All BU medical students are invited to join the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Student Chapter.

The American Geriatrics Society is the premier professional organization of health care providers dedicated to improving the health and well being of all older adults. With an active membership of over 6,000 health care professionals, the AGS has a long history of effecting change in the provision of health care for older adults. In the last decade, the Society has become a pivotal force in shaping attitudes, policies and practices regarding health care for older people.

Through quarterly lunch meetings that include panels, discussions, and residency advising, the BUSM Student Chapter seeks:

• To educate all medical students about the clinical needs and health care concerns of older patients
• To increase awareness of end-of-life care issues such as palliative care and hospice care
• To encourage and provide opportunities for medical student clinical and basic science research in geriatrics
• To interest physicians-in-training in the field of geriatrics
• To develop relationships between geriatrics faculty and medical students

For those members of the AGS Student Interest Group who want additional exposure to geriatrics during their pre-clinical and clinical years, they will have an opportunity to participate in several additional activities on a volunteer basis.  Interested students can be paired with senior mentors who live in the community, with whom they can develop a longitudinal relationship.  Senior mentors have been recruited from local senior housing complexes such as the Moreville House in the Fenway area.  By request, first and second year students can be assigned to Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Integrated Problems small groups facilitied by a geriatric medicine faculty member.  After completion of second or third year, students can choose to participate in the Summer Institute in Geriatrics, a program funded by the National Institute on Aging and sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society.  Third year students have the option to be assigned to the inpatient geriatrics service for a part of their third year required medicine clerkship.  Students interested in research will be provided mentorship and opportunities to apply for grants such as the Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) program, sponsored by the American Federation for Aging Research and funded by the National Institute on Aging and private foundations.

2007-2008 AGS Student Chapter Co-Chairs: Emily Adams, James Yeh, Victoria Kerestes, Stacey Fulton

American Geriatrics Society Student Chapter website

For further information contact: Serena Chao, MD at Serena.Chao@bmc.org.