Geriatrics

Naushira Pandya, M.D., C.M.D.
Chair, Department of Geriatrics
Email: pandya@nsu.nova.edu

Diane Sanders, D.O.
Interim Program Director, Geriatric Fellowship
Email: diansand@nova.edu

Geriatric Medicine is a specialty devoted to providing holistic, comprehensive care to adults 62 years of age or older and to individuals of any age with conditions that mimic the physiologically aged. The geriatric approach entails assessment of all aspects of patients’ lives: physical, functional, cognitive and social. The specialty emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to the care of the patient.

A part of the Department of Family Medicine at NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Division of Geriatrics is committed to educating future health professionals about geriatric medicine and to increasing awareness about the field of geriatrics, in addition to being committed to improving the care of older adults. The division faculty provide patient care at various University owned clinics and at the Alexander "Sandy" Nininger, Jr., State Veterans' Nursing Home. The faculty participates in the education and training of Medical Students and Residents in the clinical and academic setting, as well as in the education and training of other students and residents from various disciplines in the Health Professions Division.

Under the direction of Naushira Pandya, M.D., C.M.D., the division has restructured the NSU-COM geriatric curriculum. The required medical school course takes a syndrome-based approach and consists of lectures on common problems encountered in the elderly. The intent is to increase understanding of the alterations in physiology with aging, and then to recognize, in terms of various disease states, how those alterations come into play and make an older person more vulnerable. The course is designed to equip the students with the tools to go out into the clinical arena and evaluate seniors effectively, rather than to simply recall numerous facts without the clinical rationale on how to apply them.

The division coordinates a required geriatric clerkship for the third year medical students. The students care for elders in a variety of settings under the supervision of a geriatric specialist, either from the division or from the surrounding community. Also, second year family medicine residents from NSU-COM's Palmetto Family Medicine Residency spend a clinical month with the members of the division in an effort to increase exposure to geriatrics and to encourage subspecialty training in the field of geriatrics.

The Division of Geriatrics at NSU-COM is proud to offer a one-year Geriatric/Family Medicine Fellowship Training Program in Geriatrics, which is coordinated in conjunction with the North Broward Hospital District. This subspecialty-training program, which was established in 2001, is designed to provide geriatric fellows with a high-quality educational experience involving clinical and academic exposure to skilled teaching faculty and at NSU-COM and in the community. Specialty training is provided in such areas as interdisciplinary geriatric assessment, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, geropsychiatry, end-of-life and palliative care. The Fellowship Manual and application are available for viewing as a part of the NSU-COM website.

In addition to the numerous clinical and academic activities, the Division of the Geriatrics has a strong commitment to helping the surrounding community. Its members participate in outreach programs of all natures from senior health fairs to meditation and support groups to volunteer projects important to the community, including participating with the city of Pembroke Pines as it won the title of All-America City. One of the primary goals of the division and of NSU is to address the special needs of seniors and to provide a broad spectrum of health care services to the geriatric community of South Florida.