Care of the Elderly

As the Canadian population ages, family physicians will face the challenges of increasing medical and social complexity in our older patients. Get the skills you'll need to face this challenge head on. We are looking for passionate family physicians who want to increase their knowledge and clinical skills in caring for older adults in the community, subacute and/or acute care settings. By completing an enhanced skills diploma in Care of the Elderly medicine, you'll gain confidence in caring for patients across a spectrum of frailty.

The Cumming School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine offers an accredited 12-month Care of the Elderly R3 diploma program to recent CCFP-certified graduates. Those interested in applying to our COE program as return-from-practice candidates may be eligible for a flexible 6.5 block certificate spread out over 12 months. This return-from-practice option is only available to candidates who are more than 3 years out from their CCFP training at the time of application.

Our graduates have gone on to successful careers that include activities in medical education, leadership at local and provincial levels, scholarship, and both senior-focused and general family medicine. However you intend to practice in the future, the University of Calgary's COE R3 program will give you a solid foundation as a care of the elderly family physician.

Objectives

Our program seeks to graduate learners with competency in the following Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs):

• Manage the frail older adult in a variety of settings, such as the community, facility dwellings and acute care.
• Prevent, diagnose and manage geriatric syndromes.
• Comprehensively review medications to maximize benefits and minimize number of medications and adverse events.
• Engage in an interdisciplinary team approach to a patient's care.
• When facilitating a family meeting, effectively communicate with an older adult and or the substitute decision maker.
• Engage patients and their families in goals of care conversations & advanced care planning.
• Provide chronic pain, palliative and end of life care to an older adult.
• Recognize, assess and manage driving issues in an older adult.
• Educate professionals, patients, families, health care providers and others in the community on principles of geriatric care and aging related health care issues.
• Determine the decision-making capacity of an older adult.
• Assess and manage neurocognitive disorders in the older adult.

Research:
Residents are required to complete a scholarly project by the end of the program, and present at one of two resident research days.