Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship
Psychosomatic Medicine (Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry)
Psychosomatic Medicine is a psychiatric subspecialty that encompasses the study and practice of psychiatric disorders in patients with medical, surgical, obstetrical, and neurological conditions. Physicians specializing in psychosomatic medicine have expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in a non-psychiatric setting. Practice of psychosomatic medicine requires comprehensive knowledge of patients with acute or chronic medical illnesses, especially when psychiatric morbidity affects their medical care and/or quality of life.
Psychosomatic Medicine Service at NuHealth
Psychosomatic Medicine at Nassau University Medical Center exists with a mission to provide and advance patient care, carry out education of health care personnel, and to conduct research. This service is committed to providing excellent mental health care to all patients with complex health issues, regardless of their gender, age, race, religion, sexual preference, or ability to pay. By providing behavioral care to all departments and services of Nassau University Medical Center, Psychosomatic Medicine serves as the interface between physical and mental health. It also utilizes its position to raise the overall level of the quality and scope of the health care provided to patients at Nassau University Medical Center.
Fellowship in Psychosomatic Medicine
The Department of Psychiatry at NuHealth offers an ACGME-0accredited one-year training program, with a primary goal of educating specialists in this integrative subspecialty by providing, monitoring and administering an ACGME-approved curriculum, and clinical experience. This, at its completion, will provide graduates with a full scope of knowledge, and skills required to independently and confidently practice Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in almost any setting. After the successful completion of this training, graduates become eligible for an ABPN Board certification in Psychosomatic Medicine.
Nassau University Medical Center Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship program provides fellows with opportunities to acquire advanced clinical knowledge and skills in the field of Psychosomatic Medicine. This objective is accomplished by combining supervised clinical experiences with formal didactic conferences. Program curriculum provides fellows with the opportunity to acquire the cognitive knowledge, interpersonal skills, professional attitudes, and practical experience required of a psychiatrist, with added qualifications in psychosomatic medicine. Basic elements of the curriculum are structured educational experiences guided by written goals and objectives, as well as by specified teaching and evaluation methods.
Fellows rotate through clinical services with a patient population sufficient to meet the educational needs of the fellows, ranging from critically ill patients to outpatients. During the fellowship, fellows have ample opportunities to pursue focused areas of interest, and to present at national conferences.
Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship Application
The fellowship program in psychosomatic medicine enrolls applicants into a 12-month program of supervised graduate education.
Subspecialty training in psychosomatic medicine is a voluntary component in the continuum of the educational process and, as such, this training takes place after a satisfactory completion of an ACGME-accredited program in Psychiatry. Before entering the program, applicants must complete or have completed an ACGME-accredited psychiatry residency program that qualifies them to sit for the ABPN Psychiatry Board. Fellows are selected for this program based on their individual applications furnished to the Program Office, as programs in this subspecialty do not participate in the matching process.
In addition to having completed an ACGME-accredited program in Psychiatry, individuals applying to this program must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees or, asylees, or be eligible for an appropriate visa (J-1, H-1), allowing them to legally train at the Nassau University Medical Center.
Bilingual/multilingual candidates are encouraged to apply.
Psychosomatic Medicine Program at NuHealth accepts the Common Application for Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship prepared and adopted by the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (www.apm.org).
Applicants can also apply directly to NuHealth, in which case their applications should include:
- Personal Statement
- Curriculum Vitae
- Three professional letters of recommendation; one must be from the psychiatry Training Director, documenting that the applicant meets the eligibility criterion of completion of an ACGME-accredited program. If applying while still a Psychiatry resident, please provide the three professional letters of recommendation, and a fourth from your current Training Director.
- Personal interviews with program faculty and house staff
- Statement that applicants will submit the documents proving that they fulfill the criteria pertaining to education, gradual medical education, and eligibility. Such documents/requirements include:
- Original graduate transcript(s), when applicable
- Original medical school transcript(s)
- Original Dean’s Letter (where available)
- Certified copy of medical school diploma
- Documentation of post-graduate medical education completed elsewhere
- Copies of state medical license(s), DEA certificate, board certifications, when applicable
- Documentation of ECFMG certification, when applicable
- FCVS documents attesting to afore mentioned will be accepted as valid
- Documentation of VISA status or eligibility, for international applicants
- Agreement to a criminal background check, which applicants are expected to pass
Applications are accepted from graduates of MD and DO programs, and from graduates of equivalent international medical programs, who have ECFMG certification, or have completed a Fifth Pathway Program and meet the eligibility criterion of a satisfactory completion of an ACGME-accredited program in Psychiatry.
The Fellowship Selection Committee evaluates all eligible applicants. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of their preparedness and experience, academic credentials, ability and aptitude, and communication and interpersonal skills, and on personal qualities such as integrity, learning motivation, and work ethic.
Nassau University Medical Center does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Contact Information:
Glenn Kalash, D.O., Program Director
Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship Program
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Nassau University Medical Center
2201 Hempstead Turnpike
East Meadow, NY 11554
Tel: (516) 572-3373
E-mail: gkalash@numc.edu