Mass General Brigham Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship

Overview

For over 85 years we've provided the highest quality care to adults, children and adolescents. We also conduct pioneering research, educate professionals in the field, and serve our community.

Requirements

Mission and Goals

The Mass General Brigham Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship brings together the remarkable breadth and depth of four major Boston institutions in a year-long ACGME-accredited training program that meets the requirements for American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology certification in the sub-specialty of geriatric psychiatry.

Currently, we accept two candidates per year for 12 months of fellowship training. The fellowship utilizes the expertise of five participating facilities:

• Massachusetts General Hospital (the sponsoring institution)
• Brigham and Women's Hospital
• McLean Hospital
• Hebrew SeniorLife
• Veteran’s Administration

Focused clinical experiences, dedicated teaching, mentorship, and a unique scope of research opportunities combine to distinguish the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship program as outstanding training for academically oriented geriatric psychiatrists. During our program, a strong foundation is built through a variety of outpatient clinical experiences in geriatric neuropsychiatry, psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology in a variety of settings:

• Inpatient units focused on both late life illness and advanced dementia at McLean.
• Outpatient clinics at Brigham and Women’s and Mass General.
• Palliative Care and Hospice, Geriatric Medicine, and Inpatient and Residential Consultations at Brockton VA Hospital.
• Long-term care and nursing home facilities at Hebrew SeniorLife
• Each year, our fellows also dedicate elective time to clinical interests and are encouraged to pursue research projects and publications.

Curriculum

Fellows participate in supervised clinical rotations drawing on the resources of the Harvard Medical School System and affiliated academic medical centers and institutions to develop competencies in the care of geriatric patients delivered throughout the full range of clinical settings. All clinical work occurs during weekday business hours on a schedule consistent with ACGME standards. There are no required nights, weekends, or holiday on-call times. The fellow’s clinical responsibility for patients is supervised by board-certified geriatric psychiatrists, and clinical coverage is available when the fellow is unavailable.

How to Apply

Applicant requirements

• Must be U.S. Citizens or have a permanent resident visa
• Massachusetts medical license required
• Must have completed approved residency in psychiatry by time of starting fellowship
• Application opens January 1st (one year before at PGY-3 level)
• Interview season begins in February
• Offer letters will go out by April 1st
• Deadline for acceptance is April 15th

Fellowship and Faculty Contacts

Dr. Ricardo Salazar
Director, Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship, Mass General Brigham
Associate Psychiatrist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Salazar received his medical degree from Pontificia Bolivarian University School of Medicine in Colombia and completed a residency in psychiatry and a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Joe and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine San Antonio. Dr. Salazar is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry, and an active member of the Training and Education Committee for the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. He is a clinical investigator for the Center for Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment and Geriatric Psychiatrist for the Center for Brain and Mind Medicine at Brigham and Women s Hospital.

Dr. Salazar’s research focuses on the biological underpinning of Alzheimer`s disease in Latinos and cross-ethnic differences in the profile and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the Alzheimer`s disease continuum. This work has included studies in population-based samples of Mexican Americans and large observational cohorts from the Texas Alzheimer Research and Care Consortium.

Executive Committee Members

Catherine Gonzalez, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist (Adult and Geriatric) Associate Chief, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Aging, MGB AMC Psychiatry, Medical Director of Faculty, Trainee & Employee Mental Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Dr. Gonzalez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Medical School (2005) and trained in Adult Psychiatry at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Program (BWH/BIDMC/MMHC, 2009). Dr. Gonzalez completed fellowships in Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH, 2010) and Geriatric Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA, 2011). She currently serves as the Associate Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Aging, MGB AMC, as well as Medical Director of the BWH Employee and Faculty Trainee Mental Health Programs. She is committed to education, program development, and to providing caring, culturally sensitive clinical care. Her interests include cross cultural Psychiatry, aging, psychotic disorders and mood/anxiety disorders.

Olivia Okereke, MD, Director, Geriatric Psychiatry and Director (Research), Geriatric Psychiatry Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital .Director, Mass General Psychiatry Center for Racial Equity and Justice, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Okereke is a Board-certified geriatric psychiatrist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. She is Director of Geriatric Psychiatry and Aging and Director (Research) of the Geriatric Psychiatry Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and inaugural Director of the MGH Psychiatry Center for Racial Equity and Justice. Dr. Okereke’s programmatic goals are: (1) to identify modifiable risk factors involved in adverse mental aging and (2) to translate and apply knowledge gained into strategies for large-scale prevention of late-life depression and cognitive decline. Her research portfolio has been supported by numerous National Institutes of Health, University, and foundation awards. Currently, she is: evaluating the role of dietary factors, such as vitamin D and omega-3, along with novel biologic markers and mechanisms in relation to risk of late-life cognitive decline and depression; testing effects of nutritional interventions on late-life mood in large-scale randomized trial settings; and addressing relations of later-life depression and anxiety to molecular markers of biological aging, with attention to their potential contributions to racial and ethnic disparities in health and aging.

Dr. Okereke is active in efforts to promote knowledge in geriatric mental health. She has provided education on healthy brain aging at community centers, Councils on Aging, and senior centers around Massachusetts. She has served on both the Board of Directors and the Medical & Scientific Advisory Committee of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and has been a Past Chair of the Chapter’s Annual Meeting.

Ipsit Vahia, MD, is the Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and the Corrigan-Minehan Endowed Chair in Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. He is also medical director of the McLean Institute for Technology in Psychiatry and the principal investigator or the Technology and Aging Lab. His research focuses on the use of AI and digital tools in the care of older adults. He has published extensively in major international journals and textbooks, and his work is funded by several federal and private sources, including the National Institute on Health.

