Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center - Education

Education overview

The Eastern Colorado GRECC focuses its training efforts on translating existing and new geriatrics knowledge and skills into clinical practice at the local, regional and national levels. These efforts build on the substantial geriatrics educational and training activities at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center and leverage important resources from the University of Colorado School of Medicine Division of Geriatric Medicine.

Our work

CU - VA Geriatric Grand Rounds

Upcoming and recorded medical grand rounds with the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Geriatrics.

GRECC Health Professions Training Program

The GRECC Health Professions Training Program is VA’s flagship training program. The Eastern Colorado GRECC program has grown every year, both in terms of absolute numbers of trainees and in terms of the number of disciplines involved.

We currently support eight training slots and 12 trainees representing the following allied health professions: audiology, pharmacy, psychology, physical therapy and social work. Geriatric Medicine Fellows from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus participate with GRECC Health Professions Training Program Trainees through core didactic opportunities, clinical huddles and shadowing opportunities. We continue to find synergies with the nurse residency program at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center.

NOTE: Social Work MSW Internship - We have 3 GRECC-supported training slots for social work interns as part of our GRECC health professions training program. Learn more about Social Work MSW Internship.

Trainees participate as a cohort in a core curriculum that is aligned with formal, published discipline-specific competencies, with the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) competencies serving as a common anchor.

Select TMS Courses

Please see the National Aging Education calendar below, it is updated monthly.

List of Geriatric Mental Health TMS trainings that have been vetted and deemed to be of high quality:

TMS Course: PTSD and Dementia
TMS Course Number: VA 30993
Description: This is one of a series of 10 courses that are designed to address key areas of PTSD that have the most profound impact on Veterans and active-duty service members.

TMS Course: Late Life PTSD
TMS Course Number: VA 45653
Description: This presentation will provide an empirically-informed overview of the clinical presentations of late life anxiety and how clinicians can recognize and diagnose anxiety among older patients.

TMS Course: STAR-VA: Interdisciplinary Behavioral Care for CLC Residents with Dementia
TMS Course Number: VA 36982
Description: This training is to provide Community Living Center (CLC) staff members essential information needed to implement and maintain a successful collaborative interdisciplinary STAR-VA program that promotes the delivery of psychosocial approaches to managing challenging resident behaviors and advancing culture transformation efforts within CLCs.

TMS Course: Geriatric Late Life Depression
TMS Course Number: VA 39013
Description: This training provides an immersive experience and is designed to help prescribers and non-prescribers develop communication skills required to conduct a comprehensive history and assessment with geriatric patients who have depression. [Works best when logging into TMS using Google Chrome].

TMS Course: Women's Mental Health Across the Lifespan
TMS Course Number: VA 43333
Description: This is a recording of a live, knowledge-based virtual training that will provide an overview of women-specific influences on mental health throughout the lifespan, from in utero influences through adolescence, pregnancy, the postpartum period, the transition to menopause and aging.

TMS Course: Neuropsychological Evaluation in Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)
TMS Course Number: VA 38829
Description: The purpose of this training is to educate HBPC staff about the relationship between neuropsychological assessment results and patients' behavior.

TMS Course: Utilizing Evidence Based Psychotherapies with Older Veterans
TMS Course Number: VA 131003927
Description: This recorded, knowledge-based webinar aims to provide interprofessional healthcare teams with frequently asked questions and dispel common myths about the use of EBPs with older adults. Techniques and suggestions for adapting interventions will be introduced utilizing case examples.

2023-24 EC GRECC Health Professions Training Program Directors

Kelly Hanscom, AuD - Audiology

Hannah Schara, MD - Geriatric Medicine

Kathryn (Kady) Nearing, PhD, MA – Associate Director, Education and Evaluation, VA Eastern Colorado GRECC

Troy A. Moore, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPP - Pharmacy (PGY1)

Elizabeth Ellis, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, BCGP - Pharmacy (PGY2)

Spring Wright, PT, DPT - Physical Therapy

Kristy Shoji, PhD - Geropsychology

Stephanie Hartz, LCSW, BCD - Social Work

Sydney Schroeder, MA, CCC-SLP - Speech Language Pathology

2023-24 EC GRECC Health Professions Training Program Trainees

Claire Ducatte - Audiology

Jatinder (Jenny) Shokar - Audiology

Thao Anh Mai - Pharmacy (PGY1)

