MEL 8608: Memory Disorders Clinic

Drs. J. Fils, M. Schoenberg, and Michelle Mattingly

This elective is designed to provide interested senior medical students with an advanced experience in the evaluation and treatment of Memory Disorder Clinic patients. The psychiatric evaluation will allow the senior student to become proficient in the diagnostic work-up of the patient with a memory complaint and with the memory disorders work-up which includes neuroimaging studies of the brain, laboratory studies, neuropsychological testing and psychosocial evaluation. Students will gain expertise in geriatric medicine, geriatric psychiatry and the differential diagnosis of patients with memory complaints and psychiatric disorders.

The student will spend the majority of the elective at the Memory Disorders Clinic at the Psychiatry Center. . The student may be involved at other facilities such as an Assisted Living Facility or nursing home as relates to the geriatric population. Supervision and seminars will complement these clinical activities.

Objectives

1. Become familiar with the multidisciplinary assessment of elderly patients
2. Develop specialized diagnostic skills for identifying and differentiating the multiple causes of dementia
3. Learn how to integrate psychiatry and medical care of the elderly
4. Become familiar with utilization of community resources in the care of the elderly
5. Become familiar with the therapeutic rapport between physician and the patient’s family or/and care giver

Evaluation

The student's clinical performance will be evaluated by the supervising faculty according to the elective objectives. In addition, the student will be required to prepare a written summary of the elective experience including a description of clinical and academic activities, a self evaluation of what the he/she learned on the elective, and a critique of his/her elective experience.