All first-year students at Harvard Medical School spend a half-day at Hebrew SeniorLife’s Center Communities of Brookline senior living community for a geriatrics assessment program. Working in groups of two to three, students are paired with a Harvard Medical School preceptor, many of whom are also Hebrew SeniorLife clinicians. The groups are paired with a Center Communities of Brookline resident so students can learn how to conduct a geriatrics assessment.

Learn more about the geriatrics assessment program:

Dental students also do rotations at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center’s dental clinic, in partnership with the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

Psychology students participate in practicum rotations at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center locations in Boston and at NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham, as well at Hebrew SeniorLife senior living communities, under the supervision of our Harvard Medical School-appointed psychiatrists. Students gain exposure to a wide breadth of inpatient and outpatient experiences, including psychological assessments; individual, group, couples, and family psychotherapy; and psychological consultation.

We welcome graduate medical trainees, including internal medicine, psychiatry, and dental residents. Trainees gain experience in inpatient and outpatient settings, working with seniors of all abilities, from those living independently to frail, medically complex patients.

Hebrew SeniorLife is a partner and teaching site for the ACGME-accredited Harvard Medical School Multi-Campus Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine.

Established in 1978, the program is one of the oldest geriatrics fellowships in the country. Graduates have gone on to become leaders in health care and research across the U.S. We’ve trained more geriatric fellows than any single teaching institution in the U.S.

In addition to Hebrew SeniorLife, participating sites include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which is the sponsoring institution; Brigham & Women's Hospital; VA Boston Healthcare System; Mt. Auburn Hospital, and Element Care/PACE. Hebrew SeniorLife provides administrative leadership as well as financial, educational, and clinical resources.

Hebrew SeniorLife is a unique environment for fellows to train in given our large continuum of care, including independent living, assisted living, long-term chronic care, medically acute care, post-acute rehabilitative care, and the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, one of the largest gerontological research facilities in a clinical setting in the U.S.

The first year of the program is clinically focused. Fellows rotate through the participating sites, including at least six weeks providing care for post-acute patients and primary care for long-term chronic care hospital patients at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center.

Interested and qualified fellows may remain for a second year of training to hone their leadership skills in preparation for an academic career. Second-year fellows choose one of three specialized tracks: clinician-educator, research, or health care policy.

Program Details and Application

In addition to the Harvard Medical School geriatric fellowship, we welcome psychology interns, and fellows in geriatric psychiatry, palliative care, and dentistry. This includes a geriatric psychiatry fellowship offered in partnership with Partners HealthCare and McLean Hospital, which provides experience treating older adults in a long-term chronic care setting at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center.

For students training to become nurse practitioners, Hebrew SeniorLife has partnered with several Boston-area MSN-NP and D-NP schools to help meet students’ practicum requirements. Nurse practitioner students are precepted by Hebrew SeniorLife nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians. Clinical experiences happen in our post-acute care rehabilitative units at our two Hebrew Rehabilitation Center locations, in Boston and at NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham. Affiliated schools include Boston College, UMass Boston, and Simmons College.

For clinicians who wish to become researchers, Hebrew SeniorLife’s Marcus Institute offers a number of grant-funded opportunities for residents and fellows. Many Marcus Institute faculty hold appointments at Harvard Medical School, including six full professors of medicine. The Marcus Institute’s research portfolio places it in the top 15% of institutions funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Find Research Opportunities

During your first visit, you’ll meet with our psychiatrist, who will go over your medical and depression history, explain the treatment process, and answer any questions you may have.

At your second visit, you’ll meet with the technician to map your brain and establish the right location and intensity for the treatment. The mapping process is painless. You’ll sit in a chair wearing an adhesive tracker on your forehead. A camera establishes the location of the part of your brain that will be targeted for the treatment.

Following the mapping you’ll receive your first TMS treatment. You’ll sit in a comfortable chair while we place an electromagnetic coil next to your head. We’ll personalize the intensity of the stimulation, then record it for future visits.

During subsequent visits, you’ll go directly to the technician for treatment. Once a week you’ll meet with our psychiatrist to review your progress. Of course, the entire team is always available should you have any questions.

