Beth Israel Psychiatry Residency and Fellowship Programs 

WELCOME

Thank you for your interest in the residency training program in psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center. The residency training program provides outstanding clinical training in a stimulating, scientifically sophisticated environment with a staff dedicated to teaching, research and patient care. Located in the dynamic urban setting of Manhattan, the department is able to expose residents to patients from a wide variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

With Beth Israel serving as University Hospital and Manhattan Campus for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Department of Psychiatry is linked to the academic and research resources of a major medical school. Additional affiliations with the graduate programs in psychology and anthropology at the New School for Social Research further add to the stimulating academic atmosphere in the department.

We look forward to hearing from you and further acquainting you with our program.

CONTINUUM HEALTH PARTNERS, INC.

Continuum Health Partners, Inc. was formed in January, 1997 as a partnership of two venerable hospitals: Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. Building upon the strengths of both institutions, the partners soon established a broad-based, integrated health services network extending throughout the New York metropolitan region. In May, 1998, the partnership was joined by a third distinguished institution, Long Island College Hospital, located in the Cobble Hill/Brooklyn Heights section of Brooklyn. Continuum continues to grow with the addition, in August, 1999, of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary—an outstanding specialty care institution.

Continuum Health Partners, Inc. delivers inpatient care through nearly 3,100 beds located in seven major hospital facilities in Manhattan and in Brooklyn. Continuum providers also see patients in group and private practice settings and ambulatory centers in the five boroughs of New York and in Westchester County. All four Continuum hospitals were established more than a century ago by civic-minded individuals with a shared commitment to improving health, and health care, in their communities. Today, participation in the Continuum partnership enables each member institution to better fulfill its traditional mission by making available an impressive array of resources for the provision of state-of-the-art and compassionate care. Together, they are superbly equipped to identify and respond to the health-related needs of their populations, in a patient- and physician-friendly environment.

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BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER

Beth Israel Medical Center, an 899-bed, full-service tertiary teaching hospital, is University Hospital and Manhattan Campus for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Beth Israel has two hospital divisions: the Milton and Carroll Petrie Division in Lower Manhattan; and the Kings Highway Division in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

Founded on Manhattan's Lower East Side before the turn of the 20th century, Beth Israel originally was dedicated to serving vulnerable populations in that community. A century later, the Medical Center serves individuals and families throughout New York City and beyond—while retaining its traditional strong sense of mission. In addition to Beth Israel Medical Center, the Beth Israel Health Care System includes the Phillips Ambulatory Care Center—a state-of-the-art outpatient care center located at Union Square in Manhattan offering a wide range of primary and specialty care services; D•O•C•S primary and specialty health care offices; Beth Israel Ambulatory Surgi-Center in Brooklyn; the Williamsburg Family Health Center; the Phillips Family Practice/Sidney Hillman Center; Geriatrics/Internal Medicine at Penn South; the Robert Mapplethorpe Residential Treatment Facility; the Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing; Karpas Health Information Center; Max Meltzer Geriatric Practice; and the Japanese Medical Practice.

Beth Israel has been cited for excellence in many clinical areas, including AIDS and HIV-related disorders, breast cancer and other cancer specialties, such as head and neck, lung, skin, gynecological, urological, colorectal and neurological cancer, cardiology, chemical dependency, neurological disorders, brief psychotherapy, geriatric psychiatry, neuroimaging, and neurobehavior.

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RESIDENCY PROGRAMS IN PSYCHIATRY  

The psychiatry residency training program is a four-year program, or a three-year program following a transitional internship year, approved by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education.

The training program is designed to develop psychiatric clinicians who have a broad base of clinical and theoretical knowledge. The department's clinical philosophy blends the most current thinking from the biological, psychodynamic and sociological perspectives. The resident is expected to become proficient in applying these perspectives to the treatment and understanding of his/her patients and to understand current research and developments in the field. Under close supervision, the clinical and academic assignments are designed to gradually help the residents integrate their knowledge and experience. The educational process is enriched by an extensive range of clinical and research activities, didactic seminars, grand rounds, clinical conferences and journal clubs. While providing a rigorous academic and clinical program, the department fosters a warm sense of community. Residents quickly sense the ease with which they can approach staff for advice and support. Their involvement in the department is encouraged and enhanced by weekly resident lunches and resident-organized social events. Residents receive one month of vacation a year.

