Division of General Internal Medicine
About the division chair | About the division
Contact information | Sections
Clinical areas | Research areas | Fellowship training program
Other points of interest
About the chair
Peter A. Boling, M.D., Interim Division Chair
Division of General Medicine, Director of Long-term care and geriatrics
Peter A. Boling, M.D., is a professor of Medicine. He attended Amherst College (B.A. in English with honors, 1976) and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (student pathology fellow 1978-79, M.D. 1981) where he placed a particularly strong emphasis on the biopsychosocial model of illness and health. He completed Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1984 and remained in Richmond as a member of the VCU faculty.
Originating from the VCU House Calls program, which he started in 1984, his primary career focus has been care of the frail and vulnerable, with a particular interest in care coordination, care transitions and home health care, an area of expertise in which he is recognized nationally. In 1997, he published a single-author text, “The Physician’s Role in Home Health Care.” He has a certificate of added qualifications in geriatric medicine from the ABIM (1990, 2000), and received the Nascher-Manning Award from the American Geriatrics Society in 2000.
Dr. Boling has directed geriatric medicine at VCU Medical Center since the mid-1990s and led the successful effort to obtain a $1.8 million educational grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation (2001-05). During this time, the Geriatrics Section grew from three to eight physician faculty members working with eight nurse practitioners and seven support staff. Dr. Boling also has been centrally involved in the evolution of general internal medicine and primary care at VCU, helping with strategic planning processes in the early and mid-1990s and being one of the leaders of a 180-physician primary care IPA that was created during the heyday of managed care in the late 1990s. He has been a member of SGIM since 1987 (and a regular annual meeting attendee).
About the Division of General Internal Medicine
The Division of General Internal Medicine is committed to excellence in clinical patient care, teaching and scholarship. The division is home to about 90 highly talented faculty members.
Contact information
Interim Division Chair
Peter A. Boling, M.D.
P.O. Box 980102
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0102
Phone: (804) 828-5323
E-mail: pboling@mcvh-vcu.edu
Division Administrator
Wendy Walker
P.O. Box 980102
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0102
Phone: (804) 828-5323
E-mail: wwalker2@mcvh-vcu.edu
Clinic Information (patient appointment information only)
Geriatrics: (804) 828-4624
Long-term Care: (804) 828-5306
House Calls: (804) 828-4624
Academic Hospitalist: (804) 828-3144
Ambulatory Care Center Faculty Practice: (804) 828-9357
Ambulatory Care Center Resident Practice: (804) 828-8786
Women’s Health at Stony Point: (804) 560-8950
Foundations of Clinical Medicine: (804) 828-6791
McGuire VA Medical Center Primary Care: (804) 675-5427
McGuire VA Medical Center Geriatrics: (804) 675-5181
The Division of General Internal Medicine comprises of nine sections: Community Medicine |Geriatric Medicine | Student Health
Women’s Health | Hospitalist Medicine | Addiction Medicine
Ambulatory General Internists | Medical Educators | Researchers described on a separate webpage.
Clinical areas
Clinical service sites for division faculty members include:
- Ambulatory Care Center (primary care medicine and geriatrics);
- Stony Point Women’s Health Center; House Calls;
- Long-Term Care program (serving 15 community nursing homes, plus the NHCU at the VA Medical Center);
- General Medicine Consults, Geriatric Medicine Consults and Palliative Care Consults on inpatient units at the VCU Medical Center;
- VA Medical Center ambulatory care and outpatient Geriatric Health Care Center;
- Erectile Dysfunction Clinic (VAMC); and
- the large inpatient academic hospitalist service at the VCU Medical Center.
Research areas
Division members engage in research and scholarship in diverse areas including
- clinical decision-making in cancer care;
- geriatric education; quality of care during transitions and in nursing homes;
- home health care;
- polycystic ovarian syndrome;
- tuberculosis screening and emergency preparedness on college campuses; and
- substance abuse.
Division members have been funded by the American Cancer Society, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Virginia Department of Health, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, plus grants from foundations and industry.
Dr. Peter Boling is the principal investigator of the VCU/Reynolds Partnership in Geriatric Education, a $1.83 million program funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, augmented by $915,000 in matching funds from VCU. This program aims to prepares medical students, residents from several disciplines and community physicians to provide care for an aging population. Dr. Paulina Essah is the recipient of a Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health training grant from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Catherine Kelso has a new five-year Geriatric Academic Care Advancement award totaling $290,000 in which she is developing knowledge and skills related to geriatric palliative care. Division faculty members have brought in more than $3.2 million in grant funds over the past three years, have presented at numerous national and international meetings, and have published over 16 abstracts and 21 papers in the past year.
Fellowship training programs
Major emphasis is placed on education of medical students and housestaff in many venues: ambulatory care, home care, nursing home and inpatient settings. Division faculty members have a major role in the Foundations of Clinical Medicine course where students learn the basic skills of doctoring, and interact closely with the large, award-winning “Club Med” organization in the School of Medicine. A Geriatrics Fellowship Program with five first-year positions is operated in collaboration with the geriatrics faculty at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Administration Hospital.
Other points of interest
Division faculty members serve in many public roles and on several advisory groups. Dr. Peter Boling has been the American Geriatrics Society representative to the Home Care Professional and Technical Advisory Committee of the Joint Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations. Rachel Selby-Penczak has been the geriatrician appointed to the Virginia Medicaid Formulary Committee by Gov. Mark R. Warner. Dr. Boling is the co-chair of the Virginia Medicare Part B Carrier Advisory Committee, serves on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Academy of Home Care Physicians and is vice president of the Williamsburg Center for Excellence in Aging and Geriatric Health. Dr. Wendy Klein is appointed to the Virginia Council on the Status of Women and is president-elect for the Association of Academic Women’s Health Programs. Dr. Michael Weaver is the chair for the American Society of Addition Medicine Examination Committee.
Geriatrics Program Website