Geriatrics Conference brings national experts to Maine

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The 27th Annual Maine Geriatrics Conference was held on June 7 - 8, 2017 at the Harborside Hotel and Marina in Bar Harbor Maine, providing a beautiful backdrop for a weekend of education for those who care for Maine’s older adults.

 There were more than 250 attendees, most of them older adult health practitioners and service providers. A select group of the attendees were GEMS, which stands for Geriatrics Education Mentorship with Seniors. GEMS are community dwelling older adults from the far reaches of Maine who attended the conference with the support of sponsorship from the Maine Community Foundation, York Hospital and Geriatrics Conference Planning Committee. 

The goal of this annual conference is to bring nationally renowned presenters to Maine to alleviate the financial burden of attending a national meeting. This year, Elizabeth Eckstrom, M.D., M.P.H., director of Geriatrics, Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics, Oregon Health Sciences University; and Bradley Fisher, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Gerontology and Psychology, Missouri State University; provided excellent keynote presentations.

TVƵ COM was well represented among the attendees and presenters. In addition, Nathan Harmon, D.O. ’05, director, Inpatient Geriatrics at Maine General Medical Center, provided a plenary presentation and Marilyn R. Gugliucci, Ph.D., of the TVƵ COM Division of Geriatric Medicine, moderated the Closing Attendee Forum. Victoria Stacey Thieme, D.O., of TVƵ COM, and Thomas Wickham (TVƵ COM ’20), presented a workshop titled, “Cannabis Therapy and Hospice: Study of the Mark Bushey Compassion Program.” 10 TVƵ COM students and graduates also attended the conference. Jessica Harnisch Boyd (TVƵ COM’19), who conducted a Round Table discussion on her research "Caring for older adults in rural Maine: Barriers, Challenges, Solutions."

The Maine Geriatrics Conference Planning Committee included representatives from each organization across the state with a focus on aging, including the Maine Primary Care Association. The TVƵ COM Division of Geriatric Medicine is the convener for this conference and works closely with the Maine Gerontological Society.

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About the TVƵ

The TVƵ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.