Why Psychiatry Residents Choose Montefiore

Since its beginning in 1955, the Department of Psychiatry at Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine has trained hundreds of residents—including some of the nation’s most notable psychiatrists. Our Department was an innovator in the development of social and community psychiatry in the United States, and this aspect of psychiatric training remains central to our program. In addition, our program emphasizes a broad range of treatment and education, ranging from dynamic psychotherapy through advanced psychopharmacology and neuropsychiatry.

We are located in the Bronx, a vibrant, busy borough and one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the country.  Residents have the unique opportunity to manage a wide variety of psychiatric issues, ranging from the common to the esoteric, while considering the biological, psychosocial and cultural needs of patients from a wide variety of socioeconomic and ethnic groups, an experience that is invaluable for later professional life. 

Our Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Program is a top choice for graduates of some of the nation's finest institutions. Below are some highlights of our exceptional program.

Focus on Education

• Our residents benefit from one full day of protected didactic time per week.
• Residents learn from lectures and seminars on multiple theoretical therapeutic approaches from psychodynamic therapy to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
• Our lecturers have expertise in a broad range of modalities, including psychopharmacology and neuropsychiatry, within a multidisciplinary context.
• Postgraduate training is available on all ACGME-accredited psychiatry subspecialties (child and adolescent, addiction, geriatric, psychosomatic and forensic).
• Residents engage in faculty-mentored scholarly projects. Click here for a list of recent resident presentations, awards, and publications.

Scientific Leadership and Distinguished Faculty

• Our chair, Jonathan E. Alpert, MD PhD, is a nationally recognized clinician and researcher. He has received numerous recognitions for teaching, mentorship, and service from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Partners HealthCare, American Psychiatric Association, and Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. His academic interests include innovative treatments for difficult to treat mood disorders, childhood onset depression, depression comorbid with other medical illnesses, multi-cultural mental health, drug-drug interactions, behavioral health integration, ethical issues in the conduct of human studies, and medical education, and is the author of over 200 publications. He joined Montefiore Einstein in April 2017 after 24 years at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he was Director of the Depression Clinical and Research Program and Associate Chief of Psychiatry responsible for outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services.
• Our deputy chair, Bruce Schwartz, MD, is the 2018 president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association and has a national reputation in behavioral health economics and service delivery. He was also appointed to the American Psychiatric Association Council of Healthcare Systems and Financing, and is listed as one of the “Best Doctors in America.”
• Our vice-chairman of education, Gary Kennedy, MD, has been president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and for more than 20 years has been listed as one of the "Best Doctors in America.”
• Our chairman emeritus, T. Byram Karasu, MD, is the author or editor of more than 20 books, author or co-author of more than 100 papers, editorial board member of nine journals, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Psychotherapy, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and he is listed as one of the "Best Doctors in America."
• The division chief of our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department, Audrey Walker, MD, pioneered the first child psychosomatic fellowship training program in the nation.
• Our Department produces groundbreaking research in obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism spectrum disorders under the direction of Eric Hollander, MD.
• Our faculty are leaders in psychiatric education and healthcare delivery, and mentor our residents as they publish and present at national and international conferences.
• Click here for a full list of our faculty

Community Partnerships

• Our focus on integrated, community-based care means our patients receive the best possible targeted and comprehensive treatment, and our residents learn about innovative and advanced methods of providing high-quality care.
• Our school-based programs bring treatment to at-risk children and adolescents early in development.
• We have a long history of partnering with public institutions to provide community-based care, from the Department of Health and Human Resources to public schools and Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams.

Pioneering Programs

• Montefiore’s University Behavioral Associates (UBA) is an innovative behavioral management services organization and one of the first provider-driven behavioral healthcare management companies able to successfully manage the delivery of high-quality clinical services at all levels of mental health and substance abuse care.
• Our Adolescent Depression and Suicide program is a unique outpatient program tailored to people age 12 through 20 and utilizing individual, family and group therapy and psychopharmacological intervention to specifically serve depressed and suicidal adolescents and their families.
• Our robust and long-standing addiction program—one of the largest in the country—encompasses a methadone treatment program that also provides primary care services and HIV special care as well as a multimodal outpatient substance abuse treatment intervention.
• Montefiore's experience coordinating care for patients across multiple care settings led to its designation by Medicare in 2011 as a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO)—one of only 32 organizations in the nation and the only one in New York State.