The treatment session itself lasts about 45 minutes and is almost pain-free. We’ll place an electromagnetic coil next to your head while you sit comfortably in a chair. Some people describe what they feel during treatment as a tapping or vibrating sensation on their head. 

You may experience twitching and/or blinking, because the treatment stimulates parts of your brain that control movement in your hands and feet. This is completely normal, and only lasts during the treatment itself. We’ll carefully calibrate the intensity of the treatment to minimize this effect.

The machine itself makes a loud clicking noise (similar to an MRI machine), so we’ll give you ear plugs to wear during treatment. Of course, the technician will be with you at all times during the treatment session.

After each treatment session is over, you can return to your normal activities immediately.

Most patients come for treatment five days per week for about four to six weeks, following by four to six additional tapering sessions over a span of two weeks. When symptoms are improved, relief can last for up to a year. If symptoms of depression return, you can complete another course of treatment.

TMS is highly safe and effective at treating treatment-resistant depression - about 60% of patients experience an improvement in symptoms, and lasting side effects or complications are very rare. By contrast, patients who haven’t responded to at least one medication for depression have only a 3% chance of responding to any other medication.

TMS is an outpatient treatment, and patients can return to their normal activities immediately.

There are very few side effects from TMS, and if they do occur they tend to be mild, improve shortly after an individual session, and decrease over time with additional sessions. Side effects may include:

• Headache
• Scalp discomfort at the site of stimulation
• Tingling sensation or twitching of facial muscles during the treatment session
• Lightheadedness

We’ll adjust the intensity of your treatment to minimize any possible discomfort or side effects.

You may begin experiencing relief from your symptoms in as little as two weeks after beginning treatment. When the treatment is effective, TMS can bring relief for up to a year. If your symptoms return, you can choose to undergo another round of treatment. Research shows that patients who respond to a first course of treatment continue to show positive response to subsequent treatments, should those be necessary.

Yes, TMS can be used in conjunction with medication and/or therapy.

TMS treatment at the Wolk Center for Memory Health is overseen by an expert and accomplished care team.

• The Wolk Center’s Medical Director, cognitive neurologist Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, provides oversight for all patient care. Dr. Pascual-Leone is also senior scientist at Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is a pioneer in the use of non-invasive brain stimulation.
• At your first meeting and once a week thereafter, you’ll meet with our psychiatrist to discuss your medical condition and your care. The psychiatrist also oversees the treatment and ensures a high quality of care for all patients.
• Our neuropsychologist ensures the quality of care for our patients, provides overall oversight of the TMS program, supervises the technician’s work, guarantees quality control procedures are in place, and keeps the program up-to-date with the latest best practices.
• A fully-trained technician will provide the TMS treatment, ensure your comfort, monitor you for side effects during treatment, and make adjustments as necessary.

TMS is different from Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), commonly known as “shock therapy.” Both use electricity, but the mechanism and experience are very different.

TMS is an outpatient non-invasive treatment that selectively modifies activity in specific areas of the brain. TMS does not require anesthesia.  During treatment, patients are awake and alert, and can immediately return to their normal activities. TMS uses electromagnetic induction to introduce current in the brain and does not apply current directly to the scalp. It is not painful and generally has only mild side effects.

By contrast, ECT works by applying direct electric currents to the patient's head while they are sedated, intentionally causing a "therapeutic seizure" in order to reset the brain.

Both treatments can be extremely effective in alleviating the symptoms of depression, but TMS has similar efficacy with fewer risks and much less potential for side effects.

TMS is covered by most private insurance and Medicare. Check with your insurer for specific coverage.

Yes, you need a referral from your treating psychiatrist. We’ll keep in communication with them and any other members of your care team that are necessary, such as your PCP.

The Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health at Hebrew SeniorLife is located at 1200 Centre Street on the campus of Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston. We are conveniently located at the intersection of Centre Street and the VFW Parkway near the Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury neighborhoods. We are wheelchair-accessible and there is an MBTA bus stop in front of the building.

Use the lower B1 entrance on Centre Street for the easiest access to the Wolk Center for Memory Health. Hebrew Rehabilitation Center front desk staff will be happy to direct you down a short hallway to our office.

Yes, there is free valet parking at our lower B1 entrance on Walter Street.