The Sealy Center on Aging partners with UTMB schools and departments to attract and retain investigators interested in aging. We provide career development and training for graduate students, medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty
members. Our junior faculty investigators typically go on to achieve external funding and academic independence. In the past, we provided geriatric education to healthcare providers in Galveston and rural East Texas through the activities of the East
Texas Geriatric Education Center.
Training in Aging for Medical Students
Geriatric Track
The Geriatric Track in the School of Medicine is a four-year learning experience that provides a unique opportunity to enhance knowledge, skill sets, values, and expertise in the care of older adults.
Students in the Geriatric Track:
- Increase their knowledge base and sensitivity to the issues of aging adults
- Learn inpatient, outpatient, nursing home, and home care principles
- Participate in research activities and critical thinking
Geriatric Medical Conference Series
The Geriatric Medical Conference Series is a selection of lectures and journal clubs that provides trainees with a broad scope of geriatric education. These conferences include core lectures and special lectures in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR), Pepper Center Investigator’s lectures, and Center for Metabolic Health conferences.
Geriatric Medical Electives
There are currently three geriatric electives available for selection by students to fulfill their requirements:
- Research in Geriatric Medicine - MEDU-4006
- Geriatric Consultation - MEDU-4030
- Community Gerontology - MEDU-4033
Medical Student Training in Aging Research
The Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) program encourages medical students, particularly budding researchers, to consider a career in academic geriatrics by awarding short-term scholarships.
MD-PhD Program
The MD-PhD Training Program in Health Disparities and Aging focuses on health and aging in minorities, with an emphasis on Hispanic older adults. The PhD curriculum begins after two years in medical school. The MD-PhD Training Program is a partnership between the School of Public and Population Health, the Sealy Center on Aging, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Funding for the program comes from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Trainees may receive a stipend and full health care benefits.
PhD Programs
Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training Program
The Sealy Center on Aging supports predoctoral and postdoctoral positions. These positions are for research, focusing on the health of older minorities with an emphasis on Hispanic older adults. Trainees collaborate with Center investigators regarding minority health and aging in health disparities, aging trajectories, medical outcomes, health service utilization, social epidemiology, psychosocial stress, and health promotion. Center investigators are PIs on two NIH T-32 grants to support predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in the areas of aging in Hispanic populations and research on the mechanisms and consequences of health disparities.
Postdoctoral Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Certificate
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) offers certificate credit for postdoctoral scientists at UTMB. A Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Certificate is available to clinical and non-clinical postdoctoral fellows and faculty.
Career Development Seminars
The Sealy Center on Aging regularly provides lectures and seminars in various areas of aging-related research and collaborates with other areas on campus to provide educational opportunities to students, clinicians, and researchers, such as ethics in research, scientific writing, team work, and others.
Mentoring and faculty development
Our senior investigators actively mentor junior investigators in developing research careers. This is aided by faculty development in both the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center and the Texas Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research. These two center grants provide salary and support for junior faculty members, enabling them to devote at least 50% of their time to developing their research careers. Our junior investigators have been awarded several K-type grants from the NIH, which typically provide salary support for career development for up to five years.