Faculty

The program is staffed by 27 full-time attendings, 8 part-time attendings, and 65 active voluntary staff who have expertise in all areas of clinical psychiatry. In addition, there is a staff of 29 supervising psychologists also involved in the training program. The attending staff are dedicated, enthusiastic clinicians who especially value their teaching and mentoring roles.

Administrative Faculty

Arnold Winston, MD
Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center;
Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Winston came to Beth Israel Medical Center in 1978 after serving as the director of the South Beach Psychiatric Center of Staten Island and Brooklyn. He has made major contributions to the field of community psychiatry and to the research and practice of brief psychotherapy. In addition to his clinical, research and teaching activities, Dr. Winston brings administrative vigor, flexibility and a broad educational vision to the department.

David Roane, MD
Director of Residency Training, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center;
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Prior to becoming director of residency training, Dr. Roane had been the chief of Geriatric Psychiatry and Director for the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program at Beth Israel Medical Center. Dr. Roane has extensive experience in teaching and clinical research in geriatric psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, and community psychiatry.


Michael Serby, MD
Associate Chairman-Clinical, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center; Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Serby joined the department in May, 2001 after serving as associate professor and director of residency training and education in the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Serby brings extensive experience in geropsychiatry and clinical research to the department.

Igor Galynker, MD, PhD
Associate Chairman-Research, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center; Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Galynker brings extensive experience doing research using neuroimaging in studying aspects of schizophrenia, cocaine addiction, and sexually deviant behaviors. He brings a high level of energy and enthusiasm to his role as a teacher and to assisting residents in their research endeavors.

Ellen Eisenstadt, MD
Associate Residency Training Director, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Eisenstadt joined the department following her residency training and fellowship in psychosomatic medicine (C/L) at Beth Israel Medical Center. She also served as chief resident in 1993-1994. She is Director of the medical students program in Psychiatry.


Chief Residents: Each year the department appoints two PGY-IV residents as chief residents who serve jointly for the full year. The chief residents coordinate the residents' schedules and serve as valuable liaisons between the residents and the administration.

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Clinical Learning Experience

The nine clinical divisions within the Department of Psychiatry are all involved with residency training and research. Each division has its own rounds, clinical conferences and lecture series. Four of the divisions—Geropsychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L), Psychiatric Substance Abuse and Child Psychiatry—sponsor fellowship programs. The core of the residency training program is clinical service. Patient care is given first priority.

Clinical Rotation at a Glance

Clinical Rotations Four-Year Program

PGY-I 
Medicine....................................................Every 4th night (short call until 9 pm)
Psychiatry..................................................5 calls/month 
(Cover Inpatient Psychiatry Units) 

PGY-II 
Cover ER and Supervise PGY-I..................2 calls/month 

PGY-III 
Cover ER and Supervise PGY-I..................1 call/month 

PGY-IV 
Backup Call (at home)..............................Every 9th to 10th night 

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Residents rotate through each of the divisions of the Department of Psychiatry as follows:

Division of Inpatient General Psychiatry

All inpatient psychiatric units are teaching services at Beth Israel. PGY-I residents spend eight months on two general acute inpatient units that have a total of 48 beds. Each unit has one full-time attending and one senior resident per 15 patients. Third-year medical students and psychology interns also are assigned to the units. The inpatient units are organized to meet the educational needs of residents and to help the beginning resident gradually form an identity as a psychiatrist. Careful attention is given to each resident's individual professional development and need for mentoring and/or independence.

Residents carry an average caseload of eight patients representing a variety of clinical cases. Within a multidisciplinary approach, residents learn diagnostic and interviewing skills along with the clinical management of major psychiatric illnesses. Weekly clinical case conferences, walk rounds and an interview class complement the bedside teaching.

