By Philip Walzer
Dr. Marissa Galicia-Castillo ’94 (M.S.Ed. ’05) believes educating her patients is just as important as treating them.
“I want to make sure people are empowered to take care of themselves,” said Galicia-Castillo, director of Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Glennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology at Old Dominion University.
When she asks patients details about their conditions, some say, “It’s in my medical records.” That’s not good enough, Galicia-Castillo said.
“Your records in the hospital may not be talking to your records at the pharmacy,” Galicia-Castillo said. “It’s important to know everything about yourself medically.”
In turn, doctors should clarify their older patients’ goals. “We might assume it’s to live as long as possible, but it could be staying at home and not going back to the hospital,” she said. Or reducing their pain.
“It comes back to focusing on the patient and treating others the way you would want to be treated,” Galicia-Castillo said.
At ODU, Nancy Wade, who taught the introductory biology course for decades, set Galicia-Castillo on the right path in the early 1990s when she was a student. “She expected excellence,” Galicia-Castillo said. “You weren’t going to pass on by. You better know your stuff.”
Galicia-Castillo also immersed herself in campus life, co-founding and leading the Filipino American Student Association.
A biochemistry major, she was admitted to the Early Assurance Program, which guarantees ODU students entry to EVMS if they meet requirements. That also allowed her to start medical school a year early.
Galicia-Castillo graduated from EVMS in 1997 and began teaching there after a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in geriatric medicine. She holds the John Franklin Distinguished Chair for Geriatrics.
In 2004, she helped create a combined residency in internal medicine and geriatrics at the medical school. Residents, she said, “were not getting a lot of exposure to geriatrics, and that is our fastest-growing population.”
Galicia-Castillo also serves as medical director for palliative care at Sentara Norfolk General and Careplex hospitals, as well as Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital.
“We can’t control death,” she said, “but we can control how someone is cared for until that time. We want to make sure people feel the best that they can at any stage of a serious illness.”
Last April, she completed Drexel University’s Executive Leadership in Health Care program for woman doctors.
“We learned about budgets and collaborations and how organizations work,” she said. “In order to provide good care to our community, we need to cover all of these aspects.”