An Overview of the University of Louisville

The University of Louisville is a state-supported metropolitan research university located in Kentucky's largest urban area.  Originally, it was a municipally-supported, public institution for many decades prior to joining the state university system in 1970.  Currently, the University of Louisville has three campuses:

• Belknap Campus:  Located three miles from downtown Louisville, it is considered to be the main campus as the 177-acre campus houses seven of the university's eleven colleges and schools.
• Health Sciences Center (HSC):  Situated in downtown Louisville's medical complex, it houses the university's health-related programs as well as the University of Louisville Hospital.
• Shelby Campus:  Located in eastern Jefferson County, the 243-acre Shelby campus is home to the National Crime Prevention Institute and the University Center for Continuing and Professional Education.
  
  

About our Department

Here at the University of Louisville, our Department of Family & Geriatric Medicine utilizes a comprehensive approach to teaching and instructing medical students, residents, and fellows throughout various levels of their academic experience.  Blending resources from the community with state-of-the-art telecommunication as well as the Internet, our department offers access to experienced teachers and clinicians without regards for geographical locations.

Nestled in the heart of the Louisville Medical Center, the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine teaches medicine across various environments; hospitals, clinics (urban & rural), classrooms, and research facilities.

The History of Our Department

The Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2007.  Back in 1972, Dr. William VonderHaar and Dr. Donald Diebold joined the university as full time faculty and brought their practices into the newly formed department. 

Dr. VonderHarr served as the first chairman of the department, which had one resident during the 1972-1973 school year.  Today, there are 26 residents working here in Louisville and 12 residents working at the Glascow Residency Training program, located in the rural area of South-Eastern Kentucky.  A total of 198 residents have graduated from our residency training program since 1972.

Originally, our affiliation was with St. Anthony, a 374-bed community hospital.  The department was housed in a building adjacent to the nursing school.  In 1974, our departmental offices and clinical space were moved to the nearby medical office building.  Additional office space for residency training was established at the Louisville Memorial Primary Care Center in 1978.

In the late 1970's, Dean Arthur Keeny gave to the chairman at the time, Dr. John Wright, as well as giving to the department, a mission to take a leadership role in the development of patient care and teaching programs in the field of geriatrics.  A Health and Human Services Residency Training Grant helped establish a residency training curriculum in geriatrics, practice management, behavioral science, rural rotations, and a faculty development training course for preceptors in rural areas.  Funds from the grant were also used to establish an Ambulatory Care Facility in a high rise housing project for the elderly in 1981, as well as a Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Unit.

In 1982, movement into a new Ambulatory Care Building at the University of Louisville's Health Science Center allowed the department to then consolidate the residency training efforts and gain more contact with other medical school faculty and students under the guidance of Dr. Kenneth Holtzapple.  Affiliation with St. Anthony Hospital for inpatient activities continued.

The department established an inpatient services at the new Humana Hospital University in May 1983, which was recognizes as an independent, clinical service equal to all other clinical services in the teaching hospital.

Under the provisions of a Health and Human Services Pre-Doctoral Grant awarded in 1980, curriculum for a junior clerkship was developed.  Recognizing the need for more Family Practice instruction, the School of Medicine placed a four-week Family Practice clerkship into the core curriculum of the clinical years during 1983-1984.

In 1989, Dean Donald Kmetz assigned to the department the responsibility for teaching bio-statistics/epidemiology, disease prevention, health promotion, as well as humanism and ethics.

In 1992, the President's Office approved the School of Medicine's recommendation to change the name from the Department of Family Practice to the Department of Family and Community Medicine.  With the name change began the establishment of four divisions within the department:  Family Medicine, Community Medicine, Geriatrics, and Humanism.

Dr. Richard Clover served as Chair of the Department from 1995-2002.  Dr. James G. O'Brien served as the Acting Chair from April 2002-December 2002 before accepting the position permanently in January 2003.

In January 2004, the President's Office approved the School of Medicine's recommendation to change our name from the Department of Family and Community Medicine to the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine.  Since 2004, we have had 14 Geriatric Fellows graduate from our Geriatrics program.

Currently, our faculty consists of 25 MDs, 3 PhDs, 1 PharmD, 1 RD/MS, and 1 EdD.  In addition, there are 275 gratis faculty members who contribute to the teaching mission of our department.