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Stephen J. D’Amico, MD

Although better known as an actress than a philosopher, Bette Davis knew what she was talking about when she observed, “Old age ain’t for sissies.”

Stephen D’Amico, MD, a practicing internist and geriatric specialist at Cornerstone Medical Group in Franklin, knows how right she was.

He also knows how the country’s future will inevitably be affected by the sheer numbers of an aging population as the baby boom generation reaches their 60s, 70s and beyond.

He draws a mental image of a “pig in the python,” a term coined in demographics for a spike or surge in a statistic measured over time, and recommends a book of the same name that looks how the population bulge of boomers will transform the economics of aging in this country.

In partnership with his wife, Annita Kerr-D’Amico, EdD, a counselor in his practice, D’Amico co-founded and serves as medical director of Geriatric Research and Evaluation Inc., a consulting research organization on aging.

The D’Amicos work with long term care facilities to present seminars to educate individuals, families, and caregivers on dealing with anxiety and stress in the transition from home to a long term care situation. Together they also give seminars and training for those who deal with patients in this difficult chapter of their lives.

Author of several articles on caregiving and aging issues, D’Amico has served on local, national, and international boards as a consultant to organizations and corporations concerning long term care and aging.

D’Amico grew up on Long Island and graduated from Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. with majors in biology and philosophy and minors in chemistry and sociology.
He went on to study arts and science, language, and cultural studies at the Università di Perugia in Italy before beginning his studies at the University of Rome School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the Universidad Centros Estudios Technologicos in Santa Domingo in June of 1983.

His post graduate work was done at The Griffin Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital under Leo Cooney, MD, of Yale, where D’Amico became interested in geriatrics, a word springing from the Greek word genon, meaning “honorable old men.”

D’Amico did a fellowship at the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) in Minneapolis, studying the effects of dementia and depression on long term care. GRECCs are “centers of geriatric excellence” initiated in the 1970s by the Veterans Health Administration. The centers were designed to focus attention on the aging veteran population by increasing the basic knowledge of aging and transmitting that knowledge to healthcare providers to improve the quality of care. All of the nation’s GRECCS focusing on various aspects of care for the aging veteran are at the leading edge in aging research, education, and clinical care.

D’Amico was drawn to the Nashville area when an opportunity to take over a geriatric practice arose at Baptist Hospital. He has been in practice here for the last 20 years.

He is Board Certified in Geriatrics and a Fellow of the Medical Directors Association, the largest group representing physicians who work in long term care. He has met the stringent qualifications in clinical and academic work in long term age issues to become a Certified Medical Director.

As long term care gets more and more complicated and involves more behavior and physical problems, CMDs can help facilities deal with increasing federal and state regulations and design training programs to educate their staffs.

It is estimated that there are 5 million people with Alzheimer’s disease in this country and that the number will continue to grow. D’Amico points out that Alzheimer’s and dementia are terminal in the sense that there are no cures — and even though the brain cannot cause hearts, lungs, kidneys to cease functioning, the affected brain can decrease the sensations of hunger or thirst, leading to serious problems in the rest of the body.

Given the realities of aging, D’Amico stresses the importance of building a triangle of trust between the doctor, the patient, and the facility where patients are located. Often hospitalized patients are in the care of hospitalists who have a good understanding of the disease process but might lack the specific skills necessary in communicating with a geriatric patient’s family. In this case, a geriatric specialist can step in to act as a liaison between the two.

An elderly patient can often be in the care of multiple specialists for chronic conditions. A geriatrician serves as the quarterback to monitor drug interactions, as well as needs for physical therapy, in what D’Amico calls a “high tech/high touch” interaction with patients, starting in the physician’s office and moving to residential, nursing home, or hospital settings as the situation changes.

Since many patients are physically unable to come to the doctor’s office, he sees a new paradigm where medicine will go to people where they are, and he looks for an increase in the use of telemedicine, especially with behavioral issues.

The D’Amicos have four children –– Chris, a photographer; Jessica, a writer; Benjamin who is majoring in business; and Megan, a senior at MTSU in music and sociology.

He enjoys bike riding and reading different types of novels. D’Amico stays involved in current events and was particularly fascinated by the implications of a shrinking planet in The World is Flat. An avid collector and builder of model trains, he is planning to build a miniature garden railroad that will snake through his backyard.

Clearly, this will be another instance where his communication and analytical skills will be key in keeping things on track.

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