HCOA faculty and faculty associates are course directors as well as faculty in education and training activities offered by the medical and graduate schools of BCM and the postgraduate training programs of several clinical departments.

Medical School: The four year medical school curriculum begins with an 18 month pre-clinical phase during which the required curriculum delivered by HCOA faculty introduces students to the biology of normal aging, the pathophysiology underlying major geriatric clinical problems, and the behavioral, social and ethical issues associated with caring for older people. Preclinical electives are also offered emphasizing comprehensive clinical care of older people and families. During the 30 months of clinical training a number of clinical clerkships, electives and selective are offered in specialized geriatric ambulatory and inpatient settings in medicine and psychiatry and in a community hospice. Research electives in geriatric medicine, psychiatry , physical medicine and health services also enable students to pursue mentored projects in aging research. To read more about these educational opportunities in aging and to learn about the new Geriatrics Track, click here.

Postgraduate Training: Geriatric residency rotations are required activities for trainees in Medicine, Family Medicine, and Psychiatry. These required rotations offer excellent opportunities to learn the process of comprehensive geriatric assessment, the essential tool for evaluating the elderly patient with numerous complicating and interacting problems affecting quality of life. The residents learn about diagnosis and treatment strategies employed by geriatricians in the care of frail elders and their families and learn to provide care for older adults as part of an interdisciplinary team in varied health care settings, including managed care and geropsychiatry clinics.

The Fellowship Program in Geriatric Medicine of the Department of Internal Medicine is coordinated by the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine. It is a fully accredited, two-year program for physicians designed to develop leadership skills for successful academic careers as clinicians, investigators, educators, and administrators in geriatrics. The exceptional resources of the Baylor College of Medicine and its affiliated institutions provide exposure to a wide variety of faculty, clinical training sites, research, and teaching opportunities. The Fellowship Program offers a broad range of clinical training experiences in diversified sites. In addition to required rotations in medicine, long-term care and geropsychiatry, rotations in rehabilitation, neurology, and hospice are also provided as electives. Development of a research project is also an integral part of the Fellowship Program.

Graduate School: The Biology of Aging Program is a special track in the interdisciplinary Cell and Molecular Biology graduate program. Participating faculty members hold appointments in several of the basic science departments and are HCOA Faculty Associates. In the first year of the graduate program the students attend didactic courses, including two courses on aging, seminars, and rotate through the laboratories. The remainder of the program is oriented toward full-time laboratory work and participation in the Biology of Aging Seminar Series, the Journal Club in Aging, departmental seminars, and other student activities.

Affiliated Education
·Medical School
·Postgraduate Training
·Graduate School

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