The Psychiatry Residency Program at Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital is a traditional four-year adult training program that takes five resident physicians per year. Our trainees actively participate in the care and treatment of patients in both a community setting and a large university environment, allowing them to develop the skills necessary to become more capable physicians. We take great pride in developing psychiatrists devoted to compassionate care, patient safety, advocacy, and the scientific method. Residents progress over the course of their four years, taking on increasing responsibilities and independence as their knowledge and clinical skills advance.
Adult Psychiatry Training:
PGY 1
The first year of residency consists of 4 months of Inpatient Psychiatry, 2 months of Emergency Psychiatry, 4 months of Internal Medicine, and 2 months of Adult Neurology.
The four-month rotation on Inpatient Psychiatry is at Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital (SBELIH). The psychiatry unit is a 23–bed acute care inpatient service that treats the diverse community of Eastern Long Island. While working on this service, residents will take weekend call twice monthly (8 am to 4 pm) alongside their attending psychiatry supervisors. The Psychiatric Emergency rotation is at Stony Brook Medicine’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) and consists of one month of daytime duty and one month of night shift duty. Both rotations introduce trainees to the basic diagnosis and treatment of all acute psychiatric disorders.
The 4 month rotation in Internal Medicine is at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, as is the 2 month training in Adult Neurology. During both rotations, residents are fully integrated members of the medical team with clinical and teaching responsibilities. Resident physicians work six days each week on Internal Medicine with call responsibilities. While on Neurology, residents will learn how to provide quality care to patients with acute neurological disorders including how those disorders may manifest psychiatrically.
PGY 2
Rotations are evenly split between Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital and Stony Brook Medicine. The typical schedule consists of three months of Inpatient Adult Psychiatry (including the ECT service), two months of Inpatient Child Psychiatry, two months of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, two months of Inpatient Addiction Medicine, one Elective month (ACT, Neuromodulation, Forensics, Outpatient Addiction, Neuro-Psych Geriatric, Child Outpatient), and one month of Outpatient Geriatric Psychiatry. The clinical program is primarily designed so that residents can achieve competence in all aspects of hospital-based psychiatry, but also introduces them to outpatient psychiatric care.
Residents alternate between a monthly 7-hour inpatient psychiatry call and a monthly 12-hour CPEP call on weekends.
PGY 3
The entire third year of residency training focuses on outpatient psychiatry. Residents spend 12 months caring for patients in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department located in Riverhead, NY at the new state of the art Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. Residents will become adept at the diagnostic assessment and treatment of ambulatory patients with a variety of complex psychiatric conditions. There is a particular focus on the acquisition of skills in various psychotherapies with special emphasis given to combining psychotherapy with psychopharmacologic treatment. In addition to Stony Brook psychiatry faculty supervision, each resident is given individual supervisors for psychotherapy. Each new PGY 3 resident "inherits" an existing practice of active and stable patients and can add to the patient roster each week as there is an ever-present flow of new referrals to the Outpatient Clinic. As with all of our clinical services, we see a very diverse group of patients. Our residents find the Outpatient year both challenging and extremely rewarding. They learn from modeling and direct supervision by full-time outpatient psychiatrists.
There are no weekend calls. However, there is 4-hour weekday evening call covering the SBELIH inpatient units divided amongst the PGY-3 residents for the year.
PGY 4
Two residents serve as Chief Residents and the remainder as senior residents, carrying out administrative, supervisory, and educational responsibilities. The fourth year consists of three months of required supervisory experience on one of our psychiatric services that include Inpatient Adult Psychiatry, Inpatient Addiction Medicine, Inpatient Child Psychiatry, CPEP, or Consultation Liaison Psychiatry. The fourth year resident functions as a team leader on the service, providing supervision and education for junior residents and medical students. Residents also rotate at Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center for Forensic Psychiatry. The remaining time is spent on electives or senior “tracks” that include: Psychotherapy at the Stony Brook University Campus Counseling Center, Outpatient Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry, Neuromodulation, Social Medicine, Community Psychiatry, and research. Residents also maintain a caseload of patients from their PGY-3 year to gain experience treating patients over a longer period of time including long-term psychotherapy patients. There is ample time for Fellowship and practice opportunity interviews during the fourth year.
There are no weekend or holiday calls. PGY-4 residents rotate in covering a 4-hour Monday evening shift on the SBELIH inpatient psychiatry units (approximately 1 shift per month).