In the PGY-IV year, selected residents will spend six months as senior residents on the units. During this time, they help supervise and teach PGY-I residents and medical students while assisting attendings to administer the units.

Division of Geropsychiatry

The Division of Geropsychiatry is committed to a respectful concern for the elderly and aged who suffer from mental illness. The service maintains inpatient and outpatient services, and liaisons with a nursing home, a geriatric medical service and a naturally occurring retirement community (NORC). The staff conducts research on Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, late-life depression, community treatment of the elderly, and sexual function in the elderly.

During their PGY-II year, residents spend two months on the 15-bed geropsychiatry inpatient service, where they manage an average caseload of six to eight patients. The resident learns how to effectively work as a member of a multidisciplinary team, treating patients who have a wide range of problems originating from a combination of psychiatric, neurological, and medical illnesses and influenced by underlying personality factors. Weekly case conferences, didactic lectures and walk rounds enhance the learning experience. This clinical work is extended during the PGY-III year when residents follow geriatric patients for one year in the adult psychiatric outpatient clinic.

Fellowship Opportunities

The division offers three one-year fellowships at level PGY-V. The fellowship provides didactic instruction, supervision and the opportunity to participate in:

• the full range of inpatient and outpatient treatment modalities
• the neurobehavioral service
• the geriatric medicine service
• community geriatric psychiatry
• teaching and supervising medical students and residents
• research 

The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education and prepares the fellow for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology examination in Added Qualification in Geriatric Psychiatry. For more information on the Geriatric Psychiatry fellowship, click here.

Division of Addiction Psychiatry

The Division of Addiction Psychiatry offers state-of-the-art treatment for patients with substance abuse and comorbid psychiatric illness. The division has an active acute dual diagnosis inpatient unit. Outpatients are followed in the Combined Psychiatric and Addictive Disorders Research Program (COPAD) funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Several important papers have been published from this project, such as a study concerning positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients with substance abuse.

During their PGY-II year, residents spend four months on the 29-bed dual diagnosis unit, which serves patients suffering from a complicated mix of organic symptoms, major psychiatric syndromes and personality disorders. With a caseload of six to eight patients carried under the close supervision of two full-time attendings, residents have an opportunity to sharpen their diagnostic psychiatric skills. Residents also are exposed to the research in COPAD. A small detoxification unit within the unit provides residents with training in drug detoxification and drug withdrawal management. PGY-IV residents may return to the unit as senior residents during which time they supervise, teach and help administer the unit.

Fellowship Opportunities

There are currently three accredited fellowship positions approved for the Division of Substance Abuse. The one-year fellowship offers clinical experience on the dual diagnosis inpatient unit, the detoxification, rehabilitation, and substance abuse medicine units, and in the outpatient dual diagnosis and methadone maintenance units. The fellows are supervised on group and individual therapy, and supervise and teach psychiatric residents.

The Medical Center offers multiple research activities in the area of substance abuse, including:

• outpatient treatment for patients with schizophrenia and substance abuse
• identification and elucidation of substance-induced mental disorders
• novel approaches to detoxification
• functional brain imaging in addictive disorders
• HIV transmission in substance abusers 

Division of Psychosomatic Medicine (Consultation/Liaison)

Psychosomatic Medicine (Consultation/Liaison) has developed as a specialized area of expertise in teaching hospitals due to the complex interface between medicine and psychiatry. Typical consultations address the effects of medication and metabolic abnormalities on mood, cognition and behavior; the psychological impact of medical illness; the impact of the hospital environment; and the patient's ability to participate in decisions about his/her care.

During their PGY-II year, residents are assigned full-time to Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) for three months. While on this service, they respond to consultation requests from the hospital and conduct an average of seven to 10 consultations per week. After the resident sees the patient, a senior staff member joins the resident to examine the patient. Residents receive three hours of supervision per week, with ad hoc supervision available as needed.

During daily clinical rounds, residents have the opportunity to observe attending physicians and fellows working with patients. Twice a week, "ombudsman rounds" are held with staff from oncology and the general medical units, psychiatric residents and the other members of the Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) service.

