PGY-I Overview
Post-graduate year (PGY) I, the internship year of the program, is evenly divided between medicine/neurology and psychiatry. Each PGY-I resident spends 6 months on a selection of clinical services in medicine (or pediatrics) and neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This selection includes experience in the Medical Emergency Room. While on these rotations, residents work side-by-side with residents from the departments of Internal Medicine and Neurology and participate in all the clinical, supervisory and educational activities of those departments. In each clinical setting, residents treat severely ill patients and work with patients and their families during a time of crisis. By the end of the PGY-I year, the resident will be familiar with the assessment, diagnosis, and management of basic medical and neurological conditions. He/she will also be proficient in ACLS and BCLS and comfortable with management of medical and neurological emergencies at a basic level of care.
Each PGY-I resident spends the other 6 months of the year working on clinical services in psychiatry. Every resident rotates through the Mature Adults Inpatient Service (geriatric psychiatry) and the Second Chance Program/Schizophrenia Research Program of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Payne Whitney Westchester, as well as the Inpatient Service and the Emergency Room of Payne Whitney Manhattan. During inpatient rotations, residents will be trained in the administration of ECT. Residents receive supervision from the faculty and the senior residents on these services as well as weekly supervision from specially selected PGY-I supervisors. In addition to supervision, every service includes its own site-based curriculum consisting of team meetings, case conferences, and specialty rounds. PGY-I residents are also expected to attend Grand Rounds on both campuses, as well as M and M conferences whenever they occur. PGY-I residents have on-call responsibilities covering the inpatient services as well as helping out in the Emergency Department.
PGY-I residents participate in the teaching of medical students rotating through psychiatry, medicine and neurology.
PGY-I residents on psychiatry attend a weekly 6-month intensive course on psychiatric interviewing which is scheduled at a regular "protected" time during which clinical duties are covered by other residents. By the end of the PGY-I year, the resident will be familiar with the assessment, diagnosis and management of major psychiatric disorders. He/she will understand the fundamentals of inpatient hospital psychiatry and be able to relate to patients and their families as well as other members of the health care team with compassion, respect and professional integrity.
Throughout the internship year, all PGY-I residents on both psychiatry and medicine/neurology are encouraged to attend a monthly gathering with the chief residents as well as regular meetings with the Director and Associate Director of Residency Training, gatherings which provide an opportunity for the residents to share their internship experiences and to develop group cohesion.