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.
Welcome
Program Director: Brittany L. Craven, MD
Learn
Program Curriculum & Conferences
Curriculum
Program Goals & Ojectives
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.
Geriatric Curriculum for Applicants
Typical Schedule
- 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 faculty preceptors.
- Administration: Fellows learn administrative requirements for research, curriculum development, and /or long-term care based on their interest.
- Teaching: Fellows gain experience in teaching learners of different level and backgrounds.
Rotations
- Geriatrics Primary Care and Geriatric Evaluation (VA)
- Community Living Center (VA)
- Palliative Care/Hospice (VA)
- Rheumatology (VA)
- Geriatric Psychiatry (VA or VCU)
- Neurology/Parkinson’s Disease Research Education & Clinical Center (VA)
- Bone Clinic (VA)
- Rehabilitation Medicine (VCU & VA)
- Home-Based Primary Care (VCU & VA)
- Nursing Facility Attending Service (VCU)
- Geriatrics Inpatient Medicine Consult Service (VCU)
- Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Clinic (VCU)
- Center for Advanced Health Management (CAHM) Primary Care clinic (VCU)
Block/Date | Location | Fellow |
---|---|---|
Block 1: July 1 | VCU | Geriatrics Faculty Clinic |
Block 2: August 3 | VA | Geriatrics/Specialty Clinics |
Block 3: Aug 31 | VCU | Inpatient Geriatric Consults |
Block 4: Sept 28 | VA | Community Living Center |
Block 5: Oct 26 | VCU | Inpatient GeriPsych |
Block 6: Nov 23 | VA | Home Based Primary Care |
Block 7: Dec 21 | VCU | Inpatient Geriatric Consults |
Block 8: Jan 18 | VA | Community Living Center |
Block 9: Feb 15 | VCU | VCU Rehab (Inpatient/Consults/Clinic/SNF) |
Block 10: March 15 | VA | Hospice and Palliative Medicine |
Block 11: April 12 | VCU | Inpatient Geriatric Consults |
Block 12: May 10 | VA | Geriatrics/Specialty Clinics |
Block 13: June 7 | VCU | Home based primary care/Long term care elective |
Unique Learning Opportunities
In 2010, our geriatric program was awarded a second large four-year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to strengthen physician training in geriatrics. The fellows will participate in the educational and teaching opportunities related to interdisciplinary team training using an innovative new approach that this grant has created. As well in 2010, VCU was awarded a 5-year HRSA grant as a statewide Geriatric Education Center.
Since 2013, we combined forces with the Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Hematology/Oncology fellowship to participate in a communication intensive. The three-part series included a didactic lecture on body language and effective communication techniques, a simulated session where the fellow is a patient receiving bad news and an actor is the doctor giving the news, and a simulated patient encounter wherein the fellow had to deliver bad news to a standardized patient actor.
At the VAMC: Aging Back Clinic
Since 2013, Dr. Gentili has collaborated with Dr. Weiner, geriatrician at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, to improve management of back pain in older veterans. Their research is funded by grants from VA Rehabilitation Research & Development. In their current Merit Review study “Optimizing Outcomes for Older Veterans with Chronic Low Back Pain Syndrome: Aging Back Clinics” (2019-2022) older veterans with chronic back pain are randomized to usual care or comprehensive care in the Aging Back Clinic. The geriatrics fellows have the opportunity to learn about innovative management of back pain as a geriatric syndrome and about multi-center studies.
Self – Directed Learning:
Cultural competence modules at: https://cccm.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/
CMD-Mentored Geriatric Fellowship Experience:
We have a designated faculty member, Dr. Christian Bergman, to provide CMD-mentored geriatric fellowship during the year. This is for fellows who may be interested in future medical directorship in post-acute care or long-term care settings. (Learn more)
CIRCAA: The Faculty & Clinicians Development Program
CIRCAA is a practical, case-based, person-centered, program creating interprofessional readiness for complex and aging adults.
Conferences
Conferences
Conference | Day/Time | Frequency |
CORE FELLOWSHIP CONFERENCES (click for description below) | ||
Annual Attendance in May | ||
Core Conference (including core content, journal club, morbidity/mortality, research conference, and board review) |
1st & 3rd Tuesdays 12:15-3:15 @ VCU |
Weekly |
Geriatrics Grand Rounds | 1st Friday of each Month at Noon | Monthly |
Virginia Geriatrics Conference | Spring | Annually |
CORE DEPARTMENT CONFERENCES (click for description below) | ||
Thursdays at Noon | Weekly | |
CORE LECTURE SERIES (click for description below) | ||
Graduate Medical Education Research Series | 10-Week Series from July to September | Annually |
- Core Curriculum Conference: (every Tuesday of the month): This conference covers the geriatric curriculum with a combination of Core lectures, Geriatric Board Review and Case Conference. Faculty present the core lectures and board review.
- Core lectures: Facultypresent core lectures on a variety of geriatric topics. Core lectures include lectures on Medical Direction based on the curriculum recommended by the American Medical Director’s Association.
- Board Review: Board review questions are discussed in preparation for the Board Exam. All the topics in the Geriatrics Review Syllabus are covered.
- Clinical Case Conference: The fellow develops an answerable clinical question and searches the medical literature for the best available evidence. The fellow discusses how to apply the evidence to the care of the patient presented. Alternatively a fellow or faculty present a case of a patient who had an unexpected death, reviews the literature on the case and starts a discussion on how the death could have been prevented. Although we do not have a formal Morbidity and Mortality conference, fellows are encouraged to present patients who had unexpected deaths or had an autopsy. Autopsies are very rare in our patient population.
- Journal Club: Fellows present an interesting research article focusing on research methodology. The fellows take turns presenting this monthly conference. Basic science topics are also covered in core curriculum conference and Geriatric Grand Rounds on the physiology of aging, pharmacology and the pathophysiology of certain geriatric conditions (like urinary incontinence)
- Geriatrics Grand Rounds: (1st Friday of each month of the month at 12:00 pm, 2K113) Regional and national experts in the field of aging teach, in didactic format, a variety of topics useful to professionals caring for the elderly.
- Virginia Geriatrics Conference: (Annually): This highly successful CME conference is attended by a national audience. Fellows may take part in the planning or delivery of this conference and may attend.
Scholarship
Our recent publications, presentations and abstracts
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
Recent Fellow Publications & Projects
- N. Goel, P. Ramsinghani, S. Hobgood (2022). No Bones About It: The need for increasing osteoporosis screening in men. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
- McKay, L and Hobgood, S (2019). Establishing a Deprescribing Clinic Collaborative Model to Reduce Polypharmacy and Increase Patient Engagement. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
- Brennan, K., & Hobgood, S. (2018). Advancing how we order “Advanced Care Planning”. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(S2), 35-36.
- Lawson, L., & Hobgood, S. (2018). The ABC’s of ACB: Anticholingerics and deprescribing. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 66(S2), 38-39.
- Craven B, Hobgood S. Trauma Consults Say…Call a Geriatrician. American Geriatrics Conference, May 2017.
VCU Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care, Richmond, VA (Nov 2016 - June 2017)
Principle Investigator: Kelly Lockeman, Ph.D.
Title: “Assessing the Relationship between Collaboration and Team Performance among Students in an Interprofessional Geriatric Virtual Case”
- Created a grading rubric to assess team collaboration
- Applied the grading rubric to interprofessional teams of health professional students within a virtual case
- Assessed for correlation between quality of collaboration and team performance
Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, VA (Sept 2015 – June 2017)
Departments of Geriatrics and Nephrology
Principle Investigator: Angela Gentili, MD
Title: “Estimating Renal Function in Older Adults”
- Examined the most accurate formula to estimate creatinine clearance compared to 24-hour urine creatinine clearance in the elderly
- Analyzed prior data collected from patients in the Geriatrics and Nephrology clinics
- Performed statistical analysis of the data
Life During Fellowship
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
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!
Program Leadership
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