During their PGY-IV year, a resident may elect to spend their four-month elective doing a psychosomatic medicine (C/L) project which may result in a research paper. All PGY-IV residents spend two months doing Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) to the outpatient medical and surgical services at the Phillips Ambulatory Care Center.

Fellowship Opportunities

The Division of Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) offers two full-time, one-year fellowship positions offering a broad base of experience in consultation to the medically ill and liaison opportunities with various medical care teams. The Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) fellow receives clinical experience in oncology, cardiology, dialysis, intensive care, physical medicine, AIDS, ambulatory care, pain management, hospice care and medical substance abuse. Psychiatry fellows are provided with opportunities to do liaison work in the outpatient clinics under supervision.

Fellows receive didactic training and ongoing supervision of both their clinical and liaison work and have flexibility to develop particular areas of interest during their training. They also teach and supervise psychiatric residents and medical students and learn to run liaison teaching programs with non-psychiatric house staff. Fellows are expected to participate in ongoing research projects or are free to design their own.


Outpatient Service

The outpatient service, with over 45,000 visits per year, has developed innovative programs to treat chronic schizophrenia and mood and anxiety disorders, and to meet the needs of diverse ethnic groups. Residents are assigned to the service for the entire PGY-III year and continue to carry cases in the PGY IV year. Each resident is provided with his/her own office equipped with audiovisual equipment to tape patients for supervision. Working as members of multidisciplinary teams, residents learn how to assess, treat and manage a wide variety of non-hospitalized patients from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The clinical focus is on differential therapeutics and gaining expertise in a wide variety of therapeutic approaches. These include:

• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
  (brief, intermediate and long-term expressive and supportive therapies)
  Residents carry at least two long-term patients suitable for psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. These patients are usually seen one or two times per week with one hour of supervision per week. All sessions are videotaped to provide residents with in-depth supervision. Under close supervision, the resident also carries 10 to 12 other adult patients in individual psychotherapy using a variety of psychotherapy approaches (see psychotherapy curriculum)
  
• Family Therapy
  Residents carry two families under supervision in the department's Family Studies Unit. They participate in a yearly ongoing family seminar and observe many family interviews behind a one-way mirror. Further supervision is available through the department's link with the nationally prominent Nathan Ackerman Institute of Family Therapy.
  
  
• Group Therapy
  Each resident co-leads one outpatient group under supervision. An ongoing resident process group meets weekly on a continuous basis from the PGY-II through PGY-IV years. These groups are led by experienced group leaders from outside the Medical Center.
  
  
• Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (See Psychotherapy Curriculum)
  
  
• Psychopharmacological Therapies
  The resident's experience is expanded from the PGY-I and II years by working with a variety of patients from the "medication" service and using psychopharmacologic agents as adjuncts in other therapies. Expert staff supervision is continuously available.
  
  
• Differential Therapeutics
  The teaching of differential therapeutics is enhanced through weekly outpatient case conferences and twice-weekly disposition conferences. During this time, the residents participate as members of the multidisciplinary clinic team.

During the PGY-IV year, a resident may elect to be a senior resident on the Outpatient Service. The senior resident helps to administer the unit and supervise PGY-III resident caseloads. Other PGY-IV residents may elect to work in the evaluation clinic for individual psychodynamic psychotherapy. One- to two-hour supervised interviews are conducted on referred patients to assess their appropriateness for long-term or brief psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The multidisciplinary Child Psychiatry service provides clinical assessment and treatment to children and adolescents in the department's outpatient service. The treatments include individual psychotherapy (including play therapy), parental counseling, family therapy, group therapy and pharmacotherapy. Currently, there are groups for sexually abused girls, parents of patients, and stress reduction for adolescents. Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) also is available to the pediatric service and to one of the psychiatric inpatient units, which can admit children of ages 14-17. The staff of the division also participates in training psychology interns, pediatric residents and child fellows.

Residents receive their primary training in child psychiatry during the PGY-III year, while they are assigned to the child outpatient service. Each resident spends three months performing child evaluations of children ages five to 18. Residents are expected to follow two children for extended treatment under supervision through their PGY-IV year. Residents also attend didactic lectures in child development and child psychopathology. During the PGY-IV year, the resident also spends one to two hours per week for three months performing child psychosomatic medicine (C/L) activities. Residents who wish an inpatient child experience may choose a one-month elective during their PGY IV year at another local institution.

