UT Houston launches geriatric training with $3.25 million in grant, matc...( HOUSTON(Nov. 21 2008)The University o...),Health

HOUSTON(Nov. 21, 2008)The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston will launch a new program, Training Excellence in Aging Studies (TEXAS), to promote geriatrics training for physicians through a prestigious $2 million award from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and $1.25 million in matching funds.

"This will allow us to teach geriatric medicine principles to everyone from the most junior medical student to practicing physicians. With the reach of Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital and Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center, we intend to impact nearly 12,000 medical students, residents, non-geriatrics faculty, practicing physicians and geriatricians over a four-year period," said Carmel B. Dyer, M.D., director of the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine and professor and associate chair of internal medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "We'll also be able to add elder abuse training in emergency rooms and community health clinics."

This is the fourth round of geriatrics training grants from the Reynolds Foundation's Aging and Quality of Life Program, created to improve the quality of life for older people by preparing physicians to provide better care for them. The Reynolds Foundation's goal is to train all physicians to better care for frail elderly people, regardless of their specialty or practice. According to Steven L. Anderson, the Foundation's president, the UT Medical School at Houston was chosen for its strong leadership, high level of institutional support and creative new methods for the training of medical students, residents, non-geriatrics faculty and practicing physicians in geriatrics.

"With this program, our medical school is taking a defining step in becoming a leader in educating physicians in the care of the elderly, who are among our most vulnerable and complex patients," said Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D., dean of the UT Medical School at Houston. "We are grateful to the Reynolds Found
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