Senior Electives

The following table lists the electives covering geriatric topics that will be offered to FSU's fourth year medical students. There are four core electives that will be offered at all three regional medical school campuses and a number of other electives which are unique to each location.

Core Electives (All campuses)

Hospital-Based Care of the Older Adult
This is an intensive inpatient rotation (sub-internship) offering the opportunity for providing inpatient care for the acutely ill older adult patient. Students will explore age-related variations in disease presentation, diagnosis, clinical course and treatment in the acute care setting.

Community-Based Care of the Older Adult
Students will be assigned several patients to follow longitudinally, as well as have the opportunity to make home visits, dialogue with healthy independent residents in various community settings, and interact per a schedule with ancillary geriatric care professionals including PT, OT, ST, Pharm, Dietary, Wound Care, Social Services, Administration, and others.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
This elective in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) provides a comprehensive clinical experience within the inpatient, acute/freestanding, skilled facility and outpatient rehabilitation settings. Students will be involved in the assessment, consultation, treatment planning and evaluation of patients with common rehabilitation disorders including, neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiac and chronic conditions. Students will learn to perform accurate functional assessments, establish a plan of care for those patients, and participate as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team.

Special Topics in Geriatrics
These electives are available by special arrangement with the Geriatric Faculty, and are designed to address areas of specific student interest and to meet specific student objectives. This category is provided to provide students with special interests in geriatrics, interdisciplinary study and or research, the opportunity for unique learning experiences.

Tallahassee Regional Campus

Geriatric Psychiatry
Students will be exposed to the psychiatric care of geriatric patients in a number of different settings, including the outpatient clinic, nursing home, inpatient and in some cases hospice. It would be expected that the student would be able to develop more expertise in comorbid medical diagnosis, as well as understanding better the treatment of Dementia and Delirium. Treatment of common Psychiatric disorders of the elderly such as Depression, Anxiety and Sleep will be emphasized.

Psychosocial Issues in Women's Health
Student participates in community agencies that deal with psychosocial factors affecting women's health, gaining in-depth knowledge of the problems and how they are managed. Opportunities to work with County Health Departments (family planning clinics, STD clinics, colposcopy clinics, prenatal home visits, etc.), Refuge House, rape crisis, Planned Parenthood, adoption services, eating disorder treatment, breast cancer support, osteoporosis services, widow support, and other resources. Student designs a program in areas of interest, keeps a journal of experiences, and writes a 4-page paper exploring the interplay of one of these psychosocial factors with women's health.

Orlando Regional Campus

Dementia--The Disease of the Century: Assessment, Management, & Pathology
This elective will combine intensive experiences in assessing new patients for dementia, management of dementia and their family care givers. Students will have the opportunity to evaluate new patients, work them up, participate in family conference, and make recommendations for management. They will also review pathologic specimens, slides of brain pathology, function of neurotransmitters, genetic basis of dementia, and the pharmacology of treatment.

The Mayflower Retirement Center
This rotation offers a comprehensive multi-disciplined experience in an upscale senior citizen retirement complex, including independent, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities. Mornings will be spent performing patient assessments and care in conjunction with teaching faculty, geriatric fellow, and 3rd year FP resident assigned to The Mayflower. The student will be assigned one or more patients in all three domains. Structured sessions will be held with important members of the health care team, including PT, OT, ST, Pharm, Dietary, Social service, Wound care, administration, and others. Afternoons will include team meetings with resident physicians and faculty re: patient care, home visits, and patient work ups. Twice weekly working lunches (free) will be held with senior staff and faculty, and a monthly Q/A meeting on the 2nd Thurs. A Â½ day out patient clinic for independent residents is held on Thurs afternoon. Emphasis will be on the multi-faceted, team approach to health care in this kind of facility, including both medical and regulatory components.

Pensacola Regional Campus

Externship in a Subacute Skilled Nursing Facility
There is a role for physicians in full-time long term care. In this experience, the student will be paired with the ARNP who manages over 100 patients in this 180 bed facility. The attending physician makes rounds several times each week and will meet with the student on a daily basis. The student will assume as much responsibility for the management of the patients as his/her capabilities allow. There is a large subacute unit with multiple admissions each week from area hospitals. These patients are still quite ill and require close monitoring. They are often involved in aggressive rehabilitation to return them to their homes. In addition to managing the subacute patients, the student will be able to assist in the routine visits for long-term care patients elsewhere in the facility. The student will participate in care planning sessions, in rehab, and in discharge planning.

The Role of a Geriatrician--"Walk in My Shoes!"
In the required geriatrics rotation, the student will "follow the patient" across the continuum of care and work with a number of physicians and other team members. In this elective, the student will instead be paired with one geriatrician within a group practice. The student will be able to function in the role of the geriatrician to the limits of his/her capability and experience what the geriatrician does in a typical work environment. This will include work in the office setting, nursing home, hospital, and home visits if indicated. "Call" involves hospital coverage of the geriatric service. The student will participate in team meetings and other responsibilities the geriatrician might have during this time.

Dementia--The Disease of the Century: Assessment, Management, & Pathology
This elective will combine intensive experiences in assessing new patients for dementia, management of dementia and their family caregivers, and understanding the importance of community resources for supporting both patients and caregivers. Students will have the opportunity to evaluate new patients, work them up, participate in family conferences, and make recommendations for management. They will participate in assessment as part of a new patient evaluation in a geriatric clinic, in a memory disorders clinic team approach, and in assisted living. They will become familiar with community resources (I&R, education, support groups, day care, respite care). They will be able to contrast management in special dementia units of nursing homes and assisted living facilities with facilities that "blend" all patients in one unit. Students will be actively engaged in a caregiver support group if they elect the 4 week option (they will be asked to prepare a topic for discussion with the group).

Sarasota Regional Campus

Clinical Geriatrics
This elective will allow the student to experience the care of seniors in a variety of settings: primary care clinic, specialty clinic, hospital, home, and nursing home. Opportunities to participate in care in each of these settings will be provided. The student will work with patients, families, and institutional teams providing care.