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Residency Program in Psychiatry
Clinical Overview
The Department
of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), Bronx, NY
(James J. Peters VA Medical Center)
The
Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) is located on Kingsbridge Road in the
University Heights section of the Bronx. The present hospital building
was opened in 1981
after a move from a much older facility.
The James J. Peters VA Medical Center offers
a broad array of mental health programs which include acute inpatient
services, a general outpatient psychiatric clinic,
a schizophrenia clinic, a substance abuse clinic (including a dual
diagnosis track as well as methadone maintenance), an outpatient PTSD
program, a family therapy program, geriatric psychiatry clinics, health
psychology clinics, and
comprehensive consultation/liaison services, just to name a few. The
mental health services at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center are significantly enhanced
by the presence
of renowned experts in PTSD, Alzheimer’s Disease, schizophrenia, and
mood and personality disorders. The James J. Peters VA Medical Center was recently designated
as a Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC),
joining only
a select few VAMC’s across the nation. The program is fully affiliated
with Mount Sinai School of Medicine and serves as a site for medical
student clerkships. The James J. Peters VA Medical Center has a state of the art computerized
medical record,
linking it with VAMC’s across the nation, facilitating documentation
and patient information retrieval.
A shuttle bus service runs every
90 minutes to provide transportation between Mount Sinai and the
James J. Peters VA Medical Center. The VAMC is also
only a few blocks from the 4, B, and D trains.
Inpatient
The James J. Peters VA Medical Center teaching unit has 30 acute
inpatient psychiatry beds. Residents can expect exposure to a broad
array of co-morbid psychopathology
including substance abuse, PTSD, personality disorders, schizophrenia,
and mood and anxiety disorders. Originally created as a model facility
for the
treatment of nervous and mental disorders, the James J. Peters VA Medical Center has a
world-renowned attending staff who conduct research in the origin,
natural history,
and treatment of these disorders. PGY-2 residents spend approximately
four months at the VAMC which includes a one month rotation in consultation-liaison
psychiatry.
The inpatient unit is staffed by two teams with a total of two
to three residents and one nurse practitioner.
Like at Mount Sinai, there is a caseload cap of patients. In
addition to
attending the didactic program held on the MSMC campus, residents
also attend weekly journal clubs covering topics salient to the
VAMC population, and have
opportunities to attend psychiatric Grand Rounds (via video conference)
and all other local training presentations.
Outpatient
The James J. Peters VA Medical Center OPD sees more than 10,000 visits
per year. Residents are responsible for a varied caseload of patients,
both male
and female veterans, and can expect
to see the complete spectrum of psychopathology. Although residents
can exercise considerable autonomy, work is overseen by a distinguished
attending staff.
In this outpatient curriculum, residents spend time weekly at
the VAMC geriatric psychiatry clinic as well. Residents see patients
at the
VAMC three
days per
week and spend two days per week at MSMC, where they attend didactics
and see ongoing psychotherapy cases, child evaluations and ongoing
child cases,
and family cases.
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