Vol XXXVIII, Apr '09

The geriatrics fellows and residents participating in the program had high praise for the experience. As one Futures attendee, Kathleen Unroe, MD, MHA, said, “I am so glad I had this opportunity. It was very helpful to meet and learn from current medical directors. The experience helped solidify my desire to practice in long-term care. I learned a great deal of practical information that I haven’t gained elsewhere, especially in terms of regulations and approaches to managing risk.” She added, “It was fascinating to hear about the different kinds of career opportunities in this care setting and the perspectives and experiences of physicians working in those areas.”

Program Directors Cari Levy, MD, CMD, and Heidi White, MD, CMD, put together a program that gave participants a clear picture of long term care medical direction and what it is like to work as a team leader in this care setting. “The highlight of this program for me is hearing the geriatric fellows and residents say at the end of the meeting, ‘If these are the kinds of people I’ll be working with, then long-term care is the place for me.’” Levy notes that she always is “shocked” that most participants have not been exposed to all of the opportunities in medicine related to medical direction. Additionally, these young practitioners often don’t know about AMDA. “They uniformly say that they had no idea there was an organization with so many tools to help nursing facility medical directors and attending physicians,” says Levy. She adds, “I think the AMDA Symposium legitimizes nursing facility practice for many of the Futures participants.”