Program Overview
The VA Tennessee Valley Fellowship in Advanced Geriatrics offers post-residency, post-doctoral, and post-masters fellowships to physicians, dentists and associated health professions – including but not limited to nurses, psychologists, social workers, and pharmacists. Although most Advanced Geriatric Fellowship programs target clinical professions, several programs offer training for non-clinical health care professions.
VA Advanced Geriatrics Fellowship Program Information and Standard Operating Procedures - 2023
Application and Selection Process
The application process has a rolling deadline and offers are extended when a strong candidate has applied, met the qualifications, and is recommended by the program faculty.
Eligibility
Prospective candidates for the VA Tennessee Valley Fellowship in Advanced Geriatrics must meet the eligibility criteria listed for the overall national program. These criteria are:
Physicians:
- Have completed an ACGME- or ECCOPT-accredited physician residency program. Physicians whose initial certification is in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine or Psychiatry must also have completed an accredited subspecialty residency in Geriatrics or another subspecialty. Special Fellows are expected to be board certified in their primary specialty and board eligible in their subspecialty by the time of VA Fellowship in Advanced Geriatrics appointment and to meet credentialing and privileging requirements to qualify as a licensed independent practitioner.
- Are not enrolled simultaneously in another accredited physician residency program.
- Have an active, full and unrestricted license to practice in the U.S.
- Are ABMS or ECCOPT- recognized board certified or eligible with demonstration of active pursuit of board certification. Physicians whose initial certification is in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, or Psychiatry must also be sub-specialty board certified or eligible, with demonstration of active pursuit of sub-specialty board certification.
- Have required Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduate (ECFMG) documentation.
- Citizens of countries other than the United States must possess appropriate visa to participate in this program. U.S. citizens shall receive preference.
- Demonstrate special interest in geriatrics.
- Demonstrate likelihood for embarking on a geriatrics-related career that will be of service to U.S. Veterans receiving care from the VA.
Postdoctoral associated health fellows:
- Have graduated from an accredited clinical doctoral program including all required residency or internship experiences that prepare them for eligibility for VA employment. This includes clinical disciplines such as nursing, dentistry, optometry, psychology, podiatry, pharmacy or audiology/speech pathology. Psychology fellows must have completed an accredited doctoral program, including an internship program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).
- Have completed one year of post-doctoral clinical training in the discipline, preferably but not exclusively in geriatrics.
- Are not enrolled simultaneously in another accredited post-doctoral program in an associated health discipline.
- Be a U.S. citizen.
- Demonstrate special interest in geriatrics.
- Demonstrate likelihood for embarking on a geriatrics-related career that will be of service to U.S. Veterans receiving care from the VA.
Initial Inquiry
An initial discussion will clarify the candidate’s career goals and assess the appropriateness of the VA Advanced Geriatrics Fellowship Program for their training. This discussion will also address questions the candidate might have regarding the program.
Interested and eligible candidates are encouraged to contact the program director, Robert Dittus, MD, MPH; Sumi Misra, MD, MPH, TVHS GRECC Associate Director for Education/Evaluation; Harvey Murff, MD, MPH, Chief, Vanderbilt Section of Geriatric Medicine; Mariu Duggan, MD, MPH, Director of the Vanderbilt Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program; or Sandra Simmons, PhD, Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Quality Aging. Each of these individuals can be reached through the program manager, Hayly Schmidt at hayly.schmidt@vumc.org or martha.schmidt@va.gov, or by reaching out directly to the faculty member.
Formal Application
If the candidate wishes to make a formal application to the program, the next step is to submit a CV and letter of interest in the program to the program director. Following receipt of these materials, Drs. Dittus, Murff, and Duggan will discuss the candidate’s qualifications and career fit for the program. If it is determined that there is an appropriate fit and that the candidate has the appropriate qualifications, then interviews are scheduled with the program faculty and additional faculty as relevant to the candidate’s specific research career plans.
Selection Process
Following interviews, a recommendation is made by each of the faculty with regard to extending an offer to join the program as an Advanced Geriatrics fellow. In the case that multiple qualified and strong applicants are under consideration, the faculty rank order the candidates and a summary rank is used to determine the order of extending an offer to join the program.