Dr. Christina Prather is the Director of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. She co-directs the Memory Evaluation and Treatment Clinic and provides outpatient palliative care in the GW Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic. She is an Associate Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. A Maryland native, she earned an engineering degree in biological resources and biomedical engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park and completed medical school in Baltimore at the University of Maryland. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Geriatrics at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She is a proud recipient of the James Bryan award from the University of North Carolina which is awarded to clinicians who are recognized for their compassion, clinical skills, and bedside manner.
Dr. Prather is interested in helping patients age well and remain well during acute illnesses. She enjoys developing continuity relationships with older adults early on to optimize quality of life during the aging process. In her role as a memory specialist, she focuses on improving quality of life for patients and families with memory loss. She also leads GW's inpatient geriatric program and is an active faculty member for the Center for Trauma and Critical Care. Hospitalizations can be stressful for patients and their loved ones. Dr. Prather believes that geriatricians play an important role in inpatient care through optimizing inpatient geriatric specialty care, minimizing loss of function during acute illness, supporting families in understanding their loved one's illness or injury, and assisting with comprehensive transitions out of the hospital.
In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Prather is passionate about sharing her love for older adults with other members of the patient care team. She is an active faculty member at the GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Her goals include training the next generation of health care providers to better meet the unique medical needs of our aging population.
Podcasts
Community dementia care: The importance of dementia care, advance directives, and creating a non-pharmacologic treatment plan for those living with cognitive impairment
Avoiding injury in older adults - falls/ injury prevention