Caitlin Hart - Pharmacy (PGY1)

Kaci Johnson - Pharmacy (PGY1)

Kami Johnston - Pharmacy (PGY1)

Michelle Gantt - Pharmacy (PGY1)

Emily Stauffer - Pharmacy (PGY2)

Brittany Hylander - Psychology

Kamryn Korth - Social Work

Aline Swiec - Physical Therapy

Jocelyn Wilcoxon - Speech Therapy

Recent publications - our current publications.

National Aging Education calendar

The Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) are VA geriatric centers of excellence focused on aging. They were established by Congress in 1975 in order to improve the health and health care of older Veterans. They are located at 20 medical centers across the country and each is connected with a major research university. Below are educational opportunities from other GRECCs across the nation.

Updated monthly - For staff and trainees interested in aging education! Of note, if you have specific questions about a link or other details of a training, please reach out to the Point of Contact (POC) listed in the table. Thank you!

Monday, July 1, 3 PM ET
CLC Behavioral Care Webinar Series: Team-Based Behavioral Care in Community Living Centers: Whole Team Communication in the CLC
Presenter: Kelly Presser, MSN, RN, CNL, CONCERT Coach
POC for questions: Kimberly.Curyto@va.gov

Tuesday, July 9, 12 PM ET
Geriatric Syndromes & Community Living Centers (CLCs) Webinar Series: Refining a Driving Retirement Program for Persons with Dementia and Their Care Partners
Presenter: Ian Moore, PhD
POC for questions: VISN16GRECCEducationTeam@va.gov

Thursday, July 11, 3 PM ET
Meeting Mental Health Needs of Aging Veterans: What Matters Most: Addressing Pain in Older Adults Veterans
Presenters: Tawny Kross, PT, DPT, Jennifer Daks, PhD, Priscilla Kim, PharmD, & Jason Telles, MSN
POC for questions: VISN16GRECCEducationTeam@va.gov

Tuesday, July 16, 2 PM ET
State of Age-Friendly Health Systems in VA
Presenters: Kimberly Wozneak, MS, Andrea Wershof Schwartz, MD, MPH, AGSF, & Kristen Sorocco, PhD
POC for questions: agefriendly@va.gov

Tuesday, July 16, 3 PM ET
We Honor Veterans (WHV) Presents: Identifying Clinically Meaningful Moral Injury Among Veterans at End of Life
Presenter: Brandon Griffin, PhD
POC for questions: Ryan.Weller@va.gov

Wednesday, July 17, 12 PM ET
The Link Between Dementia & Particle Pollution - Lunch & Learn
Presenter: Andrea Jennings Dr.PH, RN-BC
POC for questions: Karen.Rice2@va.gov

Thursday, July 18, 12:30 PM ET
GRECC Journal Club
Presenter: Huberta “Bette” Cozart, PhD, RN
Article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2017.1312574
POC for questions: VISN16GRECCEducationTeam@va.gov
Standing Day: Third Thursday of each month

Thursday, July 25, 1 PM ET
Geriatric Ethics Forum: No Fork in the Road: When Treatment Options Run Out
Presenters: David Doukas, MD, Kristen Viverito, PsyD, & Shanna Zielstra, LCSW
POC for questions: VISN16GRECCEducationTeam@va.gov

Thursday, July 25, 3 PM ET
GRECC Webinar Series: Some is not a Number, Hope is not a Plan: Utilizing Data Analytics and Higher Reliability Organization Concepts with VIONE Medication and Deprescribing Methodology to Demonstrate Improved Patient Safety
Presenter: Sara S. Battar, MD
POC for questions: VISN16GRECCEducationTeam@va.gov

Tuesday, July 30, 12 PM ET and 3 PM ET (register for one session only)
GRECC Connect Case Conference Series: Tele-Neuropsychology with Rural Older Veterans
Presenter: Emily Trittschuh, PhD
POC for questions: Shatice.Jones@va.gov