Overview
Established in 2004, the Geriatric Medicine fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Florida is a one year, ACGME accredited program designed to train future leaders in Geriatric Medicine. To date, we have trained fellows who are current leaders in all aspects of the field including academics, research, clinical practice, and administration. We are looking for fellows who are critical thinkers, self-motivated and find joy in caring for older adults.
Fellows will learn from an experienced interprofessional team who are dedicated to optimizing the lives of the diverse older adult population they are privileged to care for. Cleveland Clinic Florida's Geriatric Medicine department is nationally recognized for its expertise and care. We are looking for fellows who are critical thinkers, self-motivated and find joy in caring for older adults.
Our program is located in Weston, FL, a community nestled about twenty minutes west of Fort Lauderdale and thirty to forty-five minutes from Miami. The community has highly-rated public schools and it has been rated as one of the safest locations to live in Florida.
Mandi Sehgal, MD
Program Director
Curriculum
Our program’s goal is to develop outstanding Geriatricians, who become leaders in the field and who will provide the highest quality of care to older adults.
Our teaching is developed around the 5Ms framework: Mind, Medications, Mobility, Multi-complexity, and What Matters Most (the patient’s goals, values and preferences) coupled with shared decision making and person-centered care.
Rotation experiences are one month long and are taught by Cleveland Clinic Faculty and affiliate faculty in the community. Sites where Fellows will provide care include both inpatient and ambulatory care, along with experiences in hospice and palliative medicine, geriatric psychiatry, acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing, long term care, and home visits. Weekly, Fellows participate in their continuity clinic and the Memory Care Clinic, learning to do Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments.
Academic Half Day sessions occur twice weekly on Monday and Friday and include didactic sessions, journal club, board review, and patient safety and quality conference.
Fellows are afforded many opportunities for scholarship and engagement with other Geriatric Fellows and Faculty at the local, regional and national levels including: the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Annual Meeting, GERI- A – FLOAT, Fellow's Most Difficult Case Conference, the AGS Leadership Series for Fellows, as well as opportunities to submit work for publication to national journals including the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Required rotations
- Nursing home.
- Rehabilitation.
- Hospice/palliative care.
- Geriatric psychiatry.
- Neurology.
- Home visits - longitudinal.
- Inpatient consults.
Elective rotations
- Endocrinology.
- Cardiology.
- Urology/Gynecology.
- Infectious disease.
- ENT.
- Hematology/oncology.
- Rheumatology.
- Orthopedics.
- Others as available, based on interest.
Benefits
Benefits information including salaries, insurance information and more, can be found by visiting the Graduate Medical Education Benefits page.
Research
The members of Cleveland Clinic Florida's Department of Geriatric Medicine are involved in multiple areas of research. Some areas of study include:
- Cognitive decline and its impact on patient and family.
- Geriatric Medicine co-management and its impact on patient outcomes.
- Frailty and its impact on post-operative outcomes.
- Balance and gait issues in older adults.
- Review of advance directives among older adults.
Application Process
The Cleveland Clinic Florida (CCF) Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program is housed within the Department of Internal Medicine. We accept applications from graduates of ACGME accredited Internal Medicine and Family Medicine residency programs. We are looking for fellows who are critical thinkers, self-motivated, and find joy in caring for older adults.
We participate in the National Residency Matching Program. Our ERAS ID is: #1511121144.
Applications must be submitted through ERAS and are accepted starting in July through the end of August of the year preceding the fellowship. Interviews are conducted from September – November. We sponsor both J1 and H1b visas.
Minimum Requirements
- Successful completion or pending completion of an ACGME accredited Internal Medicine or Family Medicine residency program.
- Completion and passing of USMLE Steps 1-3.
- Letters of Recommendation, including one from the program director.
For more information, please contact our program coordinator, Gloria Hernandez at hernang1@ccf.org.
Fellows
Class of 2022
Jonathan Paul, MD
Education: Wuhan University School of Medicine, China
Residency: St. Mary Mercy Hospital, Livania, MI
Class of 2023
Francisco Maldonado-Diaz, MD
Education: Univ. Autonoma de Guadelajara, Mexico
Residency: University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Medical Center
Faculty
Mandi Sehgal, MD
Program Director
Diana Galindo, MD
Staff
Karen Sierra, MD
Staff
Juan Nunez Medina, MD
Staff
Fernanda Heitor-Behdad, MD
Staff
Paula D’Andrea, APRN
Staff
Alumni
| FELLOW | GRADUATE YEAR |
| Szilvia Udvari Nagy, MD |
2005 |
| Anu Garg, MD | 2008 |
| J. Erwin Loquias MD | 2009 |
| Shibu Varughese, MD | 2010 |
| Renato Samala, MD | 2011 |
| Sheryl Ann Sabillo, MD | 2012 |
| Jorge Mora, MD | 2013 |
| Amy Paul, MD | 2014 |
| Justinder Malhotra, MD | 2015 |
| Javier Lopez Moncayo, MD | 2016 |
| Nivia Ruiz, MD | 2017 |
| Malika Nair, MD | 2018 |
| Alfred Kokwaro, MD | 2019 |
| Jacqueline Cortizo-Hernandez, MD | 2020 |
| Jairo Tejada, MD | 2021 |
| Jonathan Paul, MD |
2022 |
| Francisco Maldonado, MD |
2023 |
