Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program
Program Overview
The goal of the VA/Stanford Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program is to train psychiatrists to assume leadership roles in clinical and academic geriatric psychiatry. Fellows develop clinical expertise in assessing and treating the wide range of psychiatric disorders in the elderly. Fellows also develop skills in scholarly activities and administration that are required of leaders in the clinical practice community and in academia.
Accreditation
The Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship is accredited by the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Certifications
Trainees who successfully complete the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program are eligible to take the subspecialty certification examination in Geriatric Psychiatry offered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN).
Program Details
Curriculum
Clinical Rotations
Our one-year curriculum gives the fellows the opportunity to rotate on multiple services at Stanford Hospital and the Palo Alto VA Health Care System. Many of the current rotations (subject to change) include:
- Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatry
- Geriatric Outpatient Psychiatry
- Geriatric Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit (GPRU)
- Extended Care/Nursing Home
- Geriatric Medicine
- Research
- Geriatric Consult Liaison
Fellows participate in dedicated case conferences and didactics, in addition to being integral parts of the varied multidisciplinary patient care teams.
Didactics
Fellows attend Grand Rounds and formal didactic instruction weekly when they are excused from clinical duties. The didactic and clinical curricula provide fellows with a thorough and well-balanced presentation of the fundamentals and theories of geriatric psychiatry topics, clinical decision-making, and therapeutic modalities, as well as ethical, cultural, legal and systems-based understanding of mental health issues. Some typical topics (subject to change) include:
- Patient Safety/Quality Improvement (QI)
- Neurology/Neuroradiology
- GPRU case conferences
- Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry
- Outpatient Psychiatry
Research Training
Fellows will be given the opportunity to participate in any number of new and ongoing clinical research studies. They are encouraged to develop their own pilot project and to present data at national meetings.
Sample Rotation Schedule
| July - September | Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatry (VA-PAD) 65% Geriatric Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit -GPRU (VA-PAD) 25% Geriatric Outpatient Psychiatry (VA-PAD) 10% |
| October - December | Extended Care/ Nursing Home (VA-MPD) 30% Geriatric Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit -GPRU (VA-PAD) 20% Geriatric Outpatient Psychiatry (VA-MPD) 10% Geriatric Medicine Outpatient Consultation (VA-PAD) 10% Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation/Liaison (VA-PAD) 10% Research/ Quality Improvement 20% |
| Jan - Feb (1/2) | Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic (SHC) 10% Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation Clinic (SHC) 10% Research/ Quality Improvement 80% |
| Feb (1/2) | Palliative Care (SHC) 90% Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic (SHC) 10% |
| March | Geriatric Inpatient Psychiatry (SHC) 90% Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic (SHC) 10% |
| April - May | Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic (SHC) 10% Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation Clinic (SHC) 10% Electroconvulsive Therapy - ECT (SHC) 50% Research/ Quality Improvement 30% |
| June | Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic (SHC) 10% Geriatric Psychiatry Consultation Clinic (SHC) 10% Sleep Medicine (SHC) 80% |
Application Process
We are currently accepting applications for 2024-25.
Program Eligibility Criteria:
- Before entry into the program, applicants must complete or have completed an ACGME accredited psychiatry residency program that qualifies them to sit for the ABPN Psychiatry Board.
- Applicants must be a U.S. citizen, or possess the appropriate documentation to allow them to legally train at the Stanford University Medical Center according to School of Medicine Department of Graduate Medical Education policy.
Please note that Stanford Health Care does not sponsor H-1B Visas; only J-1 Visas can be sponsored for this fellowship.
- Applications for training in the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program must include:
- Completed application form
- Copy of medical school diploma and/or transcripts
- Documentation of post-graduate medical education completed elsewhere
- Copies of state medical license(s), DEA certificate, board certifications, when applicable
- Documentation of ECFMG certification, when applicable
- Documentation of VISA status, for international applicants
- Curriculum Vitae
- Personal Statement
- Three professional letters of recommendation, one must be from the psychiatry training director documenting that the applicant meets the eligibility criterion (#1 above); and at least one from a Geriatric Psychiatry supervisor.
- Documentation of successful passing scores on USMLE parts 1, 2, and 3.
- Completed application form
- Applicants must be eligible for medical licensure in the State of California. Graduates of foreign medical schools should contact the Medical Board of California to ensure the requirements to obtain a license and practice medicine in this state have been met.
Program Faculty and Staff
Daniel Kim, MD
Daniel Kim MD, a board-certified geriatric psychiatrist, obtained a B.S. in cellular & molecular biology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1996, and then earned an M.D. from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California in 2000. He subsequently completed his general psychiatry residency training at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 2004, followed by a clinical fellowship and an NRSA postdoctoral fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he was a Hartford scholar. He subsequently served as medical director of the Senior Behavioral Health Intensive Outpatient Program, as well as the associate medical director of the Senior Behavioral Health inpatient unit at UCSD, till moving to Stanford University in 2016, where he now serves as medical director of the inpatient geriatric psychiatry service and director of the geriatric psychiatry fellowship program.
