About the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program

The Geriatric Medicine Fellowship training program offered at VCU Medical Center and Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The overall goals of the Fellowship Training Program are to provide comprehensive individualized training to:

• Prepare individuals to meet the requirements for Certification in Geriatrics Medicine.
• Prepare individuals for the care of older patients.
• Provide training in teaching, research, and administration.

In order to accomplish these goals, the Geriatrics Fellowship Training Program includes the following components:

• Geriatrics Curriculum: A variety of educational conferences and reading assignments are provided to assist fellows.
• Clinical Experience: Fellows care for a spectrum of aged men and women in a variety of settings. The curriculum provides experience as a primary care provider and consultant to healthy, as well as acutely and chronically ill, elderly patients in outpatient, inpatient, long-term care, and home care settings.
• Research: Research opportunities cover a range of clinical investigations. Fellows may choose a research project in areas of interest and are guided by preceptors.
• Teaching: Fellows gain experience in teaching learners of different level and backgrounds.
• Administration: Fellows learn administrative requirements for research, curriculum development, and/or long-term care based on their interest.

The traditional fellowship is one year. Fellows spend approximately 12 months in clinical rotations, thus allowing the fellow to be board-eligible for the geriatric medicine board exam. We provide a variety of venues for clinical rotations and education allowing the fellows to see and experience the breadth and depth of geriatric care across the health-care continuum.

We also have several educational opportunities that are truly unique to our program:

• Reynolds Grants - Two grants from the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs were formally completed in 2015, although the education initiatives spawned from these grants have been integrated into a longitudinal geriatric curriculum for medical students.
• Geriatric Education Center - Established in 2010; a statewide collaboration directed by Edward Ansello in the Virginia Center on Aging and co-directed by Peter Boling.
• Independence at Home - Member of consortium through which the creation, demonstration, and implementation of delivering comprehensive care services at home.
• Virginia Geriatrics Society - VCU faculty and staff have led the growth and development of the annual Virginia Geriatrics Society conference.
• Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program - Recipients of Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program grant in 2015 and a continuation in 2019, funded until 2024.
• CMD-Mentored Geriatric Fellowship Experience - One of our faculty geriatricians Dr. Christian Bergman is a certified medical director for the ABPLM. This gives our fellows an opportunity to be placed on a fast track to become a certified medical director.”

We are proud that many of our fellowship graduates have gone forward to accept academic positions, including seven of our current faculty members. We have been fortunate to hire several of our recent fellows to stay on as faculty as our Division continues to rapidly expand. Our geriatric division continues to grow rapidly, giving more opportunities to experience a diversity of practice and tailored mentorship to our fellows.

Research and scholarship expectations:  All fellows will engage in scholarly activity.  These activities can vary from basic research to translational research to clinical research to health outcomes research or Education research.  Virginia Commonwealth University does offer a Graduate Medical Education research program for fellows that is conducted at the start of the academic year and is highly recommended for our fellows.   Furthermore, the Department of Internal Medicine has designated funding which is set aside specifically to offset the travel cost for fellows who are presenting their work at regional, national, and international scientific and academic meetings. The division is similarly committed to assisting with costs associated with presenting and publishing scholarly efforts.

Examples of possible areas of research include but are not limited to:

• Quality improvement in home based primary care
• Delirium prevent in hospitalized elders
• Understanding and enhancing medical school geriatric curricula  
• Quality improvement on co-management models with orthopedics and other surgical specialties
• Research on transitions of care

Vacation Time
Each fellow is given a total of 3 weeks off a year

Nighttime Coverage
No in-house overnight coverage, overnight home call occurs on average 4 weeknights a month

Weekend Coverage
Fellows are given one day off in seven averaged over the 4-week block while on the inpatient consult service (3 months out of the year). All other clinical rotations are weekdays only.  On average fellows cover home call with a paired faculty attending approximately every 6th weekend (about 8 weekends a year).

GME Resident & Fellow Well-Being
Graduate Medical Education training is not easy. With the GME Physician Well-being program, we first and foremost assert our commitment to your well-being, resilience and all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. VCU and VCUHealth are dedicated to ensuring that you have the tools you need to be your best. (Learn more)

All About VCU, VCUHealth, and RVA
First things first. We fondly refer to Richmond as RVA.  People love this city because it’s awesome. And Virginia Commonwealth University is in the middle of it all.  Learn more about VCU, VCUHealth, and RVA!

• Hana Ayele, MD
• Carl J. "Christian" Bergman, MD
• Arline Bohannon, MD
• Peter Boling, MD - Division Chair
• Katy Brennan, MD
• Julia Breton, MD
• Brittany Craven, MD - Fellowship Progam Director
• Angela Gentili, MD - VA Site Director
• Michael Godschalk, MD
• Saima Habib, MD
• Nasiffa Hossain, MD
• Sarah Hobgood, MD - Associate Progam Director
• Laura Lawson, MD - VAMC
• Kathryn Rackson, MD
• Rachel Selby-Penczak, MD
• Ruchir Shah, MD - Medical Director, Hospice & Palliative Care at VAMC
• Elise Sideris, MD
• Michael Weissberger, MD

Class of 2025

Welathanthrige Savindu Botheju, MD
Medical School:   Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar 
Residency:   Virginia Commonwealth University Health System 

Class of 2023

Nicholas Boleman, MD 
Medical School:  Medical College of Georgia
Residency:   Virginia Commonwealth University Health System

The Geriatric Medicine fellowship is a participant in the NRMP match. All applications will be accepted through ERAS and follow ERAS deadlines.

All applicants to this subspecialty training program must be graduates of an ACGME accredited internal medicine or family medicine training program. VCUHS can only support J-1 visas.

Application Timeline

We will review applications from July 15 through August 31. Invitations to interview will likely be issued during this time frame.

Interview Information

If possible, we like to schedule a dinner with one or more of our fellows for all applicants the night before their interview.

Typically, interviews begin at 8 a.m. and will allow the applicant to see all 3 major clinical sites including the VA, the downtown VCU campus, and the Center for Advanced Health Management ambulatory site.

The applicants will meet with both the Program Director and Associate Program Director, interview with multiple faculty members, have lunch with current fellows and staff, and tour all facilities.

Attention:  In support of our applicants, we will be flexible in providing virtual and on-site fellowship interview opportunities.  We understand that applicants may have restrictions on travel during this time.  Our interview schedule may change as we approach the late summer and fall.  We appreciate your patience and understanding; we will absolutely work to accommodate all applicants as best possible during the COVID pandemic.

Program Director

Brittany Craven, MD
1200 E. Broad Street
Box 980509 
Richmond, VA 23298
Email: brittany.craven@vcuhealth.org

Associate Program Director

Sarah Hobgood, MD 
Email: sarah.hobgood@vcuhealth.org

Fellowship Coordinator

Cesley Watkins
VCU School of Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Box 980509
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0509
Phone: (804) 628-4497
Fax: (804) 828-4926
Email: imfellowships@vcuhealth.org