Dr. Caroline Vitale is a Professor of Medicine within our Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine. Caroline obtained her MD at Wayne State University and completed her Internal Medicine residency training at University of Rochester (Rochester, NY), where her passion for Geriatrics was truly ignited under the mentorship of several mentors, including Drs. William Hall and Paul Katz. A subsequent fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at UMDNJ / Hackensack University Medical Center was followed by several years spent as a faculty member in Geriatrics at New York Medical College / St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan where she received a Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) and developed her passion in geriatric education.
Since arriving at the University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor in 2009, she has enjoyed working and teaching learners within a variety of sites and models of care, including HBPC and palliative care consults early on, inpatient geriatric consults, outpatient geriatrics clinic, and post-acute care. Since 2012, she has served as the Program Director of the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program where she has had the privilege of mentoring future geriatrician leaders. She also serves as the Associate Director for Education and Evaluation of the VA Ann Arbor Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), where she is involved in geriatric curriculum development, teaching and mentoring.
Dr. Vitale is a previous Chair of the American Geriatrics Society Ethics Committee and continues to serve in a leadership role as a current member of the Board of Directors of the American Geriatrics Society. A proud member of the John M. Carethers Clinical Excellence Society, she is also a recipient of the Anthony V. Devito II Memorial Award for geriatric her commitment to excellence in geriatric education in the State of Michigan. Her clinical interests include caring for older adults and their caregivers with a focus on enhancing quality of life, exploring ethical issues surrounding surrogate decision making, and training the next generation of physicians and interprofessional team members caring for older adults.