The Department of Psychiatry & Psychology of the Nassau University Medical Center is the most active provider of comprehensive mental health services on Long Island. It is a major community mental health program which provides direct clinical services and outreach programs, including consultation and educational activities.

The Department is responsible for more than 1,700 inpatient admissions per year, accounting for more than 25,000 inpatient days. The average length of stay is approximately 15.5 days. The Outpatient Treatment Program provides more that 15,000 service visits per year. It also offers a 24-hour psychiatric emergency room service as a major receiving hospital on Long Island. The emergency service is supervised by four full time and several part-time psychiatrists and several psychiatric social workers.

The professional staff of the Department includes 18 full time and 5 part time psychiatrists, 11 full time psychologists, 24 psychiatry residents and 5 psychology interns. We have a fully accredited 4-year Residency Training Program in General Psychiatry, and a fully accredited 1-year Psychology Intern Training Program.

The various divisions of the Department offer clinical sites for a number of affiliated training programs. These include:

Introduction to Clinical Medicine for first year medical students

Clinical clerkships and fourth year elective in psychiatry for Stony Brook University medical students

Similar experiences for students from other medical schools

Clinical psychology externships for undergraduate and graduate trainees

Clinical training placement for psychiatric social work students

Training programs for physician assistants and nursing students.

The Department provides a rich academic and training environment for the residents throughout the four years of training.

Four-Year Residency Program

First Year (PGY-1 Categorical)

This fully accredited program conforms to the requirements of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for board certification in Psychiatry. Six residents are enrolled in the Categorical First Year, which includes four months of Internal Medicine, two months of Neurology and six months of Adult Inpatient Psychiatry. All training takes place at the Nassau University Medical Center. PGY I residents in Psychiatry are each assigned to one of our Adult Inpatient Treatment Teams where they receive intensive and continuously supervised clinical experience with patients hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation, treatment and disposition.

Each resident is supervised directly by a member of the psychiatric faculty to whom he/she is assigned. This experience also allows the resident to come into contact with other members of the treatment team, including fellow residents, psychiatric nurses, social workers, psychologists, occupational and recreational therapists and medical students. Psychiatric evaluations and treatment plans are carefully coordinated at daily clinical rounds and at team meetings.

In addition to this clinical training component, all PGY I residents receive approximately ten hours per week of formal didactic instruction which includes orientation to psychiatry, basic lectures in psychiatry, consultation liaison psychiatry conferences, seminars in psychiatry, the psychiatric interview course, etc.

Training experiences of comparable quality are provided during their Internal Medicine and Neurology rotations.

Second Year (PGY-II)

This year of training includes a two month rotation in the Psychiatric Emergency Room, a two month rotation in Inpatient Child Psychiatry, a four month rotation in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, a two month rotation in the Detox Inpatient Service, and a two month rotation as a sophomore resident on the Adult Inpatient Unit.

The four-month rotation in the Adult Intensive Care Unit exposes the residents to the more severe states of psychiatric illnesses where significant behavioral and judgment disruption requires a locked psychiatric treatment milieu. Careful and frequent psychiatric evaluations, adequate measures and interventions to insure patient and staff safety, aggressive treatment planning and timely treatment delivery are the essentials of this clinical experience.

The child psychiatry rotation involves work with both children and adolescents on the Child and Adolescent Inpatient Unit. Opportunity is provided to observe and perform evaluations of patients for admission, to participate in individual work-up and follow up of patients, attend team meetings and work with the child psychologists and social workers. The resident is expected to take part in disposition planning and to have ongoing contact with families, schools and child agencies whenever indicated.

The two-month full-time assignment to the Psychiatric Emergency Room is related to the experience on the inpatient service, since virtually all admissions are initially evaluated here. It provides an opportunity to view both acute and chronic patients presenting at an earlier stage in the course of their current episode of illness, frequently before any treatment has been provided. This experience hones the resident's diagnostic ability and refines his clinical judgment and decision making processes. The psychiatric emergency room rotation also provides an in-depth knowledge of the community support systems needed in the comprehensive care of psychiatric patients.

The Department is Responsible for more than 1,700 Inpatient Admissions per Year Accounting for More than 25,000 Inpatient Days. The PGYII year, in addition to the clinical training component, is the core didactic year in the training program. Consequently, the residents receive over five hours of formal basic didactic curriculum on a weekly basis throughout this year. This includes curriculum in basic psychiatry, general psychiatry, child psychiatry, interviewing techniques, etc. At the end of the second year of training, the resident will have acquired sufficient expertise in knowledge, skills and attitude which are required to perform more independent work and study during the third and fourth years of training.

Third Year (PGY-III)

The third year of training consists of a yearlong, full time outpatient training experience under supervision. In the outpatient service, the resident evaluates and treats a group of carefully selected patients under close supervision to gain experience in the various treatment modalities including long term psychoanalytic oriented psychotherapy, supportive psychotherapy, short term therapy, family and couple therapy, behavioral and cognitive therapy, pharmacological therapy, etc.

A well thought-out didactic curriculum compliments the clinical experiences. This includes yearlong courses in psychoanalytic theory and practice, cognitive and behavioral therapy and courses in short term therapy, family therapy and crisis intervention.

Fourth YearR (PGY-IV)

This final year of training is considered to be a year when the resident consolidates all of the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired, engages in increasingly independent decision making, and is involved in supervisory, administrative and quality assurance activities. This year prepares the resident for his/her graduation and to become a confident and knowledgeable mental health care provider.

The resident, during her/his half-time six month long consultation liaison rotation, expands on the knowledge and skill acquired during the two month assignment in the PGY II year. He/she works more independently, gathers relevant information and clinical details required to present his/her cases during consultation rounds. He/she follows-up patients on a regular basis and provides psychiatric treatment and management when such is required.

The resident continues with her/his half-time, year long outpatient experience; gaining a long term understanding of the variety of psychiatric disorder, treatments, rehabilitation and consultation.

The resident, during this year, is also intimately involved in administrative and quality assurance activities, teaching and supervision of junior residents, elective activities and psychiatric research. The Department is actively involved in Phase 2 and Phase 3 research studies on an ongoing basis, and the residents have the opportunity to actively participate in these studies. Electives are available on a flexible basis, with intensified experience in expertise already gained (i.e., Inpatient, Geropsychiatry, Administrative) or becoming involved in activities of personal choice.

All residents are encouraged, beginning in their second year of training, to choose a clinical area of personal interest and pursue this under appropriate guidance in becoming an expert on the subject and to engage in at least a small scale of clinical research leading to publication prior to their graduation from the program.

Clinical seminars featuring many prominent speakers from outside of the Medical Center, department-wide case conferences, journal clubs, etc., are all part of the general training activities of the Department available for residents in all years of training.

Requests for applications should be addressed to Jacob Ninan, M.D., Director of Medical Education, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, New York 11554, telephone (516) 572-5885.

Psychoanalytic Training

The Long Island Institute of Psychoanalysis is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology. Its purpose is to provide training in psychoanalytic theory and technique for the psychiatrists in the Long Island area. It is eclectic in approach and psychiatric residents are eligible to apply for admission.

All questions concerning the institute should be directed to The Long Island Institute of Psychoanalysis, Box 74, Nassau University Medical Center, 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, New York 11554, telephone (516) 572-5885.