Online Core Curriculum on Medical Direction

Overview

The Online Core includes on-demand presentations and assessments that participants can complete on their own schedule while earning up to 29 credits. Upon completion of Online Core Curriculum, participants will be able to leverage the knowledge and skills learned to effectively fulfill the roles, functions, and tasks of the PALTC Medical Director.

Syllabus

Click to view the Online Core Curriculum syllabus.

Course Access

Once registered, course participants can access the online modules 24/7 through the Society’s Learning Management System, APEX. The Society recommends a 12-week completion schedule of the course, with approximately 2-3 hours of work weekly, which is outlined in the Course Syllabus. Participants will have access to the course for up to 6 months after the date of initial course registration.

Faculty Forums

To provide an opportunity to interact with other course participants and members of the Core Curriculum Faculty, there will be live, monthly “Faculty Forums” available for participants to attend.

Each forum will be based on a topic area from the online modules, and the speakers will discuss course material and how it applies to situations medical directors face every day. Participants will also have an opportunity to ask questions during the live forum or can submit questions ahead of time. Each forum is eligible for up to 1.0 live CME/CMD credit.

Please note that completing both the Online Core Curriculum and Faculty Forum is a prerequisite for attending the Core Synthesis weekend. Participants can access the Faculty Forums through the Online Core Curriculum course in APEX.

Credit

Physician CME
AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine designates this other activity (live webinar and eLearning) for a maximum of 29.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CMD Credit
This self-study activity has been pre-approved by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM) for a total of 29.0 management hours toward certification as a Certified Medical Director (CMD) in post-acute and long-term care medicine. The CMD program is administered by the ABPLM. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit actually spent on the activity.

ABPLM CMD Program
The Core Curriculum on Medical Direction in Long-Term Care, or its equivalent on long-term care management, is required for all Certified Medical Director (CMD) candidates. This course is the foundation for certification as an APBLM CMD. Taking the course does not make you a CMD. There are other requirements to complete. For more information, follow this link or contact the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM) at 410-992-3117.

ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 29.0 Medical Knowledge MOC points and patient safety MOC credit in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

ABFM Family Medicine Certification (formerly MC-FP)
This activity may be eligible to help meet ABFM Family Medicine Certification (formerly MC-FP) Requirements. Participants may self-report AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM to meet Certification requirements via the Physician Portfolio on the ABFM website. All CME credits are subject to final approval by the ABFM.

Faculty

Chair: Thomas Lawrence, MD, CMD
Vice Chair: Luz Ramos-Bonner, MD, MBA, CMD

Rebecca Elon, MD, MPH, CMD; Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH, CMD; Edward Gometz, MD, CMD; Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD; John Heath MD, CMD; Cynthia Kuttner, MD, CMD; Lee Lindquist, MD, MPH, MBA, CMD; Dheeraj Mahajan, MD, CMD; Tsewang Ngodup, MD, MPH, CMD, HMDC; Meenakshi Patel, MD, MMM, CMD; Sahebi Saiyed, MD, MPH, CMD; Joshua Schor, MD, CMD, FACP; Toby Smith, DO, CMD; Todd Sobol, MD, CMD; Richard Stefanacci, DO, MGH, MBA, AGSF, CMD; Jean Storm, DO, CMD; Barbara Tommasulo, MD, CMD, CWSP, LNHA; Michael Wasserman, MD, CMD; Matthew Wayne, MD, CMD; Peter Winn, MD, CMD

Biographies

Thomas Lawrence, MD, CMD, is a Geriatric Medicine specialist with a career focused on practicing in the long-term care setting. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine and has served as Medical Director of 12 nursing facilities in Pennsylvania. Dr. Lawrence is currently System Medical Director of Geriatric Medicine and long-term care for the Main Line Health System, a four-hospital health system in suburban Philadelphia. Dr. Lawrence is a Past-President of PMDA/Pennsylvania Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA State affiliate) and is a member of the Board of the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Luz Ramos-Bonner, MD, MBA, CMD, is the Regional Medical Officer - East Coast for InnovAge. Dr. Ramos is a geriatrician and finished her Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare at George Washington University. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and American Geriatrics Society and a Certified Medical Director of the American Board of PALTC Medicine.

Rebecca Elon, MD, MPH, CMD, serves as senior medical consultant and chief medical officer emeritus for FutureCare Health and Management, a privately held Maryland company managing 15 high medical acuity nursing facilities in Maryland. She is an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, currently serving on the voluntary part-time faculty, teaching Hopkins Geriatric Medicine Fellows about nursing facility medical care and medical direction. She serves as a board member on the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM). In 2007 she was recognized by the American Geriatrics Society as the Geriatrician of the Year. In 2016 she received a Hopkins Geriatrics Fellows teaching award. In 2018 she was presented with the Berman Life Time Achievement Award from the MMDA – The Mid-Atlantic Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Dr. Elon is a co-editor of the upcoming 8th edition of “Reichel’s Care of the Elderly” and authored the chapters on “Home and Community-based Care” and “Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.”

Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH, CMD, is a full-time medical director for the County of San Diego 192-bed distinct part-skilled nursing facility serving a younger, safety net population for 18 years. Her facility is five stars (CMS 20/20), has been named a top nursing home in US News and World Report for six years, and received the American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living 2017 Gold -- Excellence in Quality Award. Dr. Ferrini received the 2009 AMDA Medical Director of the Year Award and was honored for her leadership in the AMDA monograph on younger adults. Dr. Ferrini received the California Association of Long-Term Care Medicine Leadership Award in 2019. She has a specialty in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and General Preventive Medicine.

Edward Gometz, MD, CMD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Geriatric Medicine at Rush University Medical Center. He serves as the Medical Director for Post-Acute Care for the Rush University System for Health. He is also a Certified Medical Director of Warren Barr Nursing Facility in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Dr. Gometz is on faculty in the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program at Rush.

Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD, is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics in solo private practice. A multi-facility Medical Director, he is a Past-President of PMDA/Pennsylvania Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine and has served on the AMDA Board as Secretary and as Chair of the House of Delegates and has previously been the chair of multiple committees including the CMD Board, and the Program, Membership and Assisted Living Committees. He has practiced throughout the spectrum of geriatrics and has served as Medical Director in Assisted Living Communities, for Home Care and Hospice, and in a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

John Heath MD, CMD, completed his geriatric medicine fellowship at the University of Cincinnati in 1988 and has since been medical director for a wide variety of post-acute and LTC facilities, including experience as a multi-facility corporate medical director. Currently medical director at the Hunterdon Care Center in Flemington NJ, Dr. Heath joins the Hackensack Meridian Health System in 2021. Previously, Dr. Heath was professor and geriatric medicine fellowship director at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and then established the Geriatric Services department for the Summit Medical Group. He is a fellow of both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Geriatric Society and a past board member of the New Jersey Geriatric Society.

Cynthia Kuttner, MD, CMD, is the medical director of the Community Living Center at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Chillicothe, Ohio. She is also a clinical assistant professor at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and completed a primary care Internal Medicine residency at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York. She is fellowship trained in Geriatrics at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to joining the Veterans Administration, she served as the medical director at several community nursing homes in Athens, Ohio.

Lee Lindquist, MD, MPH, MBA, FACP, CMD, is Chief of Geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. She is Medical Director and sees patients at the Clare, a 55 story, 5-star CMS, continuing care retirement community in downtown Chicago. She is federally funded by PCORI, NIH, AHRQ, and CMS and her research focus is on long-term care decision-making.

Dheeraj Mahajan, MD, CMD, is President and CEO of Chicago Internal Medicine Practice and Research and its associated group of companies and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Board certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Mahajan is a certified medical director, a certified physician advisor in utilization review and healthcare quality management, and is certified in infection control and epidemiology. At AMDA-The Society, he serves as the chair of the Quality Measures Committee and as a member of various other committees.

Tsewang Ngodup, MD, CMD, AGSF, HMDC, is a Medical Director, Faculty Physician, and Assistant Professor at Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis. Dr. Ngodup has been working as an attending physician, medical director, and teaching residents in PALTC and other settings for two decades. Dr. Ngodup has a special interest in immunization and is a Hennepin Healthcare vaccine committee member.

Meenakshi Patel, MD, MMM, CMD, is Medical Director of one CCRC's Graceworks Bethany Village. Bethany Village has a 250 bed nursing unit and 70 AL as well as 250 independent residents living in apartments or villas. She has served as their medical director for over 18 years. She is also the medical director of Woodglen Alzheimer's facility, a 148 bed all dementia nursing facility. Both have a wonderful reputation in the Dayton community and support medical research. She is a graduate of Bombay University, Seth GS Medical School. She did her residency in Internal Medicine at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and has her Certification of Added Qualifications in Geriatrics. She is Associate Professor at Wright State University and teaches students and residents and fellows. Dr. Patel is the past president of the Ohio Medical Directors Association.

Sahebi Saiyed, MD, MPH, CMD, received her MD from Al-Ameen Medical College and her MPH from George Washington University/Western Kentucky University. Dr. Saiyed completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Alabama at Huntsville and her geriatrics fellowship at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Saiyed is board-certified in family medicine and geriatric medicine. Dr. Saiyed's clinical practice is based at Budd Terrace Nursing Home.

