Beginning a career in psychiatry is to embark on a journey that is intellectually exciting, personally rewarding and emotionally transformative. The discipline itself is being revolutionized by the explosion of knowledge in the neurosciences. The integration of this knowledge with sophisticated psychological understanding of the individual patient makes the practice of modern psychiatry complex, challenging and engrossing. This is a remarkable time to enter the field. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has an established reputation for delivering the highest quality clinical care and training for residents, fellows and interns. Our Department is consistently ranked by US News & World Report among the top hospital Departments of Psychiatry in the nation.
The residency program at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, which has 12 residents per class, is devoted to preparing trainees for the fast changing world by enabling them to become excellent clinicians able to integrate biological, psychodynamic, phenomenological and socio-cultural models in the effective treatment of patients.
We believe that residency training is first and foremost a postgraduate education and in our program, residents are not crucial to service delivery. While psychotherapy training is often overlooked or short-changed in training programs, we believe that becoming a competent psychotherapist is crucial and central to the professional identity and function of a psychiatrist. A developmental perspective on training is also key to our philosophy reflecting a belief in the maturational aspects of becoming a psychiatrist.
In addition, we strongly believe individual supervision to be a cornerstone in the development of clinical excellence; and our extensive and diverse faculty of psychoanalysts, generalists, service directors and specialists provide one on one and small group supervision in an array of areas including psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, cognitive behavioral therapy, group, family, addiction psychiatry etc. An extensive didactic curriculum (a full day each week ) further cultivates professional development. Finally, we view our residents as being part of a family wherein their well-being and clinical and intellectual development is paramount. Residents in our program through regular meetings with senior faculty are actively engaged in reviewing and revising the overall program. The training program belongs to the residents.
The psychology internship training program is part of the Division of Psychology within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Our department has an established reputation for delivering the highest quality clinical care and for providing exceptional training opportunities for future psychologists. Our APA-accredited year-long internship offers specialized training in a number of settings, unparalleled supervision by experts in the field, and clinical experiences that will prepare you for a future in psychology. Our faculty members are dedicated to providing an outstanding internship training experience tailored to the needs of each intern.
Interns can select from comprehensive training experiences in the psychiatric emergency room, inpatient unit, outpatient units, specialized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) programs, and substance abuse programs. We also offer cutting-edge elective experiences in sleep-wake disorders, geriatric psychology, and managed mental health care, among others.
For more information on our Psychology Internship Training Program, please visit our website.
Child/Adolescent Psychiatry
The Fellowship in Child/Adolescent Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center is a two-year training experience that offers a comprehensive clinical and didactic curriculum. Since its inception in 1956, this distinguished program has graduated a substantial percentage of child/adolescent psychiatrists practicing in the United States. These graduates include many past and current Directors of Training in Child/Adolescent Psychiatry and Directors of Divisions of Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers in the forefront of clinical research in Child/Adolescent Psychiatry, Professors of Psychiatry nation-wide and Training and Supervising Analysts at prominent psychoanalytic institutes.
The Division of Child/Adolescent Psychiatry is dedicated to advancing the professional growth of each fellow. Our two-year program is structured to provide a balance of clinical training spanning the developmental lives of infants, children and adolescents and their surroundings.
Professional mentorship and exposure to senior faculty in supervisory sessions are key elements of the fellow's two-year training program. We draw from a wealth of full and part-time senior faculty who are leaders in the field of academic and clinical Child Psychiatry who maintain an unparalleled dedication to residency training.
Our Division's objectives are to foster the child/adolescent fellow's diagnostic skills, knowledge and competence in multiple treatment modalities, excitement about clinical research and a professional attitude towards patients and their families. As the field of Child/Adolescent Psychiatry increasingly interfaces with basic science in the areas of neuroscience, imaging, and psychiatric genomics, it is crucial to maintain these fundamental goals as we prepare our trainees for the future.
Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship
Montefiore Medical Center has a long tradition of leadership in the field of Psychosomatic Medicine. The ACGME accredited Fellowship in Psychosomatic Medicine is a one-year, full-time experience which offers a wide range of training opportunities both at the Moses Division, a 700-bed tertiary care facility and at the Jack D. Weiler Division, with 300 beds.
The majority of fellows' time is spent on our busy consultation service, rotating with and teaching PGY II residents, first- and third-year students from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and residents from Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine. Fellows also rotate through the Solid Organ and Stem Cell Transplant Services, Palliative Care, and the Substance Abuse Consultation Service. Outpatient experiences include those services, as well as the High-Risk Pregnancy Clinic. Fellows are supervised daily by attending board-certified physicians in Psychosomatic Medicine, Addiction, Geriatric and Forensic Psychiatry as well as Pain Medicine. A concentration in Child and Adolescent Psychosomatic Medicine is an option for candidates who have completed Adult and Child Psychiatry training.
Geriatrics Fellowship
The ACGME accredited Fellowship Training Program in Geriatrics has prepared 52 fellows for Board certification in the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry since 1989. Upon graduation our trainees are highly sought after for leadership positions in academia and public health institutions. They are also prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving evidence base in late life mental illness and the expanding array of geriatric practice sites. Its close ties to Montefiore's Fellowship Program in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Certified Home Health Care Agency, as well as the Division of Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care program distinguishes this program from others in the New York metropolitan area.
The clinical experience occurs in the Psychiatric Outpatient Department, Montefiore a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, and includes consultation to a teaching nursing home and house calls to patients in the community. Two thirds of the experience occurs in the out patient department, one sixth in nursing homes and one sixth in community based settings. Teaching, supervision, and direct involvement in NIH research with faculty (including the diagnosis and treatment of dementia and mild cognitive impairment) are also integral to the program's mission.
The Division's teaching and training goals are to: respond to the increasing number of needy older adults - including disadvantaged minority and immigrant elders, provide psychiatrists with special training in geriatrics for leadership positions, offer consultation and training to primary care physicians, general psychiatrists, and community agencies that provide mental health services to the elderly, gain a greater share of public and philanthropic support for training and research in mental health, and influence health policy through the conduct of clinical investigation and community service.
Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship is a one-year training program in Law and Psychiatry offered by the Einstein Division of Law and Psychiatry. The program combines a comprehensive didactic curriculum with an extensive and varied array of forensic experiences.
The didactic work includes a year-long lecture series which covers all aspects of forensic psychiatry. In addition, fellows will participate in seminars on legal philosophy, landmark cases, psychiatric and forensic ethics, and case reviews. A weekly civil forensic preceptorship is also provided by senior faculty.
The experiential component of the fellowship includes supervised site placements at Bronx Psychiatric Center, Bronx Criminal Court Clinic and Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Westchester Jewish Community Services, the Bronx Mental Health Court and the New York City Department of Mental Health Correctional Health Services ("Riker's Island") where the fellow gains experience in the following areas: 1) court-ordered forensic evaluations of adult and child cases; 2) examination and treatment of criminal offenders in prison and jail settings (including insanity acquittees and sex offenders); 3) dangerousness assessments; 4) civil assessments for involuntary hospitalization, treatment over objection, outpatient commitment and guardianship; 5) child custody; 6) mental health court-based diversion, and 7) correctional health administration. All of the above provide ample opportunity for consultation with attorneys and courts, as well as courtroom testimony.
Affiliation with the City University and Pace University Schools of Law, as well as collaborations with multiple legal agencies across New York City, provide additional access to criminal, civil and family court consultations, as well as other teaching and research collaborations. Exposure to program and policy development is built into the training experience.
Fellows are active participants in the division's medical student and resident teaching program. Research activity expected, either through participation in ongoing division work or through the development of an independent project, with anticipated goal of a year-end presentation.
The fellowship is under the directorship of Dr. Merrill Rotter, a nationally recognized expert in forensic psychiatry research, training and policy development. In 2009, Dr. Rotter was the recipient of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law's Best Teacher in a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Award.