fellowship recipients
Geriatrics fellowship welcomes two By Emily Thompson, Good Samaritan Society – National Campus
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geriatrics fellowship program sponsored in part by the Good Samaritan Society welcomes two new physicians: Dr. Oluma Bushen and Dr. Farzin Farajzadeh. The fellowship will provide the physicians with one year of specialized training in how to meet the unique healthcare needs of older adults. Both men developed an interest in gerontology after observing gaps in the primary care of older adults.
From left: Dr. Oluma Bushen, Dr. David Sandvik and Dr. Farzin Farajzadeh. Bushen and Farajzadeh will spend two years in specialized training to learn how to care for older adults.
Dr. Oluma Bushen, an Ethiopian native, spent the early part of his career studying infectious disease and AIDS, and helping build hospital and medical schools to treat these diseases in Africa. He’s now interested in returning to direct patient care. Bushen says older adults are not the same as adults, and medical treatments should not be the same. Specializing in gerontology is about getting into the details of seniors’ care in order to better meet their needs. Dr. Farzin Farajzadeh enters the fellowship program after completing his residency program in internal medicine. Prior to his training in the U.S., Farajzadeh worked as a medical doctor in Iran, his home country. “In internal medicine, the majority of our patients are over 65,” says Farajzadeh. “There are many things that are overlooked, such as how a certain medication might interact with others. It’s important to study how to keep older adults out of the hospital and help them be comfortable — the ultimate goal of geriatrics.” Throughout the next year, Drs. Bushen and Farajzadeh will have the opportunity to work within two Good Samaritan Society nursing homes, the Sioux Falls Center and Luther Manor, and within Good Samaritan Society – Home Care, to study how various care settings work together to help keep residents out of the hospital and focus on wellness and prevention. They also will give consultations at the hospital level, lead lectures, and work in rehabilitation and geriatric psychology.
The goal of gerontology is to keep older adults at the highest level of independence. – Dr. David Sandvik
The South Dakota Geriatrics Fellowship is a collaboration between the Good Samaritan Society, the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota, Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, and The Royal C. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, all in Sioux Falls. Dr. David Sandvik, director of the fellowship program, says the Society and the fellowship program are a good match. Both are committed to keeping people well and in the place they want to be.
The Good Samaritan • 2012 • Vol. 46 • No. 2
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