Specializations

The Psychology Internship Training Program at Montefiore Medical Center offers candidates a choice between two different clinical tracks: an Adult Specialization and a Child and Adolescent Specialization. During the application process, applicants must choose and apply to only one specialization. We place four interns in the Adult specialization and two interns in the Child and Adolescent specialization. Last year (2011), we received 404 applications for these six (6) positions.

While each of the specializations offers different core and elective rotations, we also ensure that all six interns have shared supervisions, meetings, and curriculum seminars throughout the year.

Below are the core "templates" for the standard rotations in each specialization. It is important to note, however, that these are simply templates, as both specializations offer tremendous flexibility in and around the core rotations. As such, interns in each track are able to customize their internship experience by adding elective rotations (described in the "Clinical Rotations" section) in order to consolidate and expand upon their knowledge, skills, and abilities and meet their individual training needs and goals.

Adult Specialization Template

The Adult Specialization consists of four core rotations that interns move through sequentially throughout the year (note: the order of these rotations will be different for each intern):

• 6-month rotation in the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Department (AOPD)
  • See approximately 16 patients seen/week, along with co-leading 2 groups
• 4-month rotation on the Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit
  • Primary therapist for 3-4 inpatients, co-lead groups, conduct neuropsychological assessments as needed for patients on the unit; primary therapist for 2-3 outpatients
• 1-month rotation in the Psychiatric Observation Suite (POS; our Psychiatric ER)
  • Diagnose, and triage 20-25 patients; primary therapist for 2-3 outpatients
• 1-month rotation in the Addiction Psychiatry Consultation Service in Psychosomatic Medicine
  • Screen, differentially diagnose, and generate written consultation reports for 15-20 patients; conduct 2-3 follow-up visits with each patient during the hospital stay; primary therapist for 2-3 outpatients

Click Here to View a Weekly Schedule of One of Our 2012-13 Adult Track Interns

Child and Adolescent Specialization Template

The Child and Adolescent Specialization consists of three core rotations that interns move through simultaneously throughout the year (i.e., during the week interns provide services to all three programs, which are housed in the same location):

• 12-month rotation in the Child Outpatient Psychiatry Department (COPD)
  • 8 patients seen/week, along with 1 family case, 2 groups
• 12-month rotation in the Adolescent Depression and Suicide Program (ADSP)
  • 6 patients seen/week, along with 1 group, DBT Team
• 12-month rotation in the Child and Adolescent Assessment Service
  • 6 comprehensive psychological evaluations

Click Here to View a Weekly Schedule of One of Our 2012-13 Child and Adolescent Track Interns

Adding Electives to Customize Your Training

Elective rotations can be added to the core rotations based on your specific interests and/or needs. Electives that can be added by interns in either specialization include:

• ACS Family Treatment and Rehabilitation Program
• Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program - Sleep-Wake Disorders Center
• Butler Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Mental Health Team
  Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) Behavioral Consultation Team
• Geropsychology
• Neuropsychology Assessment Service
• Psychiatry AIDS Connected Ambulatory Program (PACAP)
• Substance Abuse Treatment Program (SATP)/New Directions Recovery Center (NDRC)
• Supporting Healthy Relationships Program
  Transplant Psychiatry Service
  University Behavioral Associates (UBA) Managed Care Company

In addition, interns in the Child and Adolescent Specialization can add as elective rotations the following core rotations from the Adult Specialization:

• Addiction Psychiatry Consultation Service in Psychosomatic Medicine
• Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Department
• Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit
• Psychiatric Observation Suite

And, interns in the Adult Specialization can add as elective rotations the following core rotations from the Child and Adolescent Specialization:

• Child Outpatient Psychiatry Department
• Adolescent Depression and Suicide Program

There is no limit to the number of ways in which the internship year at Montefiore can be customized. In addition to the choosing which electives to add, interns are also able to structure certain electives into either a one-month (or more) full-time rotation (by reducing or eliminating time from other rotations) or as an addition to their outpatient work (by reducing their outpatient caseloads).

For example, an intern in the adult specialization who has never worked with a geriatric population might choose to add an elective rotation in Geropsycholgy in order to broaden his or her clinical experience before graduating. Even an intern who arrives with a great deal of experience in working with a geriatric population, however, may choose to add an elective rotation in Geropsycholgy – in this case to keep his or her skills sharp and/or to gain experience in working with the elderly in the Bronx and/or with Dr. Gary Kennedy (an internationally-renowned Geriatric Psychiatrist).

In addition, one of these hypothetical interns may choose to add a few geriatric patients during his or her rotation in our adult outpatient psychiatry department for six months, while the other may decide to build an intensive experience working with geriatric patients, which could include providing care at area nursing homes, conducting home visits, and participating in an array of inter-professional seminars and case conferences conducted in collaboration with the training program of the Division of Geriatric Medicine.