Maura Brennan, MD, AGSF, FACP, FAAHPM, HMDC
Maura Brennan, MD, AGSF, FACP, FAAHPM, HMDC, a champion of education in geriatrics and Chief in the Division of Geriatrics, Palliative Care, and Post-Acute Medicine at Baystate Health in Springfield, Mass., was honored by the AGS with the 2017 Dennis W. Jahnigen Award.
“Dr. Brennan has helped countless students and fellow educators bridge empathy for older adults with an interest in geriatrics in the classroom, where the future of our field is taking shape,” notes AGS President Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF. “By inspiring interest in geriatrics across the diverse professions involved in well-being, Dr. Brennan has become a model for the critical role education plays in high-quality, person-centered care.”
Dr. Brennan’s impact as an educator has been felt far beyond Massachusetts and Baystate Health, where she supports older adults and trainees in a variety of roles, including as director of the geriatric medicine fellowship. Dr. Brennan also developed and ran the country’s first geriatric track in an internal medicine residency program, which later became the first residency-based chapter of the AGS. Dr. Brennan has been the driving force behind numerous AGS initiatives to engage health professions students in geriatrics expertise. These have included leadership of a task force that became the Resident Activities Subcommittee of the AGS Education Committee. She continues to support clinical skills workshops, the AGS Residents Section Meetings, and the Residents Poster Sessions at AGS Annual Scientific Meetings.
“It is difficult to put into words the respect, admiration and gratitude I have for Dr. Brennan,” said Sheryl Ramdass, MD, one of Dr. Brennan’s 2017 fellows in geriatric medicine at Baystate Health. “She is truly inspirational and has a genuine passion for teaching even outside her role as a geriatrician. Dr. Brennan is an exceptional mentor who has been so influential in my career and professional development.”
“I am thrilled to have been selected as the recipient of this year’s Jahnigen Award,” noted Dr. Brennan. “The AGS and Baystate Health have been my two professional homes for well over 20 years. Many previous awardees have been my teachers, mentors, collaborators and friends, so to be asked to join their ranks is breathtaking. Recruiting others into this wonderful field has been an abiding joy.”
The late Dennis W. Jahnigen, MD, was a compassionate geriatrician and acclaimed educator who dedicated his life to training future leaders. Today, his namesake award recognizes an AGS member, like Dr. Brennan, committed to working with students and advancing geriatrics education in schools of health and medicine. It is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting.
Past Recipients of the Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award
2016 Annette (Annie) Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF
2015 Barbara Resnick, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, AGSF
2014 Elizabeth K. Tanner, PhD, RN
2013 Gail Sullivan, MD, MPH
2012 Leo M Cooney, Jr., MD
2011 Sharon A. Levine, MD
2010 G. Paul Eleazer, MD
2009 Samuel C. Durso, MD, MBA
2008 Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD
2007 Steven R. Counsell, MD
2006 Kenneth Brummel-Smith, MD
2005 Harvey Jay Cohen, MD
2004 Terry T. Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN
2003 William Hall, MD, Rochester, NY
2002 Gregg A. Warshaw, MD, Cincinnati, OH
2001 Evelyn C. Granieri, MD, Pittsburgh, PA
2000 David B. Reuben, MD, Los Angeles, CA
1999 John R. Burton, MD