The Department offers a 12-month. ACGME-accredited program in geriatric psychiatry. The goal of this program is to produce specialists in the delivery of psychiatric medical care to older adults suffering from psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders. The Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program holds full accreditation from the ACGME through October 2011 and is sponsored by the core adult residency program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH).

The residency offers rotations in the following settings:

- Inpatient geropsychiatry specialty unit at NMH
- Outpatient geriatric psychiatry specialty clinic at NMH Diagnostic evaluations Pharmacological management
- Individual and family psychotherapy Long-term care setting at Leiberman Geriatric Center, Skokie, IL
- Consultation in the community via home visits through the Council for Jewish Elderly
- Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Core Center
- Geriatric Psychiatry/Neuropsychiatry
- Behavioral neurology
- Neuropsychology
- Clinical rounds
- Geriatric medicine specialty clinic at NMH
- Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
- Palliative care rotation at NMH
- Consult Liaison at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- Research rotation at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center

Geriatric psychiatry residents receive supervised clinical training in both primary and consultative care in the inpatient and outpatient settings. The program offers training in the biological and psychosocial aspects of both normal aging and of the pathology of primary psychiatric disturbances beginning in or continuing into older age, as well as training in the psychiatric impact of acute and chronic physical illnesses.

The Department features several nationally recognized research programs. Geriatric psychiatry residents have opportunities for supervised participation in funded research projects.

The goals and objectives of the training program are to provide the fellow with an extensive clinical and educational experience in the field of geriatric psychiatry, which includes the development of diagnostic and assessment skills, experience and knowledge of a wide range of treatment modalities, exposure to older people in a broad range of clinical settings, and with a wide range of psychopathology. The experience will also include developing and understanding the prevention of mental illness, a foundation in the biological, psychological, and social aspects of gerontology, an enhanced understanding of legal and ethical issues, and intensive experiences in working with multi-disciplinary teams.

Visit our website: http://psychiatry.northwestern.edu/index.php/edu-geriatric-psychiatry/

Sandra S. Swantek, M.D.
Director, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
446 E. Ontario Rm 7-100
Chicago IL 60611
VM: 312-926-2191