seeking a gerontologist

May 19, 2007 2:34 PM

How can I find my parents a gerontologist in Michigan?

After listening to the recent Radio Open Source show on aging, I'd like to help my parents find a gerontologist to consult with near their respective homes in Michigan. Difficulty: I live in New York. Googling for resources didn't turn up all that much.

posted by ursus_comiter to health & fitness (9 answers total)

See if there is a teaching hospital nearby with a geriatrics fellowship.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 3:01 PM on May 19, 2007

You'd need to be more specific about where in Michigan. It's a big state, and if they're in the UP the answer will be way different than if they're in the Detroit area or Benton Harbor. They may wind up going out of state if they're in the UP -- realise that if you're in Marquette, Chicago is closer than Detroit.
posted by jlkr at 3:22 PM on May 19, 2007

Here might be a place to start.
posted by 517 at 4:03 PM on May 19, 2007

jlkr, one is near Ann Arbor, which I think makes it easy as there seems to be a UofM related geriatrics fellowship there (thanks i_am_a_jedi).

The other is in Oscoda, which is in the northeast portion of the lower peninsula and much more remote.
posted by ursus_comiter at 4:48 PM on May 19, 2007

Just to be clear, a teaching hospital with a geriatrics fellowship (part of internal medicine) will have staff geriatricians with regular clinics. They should have a geriatrics department at the hospital to speak with a secretary. That person should be able to give a list of the staff geriatricians and maybe the phone numbers to their clinics. I recently went through trying to find a geriatrician for my aging grandfather. Fortunately, I was able to get him to see one of my med school professors for his primary care.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 5:29 PM on May 19, 2007

I'm from West MI, not east, but Tawas looks to be fairly close to Oscoda, and there's a branch of St. Joseph's hospital there. If they do not specifically have a gerontologist on staff (unlikely, it looks like a large and well-staffed hospital), I would hope they'd know of specialists in the area.

Their website.
posted by rhoticity at 6:20 PM on May 19, 2007

For the parent in Oscoda, this site might be of help.
posted by Oriole Adams at 6:22 PM on May 19, 2007

shuttle UM has a full Gerontology clinic, as well as a full Geriatrics Center.

We have many people come to us from the UP (or further), so don't assume that the drive is too far. Most of the local hotels have a "medical" rate, as well as a shuttle into the medical campus that will drop them off at the appropriate location and pick them up when they are done for the day.
posted by blackkar at 6:50 AM on May 21, 2007

That formating turned crazy, sorry about that. Please ignore the first "shuttle" at the start of the post.
posted by blackkar at 6:51 AM on May 21, 2007