Fellowship Opportunities
Beth Israel Medical Center participates in a two-year joint child fellowship program with St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. The program has four fellows in each of two years all of whom do three-month rotations during each year at Beth Israel Medical Center.

Division of Neurobehavior and Alzheimer's Disease

The Betty and Morton Yarmon Division of Neurobehavior and Alzheimer's Disease is a consultation and treatment service headed by a director who is board certified in both psychiatry and neurology. The division cares for patients who have neurological disorders and who have concurrent symptoms or behaviors of neuropsychiatric origin. Staff also evaluate patients with primary psychiatric disorders in whom neurological factors are relevant.

A two-month clinical neurobehavior rotation scheduled during the PGY-II year includes neurologic consultations, outpatient neurology, inpatient work and time on the neurobehavior service to fulfill the remainder of the neurology requirement. This experience is valuable for the future psychiatrist. Residents perform examinations and evaluations under the preceptorship of the chief of service. They have ample opportunity to increase their facility in interpreting CAT scans, MRIs and EEGs, and also to become familiar with neuropsychological testing and cognitive remediation techniques that have proven helpful with this patient population. The resident also can gain exposure to the department's work with SPECT and Position Emission Tomography (PET) scanning. In addition, a 20-session basic neuroscience course is given during the second half of the PGY II year. In this course the latest thinking in the field is conveyed through reading of the current literature.

The division conducts ongoing research in Alzheimer's disease, and is studying the effects of right hemisphere pathology on personality, awareness and psychological defense. Other members of the department are collaborating to study the relationship between brain pathophysiology and behavior using SPECT and PET scanning. The division also has special interests in mind-brain interaction, and staff currently are investigating the relationship between the anatomy and physiology of the brain, consciousness and epistemological theory.

Neurobehavior Track for Psychiatric Residents

The explosion in knowledge in the neurosciences has quickened the process of integrating the fields of clinical neurology, neurobiology, clinical psychiatry, cognitive-behavioral science and epistemology. Recognizing the need for clinical experts in neuropsychiatry, the department has initiated an intensive clinical track in neurobehavior within the residency training program for one position per resident class. This program combines the essentials of the Residency Review Committee requirements for a general psychiatric residency training program with a significant neuropsychiatric component, ensuring competence in both general psychiatry and neurobehavior.

The program uses the combined expertise of the Neurobehavior Unit, Neuroimaging Group, Division of Geropsychiatry and the Division of Substance Abuse. Residents begin their neurobehavior exposure during the PGY-II year, which extends through their PGY-III and IV years. Residents choose a research project during the PGY-II year which continues throughout the remainder of the training program.

Division of Biological/Research
The Division is a research division headed by Igor Galynker, MD, PhD, who has dual appointments in psychiatry and radiology. The division is staffed by a research coordinator and several research assistants, and conducts imaging studies using fMRI, PET, and SPECT methodology, as well as related studies in descriptive psychiatry and psychopharmacology.

Residents have the opportunity to learn both clinical and research applications of functional brain imaging during their PGY-I and PGY-II years, and through didactic teaching throughout their residency training. Each resident can learn about the indications for ordering brain SPECT scans and the neuroradiological findings associated with common psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders. SPECT scans are reviewed and their clinical relevance is discussed during weekly SPECT rounds in the Nuclear Medicine service. At the biweekly Brain Imaging Journal Club, the residents discuss the new trends in biological psychiatry and learn how to critically read original scientific publications in psychiatric journals.

Research Interests
The Department of Psychiatry has an extensive commitment to clinical research. Areas of current research include:

• The Psychiatry Functional Neuroimaging Program, which is currently using fMRI to investigate addictive disorders, AIDS dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia.
  
• The Combined Outpatient Psychiatric and Addictive Disorders (COPAD) program has investigated integrated services for mentally ill chemical abusers with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychoactive substance abuse, and is now looking at negative symptoms in schizophrenic substance abusers which had a different clinical course from that seen in the general population of schizophrenics.
  