Joshua Schor, MD, CMD, FACP, is an internist and geriatrician and a Senior Medical Director for Optum, a Medicare-recognized special needs program for frail elderly that reside in nursing homes. After serving as medical director for 28 years at Daughters of Israel in West Orange, New Jersey he recently became Medical Director Emeritus and has won many awards for professionalism and humanism in medicine as well as being named AMDA Medical Director of the Year in 2017. Dr. Schor lives in north central New Jersey with his family and is a birding enthusiast.

Toby Smith, DO, CMD, is a current practicing geriatrician and medical director in Hawaii. He serves in multiple roles for nursing facilities, hospice organizations, and insurers throughout the state of Hawaii. He has provided expertise in his role as chief medical officer and vice president for provider groups and is the current Vice President of the Hawaii chapter of AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. He earned his doctorate degree in osteopathic medicine from Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, has a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from California State University Northridge, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Medicine from Pepperdine University. He did his internship and residency at the University of Hawaii and is board certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. Dr. Smith is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii’s Department of Geriatric Medicine and has been on faculty with the core curriculum for AMDA since 2018.

Todd Sobol, MD, CMD, has 26 years of private practice experience as a General Internist specializing in Geriatric Medicine. During his tenure, he served as a Medical Director in long-term care facilities, assisted living, managed care, and Hospice. Dr. Sobol served as an enthusiastic educator for students and residents including recognition as a Preceptor All Star by The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He has supported the Ohio Medical Directors Association as Program Chairman for their annual conference, Board of Directors member, and President. Dr. Sobol is currently Senior Medical Director for Optum Complex Population Management in Ohio.

Richard Stefanacci, DO, MGH, MBA, AGSF, CMD, a practicing internist/geriatrician, has a long-standing interest in and commitment to the frail elderly as his clinical practice solely focuses on nursing home eligible older adults through the PACE program (Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly). He is currently engaged with a large health system in their development of a preferred skilled nursing home network of providers. He also continues medical direction for managed care plans especially involved in medication management. Dr. Stefanacci serves as faculty for the AMDA CMD program and is co-Editor-in-Chief for Caring for the Ages. He received his BA in economics at Boston College, his medical degree and MGH from AT Still University, and his MBA from Keller. In addition, Dr. Stefanacci is a fellow of both the American Geriatric Society and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Jean Storm, DO, CMD, is a 2001 graduate of the Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is medical director of two long-term care facilities in the Erie, PA area as well as an associate medical director for Optum/United Healthcare and the Program Director for the Internal Medicine residency program at LECOM Health. She sees patients in five long-term care facilities and runs an inpatient, teaching service at Millcreek Community Hospital. She enjoys developing policies and strategies that change the way providers view the care delivery process in LTC.

Barbara Tommasulo, MD, CMD, CWSP, LNHA, has devoted her career to the care of older adults, particularly, in post-acute and long-term care. She is certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine; is a Certified Wound Specialist Physician and Certified Medical Director; and, is a licensed nursing home administrator in NY. Medical education has been a mainstay throughout Dr. Tommasulo’s career. Her many years of experience in medical direction has included a variety of settings with various medical staff models. Currently, she is Medical Director of Northwell Orzac Center for Rehabilitation and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Hofstra North Shore – LIJ School of Medicine.

Michael Wasserman, MD, CMD, is board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. He served as a member of the National Academy of Science’s “A Framework for Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus” Committee. He is Editor-in-Chief of Springer’s textbook, “Geriatric Medicine: A Person-Centered Evidence-Based Approach”. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer for Rockport Healthcare Services, overseeing the largest nursing home chain in California. In 1989, in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, he published "Fever, White Blood Cells and Differential Count in Diagnosing Bacterial Infection in the Elderly,” the findings of which are now part of the McGeer Criteria, used widely in nursing homes to evaluate residents for infections.

Matthew Wayne, MD, CMD, is an experienced Chief Medical Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and health care industry. He is currently the Chief Medical Officer for CommuniCare Family of Companies and CEO of Personalized Health Partners. He has skills in population health, disease management, Medicare, Medicaid, and physician relations. He is a long-time active AMDA member and served as president from 2012-2103.

Peter Winn, MD, CMD, is a Professor at the University of Oklahoma for the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Winn is Board Certified in Family Medicine in the United States and Canada and has CAQs in Geriatrics and Hospice. He is a Medical Director for the Long-Term Care Unit at the Fountains at Canterbury and is the Medical Director for Mercy at Home Hospice.

Course Pricing

Member Price	$1,795
Non-Member Price	$1,995

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Once registered, course participants can access the online modules 24/7 through the Society’s Learning Management System, APEX. Participants will have access to the course for up to 6 months after the date of initial course registration.