The Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research

Postdoctoral Program

For nearly two decades the Center’s postdoctoral program has benefited from and built upon a solid base of thematically consistent funded research. It has successfully recruited, trained, and launched the careers of numerous health services researchers who are leaders in the field.

The program is rooted in the premise that a biopsychosocial model is the most appropriate one to adopt in the study of chronic disease and geriatrics, and that such a model is best implemented in an interdisciplinary training program. In this program M.D.'s and Ph.D.'s not only work together on funded projects, they also teach each other about the clinical aspects of the population and the research methods necessary to study it systematically. Further, special care is taken to ensure a good fit between the needs of each trainee and the interests, available resources, and capabilities of his or her faculty mentor.

In recent years the program has increased its emphasis on long-term care, pharmaco-epidemiology, and chronic disease management and has sharpened its methodological focus. Ties established with the departments of Economics, Sociology, and Medicine have been highly productive and feature prominently. The program also now covers geriatric pharmacoepidemiology and organizational factors influencing the delivery of health care. Furthermore, collaboration with research centers focusing on behavioral medicine offers additional opportunities for postdoctoral fellows in this program.