Dr. Vahia serves on numerous editorial boards and committees for major national and international organizations, including the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP).

Site Directors

Caroline Bader, MD, is an outpatient geriatric psychiatrist and the associate medical director of the geriatric psychiatry clinic at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. She attended medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, completed residency in general adult psychiatry in the Harvard Longwood Program and the Mass General Brigham fellowship in geriatric psychiatry. She sees older adults for general psychiatric care as well as dementia and is also the embedded geriatric psychiatrist in a local memory care facility partnered with McLean. Her specific areas of interest include management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, palliative care, psychodynamic psychotherapy, as well as teaching and varied experiences efforts in the clinic.

Tapsi Dayanand, MBBS, is the Mass General Site director for MGB Geriatric psychiatry Fellowship. She is a Geriatric Psychiatrist who is Board Certified in Adult Psychiatry with additional subspecialty certification in Geriatric Psychiatry. She has worked as an attending Psychiatrist at OP Geriatric psychiatry clinic since 2016 and also part of the ECT team and runs the Geriatric Psychiatry service at Senior Health. She earned her medical degree from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in India and completed her Psychiatric residency at Duke University Medical Center and Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale University. Her interests include memory disorders, mood disorders, mind-body medicine, and neuromodulatory therapies.

Eran Metzger, MD, is director of Psychiatry at Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston and is assistant professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He earned a BA at Haverford College and his MD at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Metzger completed psychiatry residency and fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and remained on the clinical faculty there until joining the medical staff at Hebrew SeniorLife in 1998. At HSL, his roles include chairperson of the Ethics Committee, and director of education in geriatric psychiatry for medical students, residents and fellows at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Metzger has been an author co-author of over 50 journal articles and book chapters in the areas of delirium, medical ethics in long-term care, and treatment of older patients with depression in the primary care setting.

Talya Shahal, MD earned her medical degree at the Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine. Subsequently, she completed her medical internship at the Meir Medical Center and her Adult Psychiatry Residency at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Michigan. She received her fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at Mass General Brigham. She is an attending for the Consultation-Liaison service at the VA Boston Healthcare System and is an Instructor in Psychiatry for Harvard Medical School and Boston University. She serves as a site director for the Harvard South Shore and Boston University Psychiatry residents as well as for the Mass General Brigham Geriatric Psychiatry fellows. Her interests and expertise include major neurocognitive disorders with behavioral disturbances, palliative care in older adults, and education of trainees and nursing staff.

Juan Carlos Urizar, MD is the Medical Director of Clinical Geriatric Psychiatry and Director of Geriatric Psychiatry/Neuropsychiatry Education at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). As medical director, he leads the development and operations of a multidisciplinary clinical team that provides holistic assessment and evidence-based care for older adults. He works on the integration of care for older adults with chronic mental illness, as well as individuals who suffer from neurodegenerative conditions manifesting with behavioral, psychological, and cognitive symptoms. He has promoted collaboration with the departments of Medicine and Neurology. In his role as the director of education, Dr. Urizar works in the development of geriatric psychiatry curriculum, teaching and training programs at different levels of the Harvard Medical School (HMS) system for medical students, the Brigham and Women’s/HMS psychiatry residents, the Massachusetts General Brigham Geriatric Psychiatry fellows (BWH site director), and fellows from Behavioral Neurology/Neuropsychiatry, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Neuropsychology at the BWH Center for Brain and Mind Medicine. Dr. Urizar is one of the course co-directors of the annual HMS continuing medical education course, “Neuropsychiatry: A Comprehensive Update.” He has been the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching and Education Awards from the BWH Department of Psychiatry and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School Psychiatry Residency Training. He is a member of the Teaching and Training Committee from the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry where he is directly involved in shaping the education of future professionals in the field. He belongs to the Medical Scientific Advisory Group from the Alzheimer’s Association MA/NH Chapter.

Additional Faculty/Mentors

Nancy J. Donovan, MD, Director, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Associate Psychiatrist, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Alexis Freedberg, MD, is a geriatric psychiatrist specializing in the complex medical and behavioral needs of older adults. Prior to coming to McLean, she oversaw clinical training as core psychiatry faculty at Cambridge Health Alliance, was an associate professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine, an associate program director for the psychiatry residency at Tufts University, and the associate medical director of inpatient geriatric medical psychiatry at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Moinuddin Muttakin, MD, is the psychiatrist in charge of the Older Adult Program in the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. He divides his time between clinical and administrative responsibilities, which include teaching medical students, residents, and geriatric fellows.

James M. Wilkins, MD, DPhil, is a geriatric psychiatrist and medical director of the Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Program at McLean Hospital. Dr. Wilkins’ clinical interests include care of people with dementia and their families. His academic interests lie at the interface of geriatric psychiatry and bioethics with a focus on the ethical aspects of decision-making, particularly surrogate decision-making for people with dementia.

Arkadiy Stolyar, MD., After graduating from medical school in 1970, Arkadiy Stolyar, MD, spent the next twenty years as an emergency medicine physician and became interested in psychiatry after moving to the United States. Upon completion of his training, he began working in McLean Hospital as a geriatric psychiatrist in the geriatric psychiatry programs. He is currently the medical director of the Older Adult Program.

Dr. Stolyar also pursues his interest in forensic psychiatry and clinical research. He has participated in more than 90 clinical trials.