PHPR 664 Geriatrics Advanced Clerkship

  • Marty Eng, Pharm.D.

  • Department of Pharmacy Practice

  • University of Kansas Medical Center

  • 3901 Rainbow Blvd

  • Kansas City, Kansas 66160-7231

  • Phone:(913) 588-5372

  • Fax: (913) 588-2355

  • E-mail: meng@kumc.edu

  • Website: http://www2.kumc.edu/pharmacy

 

Clerkship Description

The population is aging.  This demographic trend ensures that the graduating Pharm.D. candidate will  undoubtedly encounter older adults in their careers.  This clerkship is designed to give the Pharm.D. candidate a broad experience applying pharmaceutical care to the older adult.  Through direct patient care and various scholarly activities, the Pharm.D. candidate will gain a foundational experience in caring for the older adult on which to base his/her future practice in any setting and/or to further develop in an advanced post-graduate experience such as residency or fellowship.

 

Clerkship Goals

  • Gain competency in applying patient interview/assessment techniques developed in previous clerkships to geriatric patients.

  • Gain competency in geriatric sensitivity. (Dispel some common myths about the older adult).

  • Gain competency in screening, assessing, and documenting potentially inappropriate medication use and adverse drug reactions in older adults.

  • Gain competency in assessing and developing pharmaceutical care plans to optimize therapy for individual older patients.

Clerkship Objectives

  • Learn the most common theories on aging.

  • Discuss the biology of aging as it relates to clinical status of an older adult.

  • Discuss pharmacokinetic and dynamic changes that occur as people age that impact therapy.

  • Recognize the continuum of care services available to the older adult.

  • Be able to design and monitor pharmacotherapeutic regimens for older adult patients.

Clerkship Activities

  • Patient rounding with medical team.

  • Directed/supervised patient assessment/interviews.

  • Interdisciplinary journal clubs, pharmacy journal clubs.

  • Patient presentations daily.

  • Topic discussions: geriatric disease states twice weekly.

Clerkship topics that may be covered:

  1. General principles of aging.

  2. Biology of aging: common theories of aging, normal versus aging changes.

  3. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic changes in the older adult.

  4. Discuss use of potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults.

  5. Discuss the continuum of care as it serves the patient form wellness and health promotion to end of life care issues.

  6. Atypical presentation, disease course.

  7. Monitoring of therapy.

  8. Documentation.

  9. Geriatric Syndromes: falls/gait disorders, dizziness, incontinence(fecal, urinary), functional decline, cognitive decline, agitation, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, weight loss, pain(chronic).

  10. Disease states:  Cardiovascular (hypertension/hypotension, heart failure, hyperlipidemia, thromboembolic disorder, peripheral vascular disease), Dermatology (pressure sores), Endocrine (hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, hormone replacement therapy, osteoporosis), Gastrointestinal (peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, constipation), Hematology (anemia), Infectious Disease (pneumonia, influenza, herpes zoster), Musculoskeletal (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, acute/chronic pain, fractures), Neurologic (cerebrovascular disease, transient ischemic attacks, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, delirium, seizure disorders, neuropathies, neuropathic pain), Psychology (depression, sleep, anxiety), Respiratory (COPD, cold/cough/allergy).

Clerkship Required Readings

Various readings will be assigned and discussed as scheduled and as time permits.  The Pharm.D. candidate will be oriented to the clerkship schedule at the orientation on Day 1.  These readings will supplement the Pharm.D. candidate's clerkship experience and aid in achieving the above stated goals and objectives.

Clerkship Site/Schedule

Orientation will be conducted at the Aberdeen Village Retirement Community on the first Monday of the rotation. 

  • Aberdeen Village Retirement Community

  • Center on Aging

  • Parkinson's Disease clinic

  • Memory Disorders clinic

Directions to Site

To get driving directions to KUMC, please click on http://www.kumc.edu/outreach/marketing/roadmap.html

To get a map of the KUMC building complex, please click on http://www.kumc.edu/Pulse/map.html  The inpatient pharmacy (B-400) and faculty offices (B801) are located in the basement of The University of Kansas Hospital directly beneath the main entrance on Cambridge Street.

 

PPE Director: Jim Kleoppel  

Page modified: 2/03