The
University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor VAMC have an
outstanding tradition of excellence in education, research
and clinical care in the field of aging. Major components
of these institutions are the Geriatric
Research, Education and Clinical Center,
the Division of Geriatric
Medicine, with an active Geriatrics Fellowship program, the Michigan Geriatric Research and Training
Center, the Michigan
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, the Institute
of Gerontology and the University
of Michigan Addiction Research Center. Building upon these components, the University
of Michigan Geropsychiatry Program was established
in 1988 as an integrated program within both the U-M Department
of Psychiatry and the Psychiatry Service of the Ann Arbor
VAMC; the director is Dr. Alan Mellow.
UMGP has had the commitment from the leadership within the relevant units both at the VA and at U-M to provide the resources and environment to ensure the ongoing success of a Geriatric Psychiatry fellowship program. As an acknowledgement of the value and success of this program, it was redesignated in 1994 with Division status within the U-M Department of Psychiatry.