Brittany L. Craven, MD
Program Director

Brittany L. Craven, MD
Program Director
Internal Medicine
Division of Geriatric Medicine

Sarah Hobgood, MD
Associate Program Director

Sarah Hobgood, MD
Associate Program Director
Internal Medicine
Division of Geriatric Medicine
Email: sarah.hobgood@vcuhealth.org

Angela Gentili, MD
VA Site Director

Angela Gentili, MD
VA Site Director
Internal Medicine
Division of Geriatric Medicine
Email: angela.gentili@va.gov

Peter A. Boling, MD
Division Chair

Peter A. Boling, MD
Division Chair
Internal Medicine
Division of Geriatric Medicine
Email: peter.boling@vcuhealth.org
Faculty
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
- 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
Fellows
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
Class of 2024
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
Alumni
Alumni
Nicholas Boleman, MD - 2023
Medical School: Medical College of Georgia
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
Neeti Goel, MD - 2022
Medical School: Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Miami, FL
Residency: University of Central Florida HCA-GME Consortium/ Ocala Regional Medical Center, Ocala FL
Priyanka Ramsinghani, MD - 2022
Medical School: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, VA
Residency: St. Francis Family Medicine Residency, Midlothian, VA
Medical School: Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Medical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Community Hospital East Family Medicine Residency, Indianapolis, IN
Kathryn Brennan, MD - 2018
Medical School: Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Residency: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Laura Lawson, MD - 2018
Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Jillian Dur, DO
Medical School: University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: VCU/VCOM Riverside Family Medicine, Newport News, VA
Brittany Craven, MD
Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA
Residency: Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA
Elise Sideris, MD
Medical School: Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, NJ
Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Natalie Penaranda, MD
Medical School: University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Manila, Philippines
Residency: Providence Hospital, Washington, DC
Mir Ali, MBBS
Medical School: Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore Karnataka, India
Residency: Internal Medicine at Hamad General Hospital, Qatar
Kyong Chong, MD, PharmD
Medical School: Marshall University School of Medicine
Residency: Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University
Ellen Moore, MD
Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Residency: Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Katherine Coffey-Vega MD
Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School
Residency: University of Virginia
Kharia Holmes MD
Medical School: Morehouse School of Medicine
Residency: VCU School of Medicine
Apply
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
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.
Contacts
Geriatric Medicine Fellowship
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
Leslie Aitken, DEdMin
VCU School of Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Box 980509
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0509
Phone: (804) 828-3510
Fax: (804) 828-4926
Email: imfellowships@vcuhealth.org