Patricia Curtin White, MD '88, Fellowship '00, FACP, CMD

Dr. Patricia Curtin White is a board-certified internist/geriatrician and Section Chief of Geriatric Medicine at ChristianaCare (CC). She is the Medical Director of the Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) Units at Christiana and Wilmington Hospitals and the WISH (We Improve Senior Health) Clinical Education Program. She was part of the team that opened the Swank Memory Care Center in 2011—the only memory care center in Delaware. She is a member of the CC Council of Advisors and a former member of the CC VNA Board of Directors, serving thirteen of her seventeen years as Vice Chair.

Dr. Curtin White is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Penn State University Physician Assistant Program at Hershey Medical Center, and Jefferson Medical College. She was a resident and chief resident in Internal Medicine at the Medical Center of Delaware (now ChristianaCare). She completed a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Medicine at CC and served as the Director of Ambulatory Medicine for many years, as well as the Geriatric Medicine Education Coordinator for over 23 years. She has appointments as a Clinical Assistant Professor at both the Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) of Thomas Jefferson University and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM).

During her career, Dr. Curtin White has been involved with or chaired numerous committees and teams, focused on the team approach to improving care for older patients. She organizes rotations and curriculum to educate residents, students, nurses, and others about the special needs of seniors.

Dr. Curtin White served as the first woman Alumni Trustee to the TJUH Board of Directors (1988-1993). In addition, she served on the Admissions Committee for Jefferson Medical College for many years. She had served on the Jefferson Alumni Executive Committee since 1992, as a Vice-President, and was involved in several committees, including Alumni Trustee, State and Regional Affairs, Women’s Forum, and Bylaws, which under the direction of the Dean, helped to redesign the Alumni Association Board. 

Dr. Curtin White has served in several roles on the redesigned SKMC Alumni Board since 2019, including as Secretary and more recently as President and Immediate Past-President. She continues her service as an Alumni Board member and recently as a member of the Nominating and Bylaws Committees.  She also serves as a Class Agent for the Class of 1988.

Dr. Curtin White has been recognized as a “Woman of Distinction” during the Jefferson “50 Years of Women” in 2011, as the first female Alumni Trustee at Jefferson Medical College. In 2016, she was awarded the CC Harrington Trustee Award for Distinguished Service and Leadership and the national Jefferson Champions Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Employee, recognized for her work in geriatrics, in the community, and for medical mission trips to Haiti. Dr. Curtin White participated in and led many medical teams to Haiti with the Notre Dame Haiti program since 2009. She has also participated in a medical and house-building mission trip to Guatemala. In addition, Dr. Curtin White received the 2017 American College of Physicians (ACP) Delaware Chapter Laureate Award for excellence in medical care, education, research, and service, the 2018 Department of Medicine Virginia U. Collier, MD Distinguished Educator Award, and the 2019 CC Medical-Dental Staff Commendation for Excellence Award. Most recently, she was honored with the University of Notre Dame 2022 Senior Alumni Rev. Louis Putz, CSC Award for her outstanding dedication to the medical profession and service to others, providing excellent health care to those in need, both at home and abroad.

Dr. Curtin White is married and has three children, one of whom is a 2021 SKMC alumna (Mary).