Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Weill Cornell Residency Program in Psychosomatic
The Psychosomatic Fellowship combines the resources of two renowned institutions: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center (NYPH-WCMC), both of which operate under the academic umbrella of Weill Cornell Medical College. The one-to-two year program trains approximately six fellows at a time.
The combined program takes advantage of the strong history of psychosomatic medicine at the two institutions. The core educational mission at MSKCC has centered on fellows for over 25 years, during which time members of the department essentially created the field of psycho-oncology. During that same period, the Consultation-Liaison Service at NYPH-WCMC has been a core educational experience of Weill-Cornell psychiatric residents, medical students, and fellows from other medicine specialties.
The combined, ACGME-accredited, fellowship began in July, 2006. At that time, psychosomatics fellows began to spend two months per year at NYPH-WCMC, and WCMC psychiatric residents began to spend part of their core second-year C-L rotation at MSKCC. The first year of the fellowship is primarily clinical, while the optional second year provides additional time for research and administration. Liaison experiences at NYPH-WCMC are available throughout the fellowship.
There are several advantages to a combined program. The fellowship retains an emphasis on psycho-oncology, but the two-month general hospital experience significantly diversifies the clinical and educational opportunities. The enhanced exposure to Weill-Cornell psychiatric residents and medical students expands teaching responsibilities, and NYPH-WCMC liaison experiences can be both interesting and a way to develop specialized clinical expertise and research experience.
Graduates of the program enter highly-competitive faculty positions and graduate fellowships. In 2007, for example, three fellows took faculty jobs (one at MSKCC and two at NYPH-WCMC) and two continued their fellowship training (one at MSKCC and one at the University of Pennsylvania).
The faculty of the combined program may be the strongest of any fellowship program in the country. For example, three of the fellowship's faculty members have been president of the national organization, the Academy for Psychosomatic Medicine (APM), while over a dozen have been named APM fellows. Andrew Roth, M.D. is the Director of the Fellowship, while Miriam Friedlander, M.D. is the Associate Director. Full-time faculty at MSKCC include David Kissane, M.D., the Alfred P. Sloan Professor and Chair of Psychiatry; Jimmie Holland, M.D., the Wayne E. Chapman Professor and former Chair of Psychiatry; William Breitbart, M.D., the Chief of the Psychiatric Service; as well as Drs. Marguerite Lederberg, Tomer Levin, Mary Jane Massie, Jamie Ostroff, and Steven Passik.
There are four full-time C-L attendings available to work with psychosomatic fellows at NYPH/WCMC. John W. Barnhill, M.D., is Site Director for the fellowship at NYPH-WCMC, where he is also Chief of the C-L Service and Chief of the Division of Psychiatry at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Stephen J. Ferrando is Director of the Division of Psychosomatic Medicine and Vice Chair of the Weill Cornell Department of Psychiatry. He has a special focus on liver transplantation and hepatitis C. Dr. Joseph Murray does liaison work with the cardiac team at Weill Cornell and is the course director for Medicine, Patients, and Society, a first-year course for Weill Cornell medical students. Dr. Jeffrey Freedman, who had previously directed the consultation service at St. Vincent's Hospital, has recently joined the C-L service; he is also involved with inpatient psychiatry. Dr. Milton Viederman, the former Director of the C-L Service, does weekly psychodynamically-oriented rounds with all of.
Click here for more information about this joint program with MSKCC.