Erin Cassidy-Eagle, PhD
Dr. Erin Cassidy-Eagle is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at Stanford University. She is an attending Psychologist in the Geriatric Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic with more than 20 years of experience working with older adults. She is board certified by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in Behavioral Sleep Medicine and is currently serving as President of the newly formed Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. She has conducted research and clinical trainings in the areas of insomnia, geriatric depression, anxiety, as well as Alzheimer’s disease and their associated behavioral manifestations. Dr. Cassidy-Eagle has served as PI on an RCT utilizing CBT for Insomnia versus an active control as well as a project developing and implementing a training program for sleep interventionists. Clinically, Dr. Erin Cassidy-Eagle specializes in the treatment of mental health disorders in adults and older adults. Dr. Cassidy-Eagle has a special interest in the intersection of sleep, cognition and mental health.
Howard H. Fenn, MD
Howard H. Fenn, MD is a staff psychiatrist at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System and an affiliated clinical associate professor at Stanford. He is board-certified in both geriatric psychiatry and adult psychiatry, and has board certification with the American Board of Forensic Psychiatry. He completed his medical school at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, and graduated from general psychiatry residency at the University of California, San Francisco. His interests in geriatric psychiatry include psychopharmacology of the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia, legal aspects of geriatric psychiatry, and inpatient psychiatry. He has published articles and chapters related to these topics. He consults to the Stanford/VA Alzheimer’s Center. He has served for ten years as Co-director of the Stanford Geriatric Psychiatry fellowship and is the VA site director of the inpatient rotation for Stanford geriatric medicine fellowship.
Barbara R. Sommer, MD
Barbara R. Sommer, MD is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, with Added Qualifications in Geriatric Psychiatry. She received her MD at New York Medical College and then completed a medical internship at Baystate Medical Center, a major affiliate of Tufts University. After a Psychiatry residency at Tufts, she completed fellowships in both psychopharmacology and geriatric psychiatry at McLean Hospital, part of Harvard Medical School. She has served as a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York. She was the director of geriatric psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine for 16 years, and continues as an attending psychiatrist there as an emerita Associate Professor.
Perspectives from our Fellows
"Fellowship has been such a great experience! Here at Stanford, the services are not fellow dependent and therefore solely for the purpose of your education. I have had an opportunity to work with a variety of patient populations and faculty are supportive and accessible at all times. I've learned so much and have had fun while doing so! Looking back, I would certainly choose this program again."
Stipends and Benefits
Stipends 2022-23
| Year | Annual | Per Month |
| I | $74,027.20 | $6,168.81 |
| II | $77,771.20 | $6,480.81 |
| III | $83,657.60 | $6,971.33 |
| IV | $88,400.00 | $7,366.53 |
| V | $93,953.60 | $7,829.32 |
| VI | $98,092.80 | $8,174.24 |
| VII | $103,604.80 | $8,633.57 |
| VIII | $108,326.40 | $9,027.03 |
For more information, please visit the GME Office site.
Benefits
Annual educational allowance $2,000* |
Paid in November providing, all required HealthStream and EPIC/LINKS modules are completed by house staff's assigned deadline |
Cell phone allowance $1,000* |
Automatically added to paycheck in July |
Food allowance $10 per day (shifts of 12 hours or longer for clinical rotations only at SHC & LPCH)* |
Payments made on last paycheck of each month Meal money is taxable income |
Housing stipend $7,200 per year (paid as $600 monthly)*+ |
Automatically paid on 1st paycheck of each month |
Medical, dental, vision, and long-term disability insurance provided |
Eligible to participate on house staff's hire date |
Moving allowance (new hires only) $3,000* |
Automatically added to a paycheck in August |
1% annual bonus based on completion of a Quality Improvement Project* |
Automatically paid at the end of each academic year in June |
Cost of initial CA MD license and renewals |
Paid upon reimbursement submission for academic year expense occurrence |
Cost of initial DEA and renewals |
Paid upon reimbursement submission for academic yearexpense occurrence |
Cost of USMLE Part Ill for Interns |
Paid upon reimbursement submission for academic year expense occurrence |
* Please see House Staff Policies and Procedures for full details.
Subject to appropriate taxes
Contact Us
Daniel Kim, MD
Geriatric Psychiatry Program Director
dsjkim@stanford.edu
Romola L. Breckenridge
Administrative Program Coordinator
romola@stanford.edu
Ph: (650) 736-1743
Mailing Address
Daniel Kim, MD
c/o Romola L. Breckenridge
Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University School of Medicine
401 Quarry Road, Room 2208
Stanford, CA 94305-5723