John A. Burns School of Medicine
347 N. Kuakini Street HPM-9
Honolulu, HI 96817
Tel: (808) 523-8461
Fax: (808) 528-1897
Web: geriatrics.hawaii.edu

Faculty

K. H. Masaki, MD (Chair)—geriatric medicine
S. Ahsan, MD—geriatric medicine
R. Fernandes, MD, MPH—geriatric medicine
D. Fischberg, MD—pain and palliative medicine
K. Lubimir, MD—geriatric medicine
L. Okamoto, MD—geriatric medicine
B. Rodriguez, MD, PhD—epidemiology
C. Takenaka, MD—geriatric medicine
B. Tamura, MD—geriatric medicine
M. Uechi, MD—geriatric medicine
A. Wen, MD—geriatric medicine
B. Willcox, MD—geriatric medicine
M. Yee, MS—gerontology

Degree Offered: MD

The Academic Program

Geriatric medicine is dedicated to the care of older people and to healthy aging throughout life, so that the frailties and disabilities common in older years can be prevented. To provide comprehensive care, geriatrics is often interdisciplinary, and clinical instruction takes place in a wide variety of settings, including outpatient, acute hospital, nursing home, retirement community, home care, rehabilitation, and palliative care settings. As an age-based specialty like pediatric medicine, geriatric medicine includes aspects of internal medicine, pharmacology, psychiatry, adult development, family medicine, neurology, urology, gynecology, rehabilitation, and palliative medicine.

The Department of Geriatric Medicine provides education for: medical students; residents in internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, and other specialties; fellows in Geriatric Medicine; practicing physicians; and allied health professionals and students in the field of aging. The fully accredited Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program is for physicians who are graduates of either internal medicine or family medicine residency programs. The first year of fellowship training is designed to lead to eligibility for board certification in geriatric medicine. Additional years of fellowship are devoted to research, consultative medicine, medical education, and medical administration.

The Division of Palliative Medicine is part of the Department of Geriatric Medicine. Many of the department’s faculty members have board certification in both Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Medicine.

The Department of Geriatric Medicine is involved in an extensive array of research programs, thus providing training and experience in research for students at all levels.