• The Psychosomatic Medicine (C/L) service has primary research interests in the psychiatric concomitants of HIV infection. Current studies involve the investigation of sleep disorders in HIV, and SPECT findings in patients with AIDS dementia.
  
• The Brief Psychotherapy Research Program continues its NIH-supported study examining the patient-therapist relationship using manualized brief psychotherapies and careful analyses of audiovisual recordings of therapy sessions. (See Innovative Training Programs.) In addition the Brief Psychotherapy Research Program has joined together with the Neuroimaging Program to study attachment behavior and psychotherapy, using fMRI.
  
• The Betty and Morton Yarmon Division of Neurobehavior and Alzheimer's Disease is researching the neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric determinants of consciousness, the neuropsychiatric aspects and treatment of dementia, and the relationship of neurological lesions to personality and behavior.
  
• The Geropsychiatry Study Group conducts grant supported research in a variety of areas including: Alzheimer’s disease, psychiatric aspects of Parkinson’s disease, late-life depression, and community treatment of mentally ill seniors.

Residents are exposed to the ongoing research of the department and are encouraged to develop their own research projects early in their training. All residents are taught a formal six-session course in research design during their PGY II year and can begin to develop a supervised research project at any time in their training. The residents present their work at grand rounds at the end of their PGY-IV year. Some of these projects have resulted in publication in psychiatric journals.

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Division of Psychology

The Division of Psychology has a presence on all clinical treatment teams, both inpatient and outpatient. There are 29 supervising psychologists and nine volunteers within the division. The psychologists provide psychological testing and clinical expertise in:

• psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral and humanistic psychotherapies in individual, couples, family and group modalities
• research methods
• supervision/consultation

The division has a nationally recognized psychology internship and accepts six interns per year. It also accepts 50 to 60 psychology externs each year from graduate school training programs.

During their PGY-I and II years, residents are exposed to the clinical use of psychological testing and group psychotherapy, and to the uses of sophisticated neuropsychological testing during their rotation on the Neurobehavior Unit. In their PGY-III year, they learn family therapy and cognitive therapy. Residents also may co-lead groups with a staff psychologist or psychology intern.

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Didactic Academic Program



The philosophy of the Department of Psychiatry is to provide residents with protected time to pursue an integrated program in the biological, psychological and sociocultural disciplines. Using lectures, audiovisual tapes of clinical interviews and a selected reading list, courses correlate with the clinical experiences of the residents as they progress through the four-year residency program.

 

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Residency Research Training Curriculum

Research Training will begin in the second year of residency with the Research Seminar Summer Lecture Series. These lectures will provide an introduction to our research program at Beth Israel Medical Center and provide the opportunity for residents to choose mentors and topics which will culminate in their senior research project presentations. Each year several residents publish and present the results of their research.

Psychopharmacology Curriculum

The curriculum in psychopharmacology spans the entire four years of training. The initial emphasis is on practical clinical issues, progresses through specialized topics, and culminates in more advanced psychopharmacologic concerns. An array of outstanding faculty members contribute their expertise.

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Neuroscience Curriculum

Seminar in Neuroscience in Psychiatry-theory and applications
PGY II
Instructors: Michael Goldstein, MD and Faculty

The term neuroscience, in its broadest sense, covers a wide range of topics. These include the study of the structure, function, development, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology and pathology of the nervous system. The study of behavior and learning is also a division of neuroscience. Neuroscience can thus be divided categorically into the following subdivisions-molecular/cellular, developmental, and cognitive and affective neuroscience. One of the challenges in teaching such a course to residents is to decide which aspects of neuroscience are directly applicable to the practice of psychiatry on a day to day basis. The seminar is designed as an alternative approach to clinical decision making to the DSM. It is based on understanding the phenomenology of our patients stemming from the principles of neuroscience as opposed to formulations based on statistical groupings. Some of the topics covered are as follows: neurodevelopment, gene regulation, receptor regulation, environmental effects on gene transcription in the developing brain, attention system, motivation theory, decision making, psychoneuroimmunology, the neuroscience of music, declarative and non-declarative memory and its effect on the practice of psychotherapy, and the neuroscience of attachment.

