Dr. Susan Parks, Renowned Geriatrics Educator, to Lead Coalition of Academic Program Directors

New York (May 15, 2017)—The Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs (ADGAP) this week welcomed its newest President, Susan Parks, MD, at a meeting of the organization coinciding with the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas (May 18-20). Associate Professor and Director, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia, Dr. Parks will now lead one of the nation’s only organizations committed to advancing academic geriatrics programs promoting older adult care, research on aging, and geriatrics education at accredited medical schools across the U.S.

“Dr. Parks has long been recognized as an innovative leader in geriatrics education,” observed Sharon Brangman, MD, AGSF, incoming ADGAP Board Chair and Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Division Chief, Geriatrics, University Geriatrics, and the Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease at Upstate University Hospital in New York. “Dr. Parks’s approach to geriatrics education has been a model for fellow educators, and now she will help ADGAP model the way toward a future when more students embrace geriatrics as a rewarding and much-needed vocation in health care.” 

Dr. Parks joined the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in 1994. Appointed Director of the Geriatrics Fellowship Program in 2002, Dr. Parks helped enhance the popularity and prestige of the fellowship program. Since 2006, Dr. Parks has also led the development of palliative care services at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals. More recently, Dr. Parks has helped develop an outpatient geriatric practice called Jefferson Geriatrics dedicated to providing patient and family-centered care for older patients. Through various AGS and ADGAP leadership roles focused on fellowship education and training, Dr. Parks has helped advance the caliber of geriatrics fellowship programs across the country.

About the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs

A sister organization to the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs (ADGAP) is committed to advancing academic geriatrics programs and supporting academic geriatrics program directors in order to benefit and aid patient care, research, and teaching programs in geriatric medicine within accredited medical schools located in the United States. ADGAP has built and fostered new methods of facilitating the development of leadership skills among academic geriatricians and has provided an ongoing forum for Program Directors and leaders in academic geriatrics to discuss the wide variety of issues that they encounter. For more information, visit ADGAP.AmericanGeriatrics.org.

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