clinical care and to collaborate with clinician-researchers in other divisions who do research that is relevant to aging.
Clinical Care in Geriatric Medicine
The Division of Geriatric Medicine delivers world-class, age-friendly, interprofessional collaborative care to people 65 and older across the care continuum. The division has an active inpatient geriatrics consultation service that works closely with the Trauma and Vascular surgery teams as well as the Hospitalist service at the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the only level 1 trauma and quaternary care center in Pennsylvania’s South Central, capital region.
At the Penn State Health Cocoa Outpatient Center, we provide primary and consultative outpatient geriatric care, specializing in the care of people over the age of 65 who have multiple, complex comorbidities, complex medication regimens, and geriatric syndromes (cognitive, mobility, and functional impairment) or who are living with dementia and need a whole-person, person-centered approach to comprehensive dementia care.
Clinicians in the division, including teams of advance practice providers and physicians, also provide care in the post-acute and long-term care space. They follow people admitted for short-term skilled rehabilitation at the Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital as well as patients admitted for personal care, skilled care and long-term care at multiple community-based settings affiliated with Penn State Health.
Age-Friendly Health System
In partnership with the Nursing Department, the Division of Geriatric Medicine led Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center's recognition as a Level 2 participant, “Committed to Care Excellence” by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. This is the highest level designation offered by IHI, and Hershey Medical Center is the only hospital in the region to gain this recognition. The projects developed to gain this recognition were supported by a multi-disciplinary team including geriatric medicine, hospital medicine, pharmacy, therapy services and nursing. The Age Friendly Health System initiative is a movement to improve the care for older adults across all care settings utilizing the 4Ms approach: Mentation, Mobility, Medications and What Matters.