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Departmental Conferences 

The Department of Psychiatry sponsors departmental conferences to complement the regular weekly clinical conference of each unit.

Grand Rounds

Each week, grand rounds presentations by distinguished clinicians and researchers cover a wide range of topics in the behavioral and biological sciences.

Distinguished Visiting Professors

Each year, one or more important psychiatric educators/researchers are invited to spend from one to three days in the Department of Psychiatry. Talks, clinical conferences and informal meetings with residents and staff have proven to be rewarding experiences. The following are some recent participants in this program.

Charles Nemeroff, MD, PhD (2001)--Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA

Robert Post, MD (2002)--Biological Psychiatry Branch National Institute of Mental Health,
Washington, DC

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD (2003)—University of Massachusetts

Stephen R. Marder, MD (2004)--UCLA

Joseph Coyle, MD (2005)--Harvard University, MA

David Rubinow, MD (2006)—University of North Carolina

Morbidity and Mortality Conference

Each month a case is selected for discussion for the purpose of finding ways to improve individual skills or departmental functioning by an in-depth study of an adverse outcome.


Mock Boards

Each year all department members gather together to watch a 30-minute videotaped interview of a patient by a member of the department. The residents then present their clinical observations, formulations and diagnoses to paired faculty teams, creating a simulated experience of the actual Board examinations. PGY-II, III and IV residents have frequent exposure in small groups to live board examinations.

Senior Resident Grand Rounds

In May and June, the senior residents present their research projects to the department in a grand rounds format.

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Innovative Training Programs

Brief Psychotherapy Program

The department has studied and practiced brief psychotherapy long before the current interest in brief approaches surfaced, fueled by economic considerations and managed care. As leaders in this field, our staff has developed various psychotherapeutic strategies to be used in brief psychotherapy. These have been organized in manuals for both training and research purposes. Currently, we have three therapies, each using different psychotherapeutic strategies:

• Brief Adaptive Psychotherapy (BAP)
• Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy (CBT)
• Brief Relational Therapy (BRT)

All treatments are audiovisually recorded and moment-to-moment therapist/patient variables are studied. One of the department's current research projects, which has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, involves the study of the therapeutic alliance. The staff regularly presents its research findings at the international meetings of the Society for Psychotherapy Research and has published extensively in journals such as the American Journal of Psychiatry and the American Journal of Psychotherapy. In addition many books and book chapters have been written by program faculty.

In the PGY- III and IV year each resident is asked to join one of five teams in year-long weekly seminars and treat one or more patients under supervision. In the seminars, all cases are reviewed using videotapes, which produce a lively exchange among participants.


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ENJOYING LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY

Beth Israel Medical Center is surrounded by the communities of the Lower East Side, the East Village, Gramercy Park, Chelsea and Greenwich Village. These areas include some of Manhattan's most charming residential neighborhoods, providing the perfect location from which to experience the best of city life. There are boundless opportunities for shopping, dining and entertainment. Within a short walk are inexpensive international restaurants, clubs, cabarets, cinemas and theaters, offering a diversion from the demands of resident life. Beyond the immediate neighborhood, the rich cultural and recreational life of New York City offers Lincoln Center for opera, ballet and the symphony; the best of American theater on Broadway; Central Park, Van Cortlandt Park, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo for outdoor recreation; SoHo for art galleries; and Madison Square Garden and Yankee and Shea Stadiums for sporting events. The stretch of upper Fifth Avenue known as "Museum Mile" is lined with more than 10 internationally known museums—just minutes away by taxi, bus or subway! Beth Israel's Human Resources Department offers discount tickets to classical music concerts, theater, sporting and special events, as well as discount coupons for car rentals, hotels, amusement parks and shopping.

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APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The Beth Israel Psychiatric Residency Program participates in the National Residency Program with the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

Inquiries concerning the form, content or philosophy of the program are welcome and should be forwarded to:

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