Welcome to Westchester Medical Center, the flagship of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth). I am Yvette Smolin, Director of the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Service and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship at Westchester Medical Center. Thank you for your interest in our program. We are an ACGME accredited C-L fellowship, now in our 15th year.
The medical center is a 635-bed facility and Level 1 trauma center, the flagship tertiary and quaternary care hospital for much of the tristate area. Our fellowship offers a rich and highly diverse clinical experience. We provide psychiatric consultations to all services in the hospital which include all ICUs, high risk OB/GYN, burn, transplant, physical and medicine rehabilitation as well as pain and palliative care. Our supportive faculty works closely with the fellows as well as residents and medical students. There is no call and no weekend coverage.
We offer the best of all worlds in the beautiful and historic Hudson Valley of New York State. We are 45 minutes from New York City and much of the tristate area. Westchester County is a unique area offering cultural diversity of a metropolitan area, sophistication and excellent schools. This is a wonderful place to live and raise a family.
Consultation–Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship
The Westchester Medical Center Department of Psychiatry, affiliated with New York Medical College, offers two full-time one-year fellowships from July 1 to June 30, though off cycle candidates will also be considered. This is an ACGME-accredited C-L Psychiatry Fellowship—now in its 15th year. Westchester Medical Center, a 635-bed facility and Level 1 Trauma Center is the flagship tertiary and quaternary care hospital for much of the Tri-State Area. The fellowship offers a rich and highly diverse clinical experience.
Under supervision, fellows provide consultation for patients in all the medical-surgical wards—including the ICU’s, oncology, high risk OB/GYN, burn, transplant, rehabilitation, palliative care, pain, geriatric and all trauma units. Telepsychiatry is also available when needed. The fellows also participate actively in multi-disciplinary team rounds and family meetings. The goal of the fellowship is to prepare future Consultation-Liaison psychiatrists for academic careers and for working with highly challenging patient populations. The fellows gain skill in caring for complex patients who have multiple medical, social, and psychiatric problems, at times complicated by substance abuse, severe trauma, or loss.
Fellows work closely with the faculty, attending psychiatrists who are all board-certified in C-L Psychiatry. The faculty supervises the fellows, who in turn supervise psychiatry residents, neurology residents and medical students. In addition to their clinical training, fellows receive a broad didactic experience as well, including lectures, reading seminars, weekly journal club, rounds, Grand Rounds, and case conferences. There are also opportunities for research.
The Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship at Westchester Medical Center offers the best of all worlds – an experienced and supportive faculty within a tertiary care hospital which offers an expansive breadth of available clinical experiences thus allowing the fellow to tailor the educational experience to his/her interests. There is no call and no weekend coverage.
Training
The training on the C-L service is centered at Westchester Medical Center. The fellows are assigned consultations and are supervised by attendings who round on the patients with them. The fellows have opportunities to see outpatients, whether following patients from inpatient to outpatient settings allowing continuity of care or evaluating patients in the primary care clinic. In addition, the fellows rotate through different services and participate in psychosocial rounds. These services include palliative care, high risk OB, neurology, pain, burn and liver, kidney and cardiac transplant.
The fellowship offers many areas in which the fellows can learn. There are different educational opportunities which include didactic classes, journal club, reading seminar, grand rounds and sitting on committees of the psychiatry department. Research opportunities are available in the department which allows the fellows to participate in an ongoing project or pursue an area of individual interest. Fellows also have the opportunity to specialize in areas of interest during elective rotations. Support and assistance from faculty are available, as needed. In addition, fellows will have the opportunity to learn about and participate in tele-psychiatry to affiliated hospitals.
The fellows receive formative feedback on an on-going basis, as well as summative evaluation at the conclusion of each rotation. A comprehensive semi-annual evaluation is provided by the Program Director inclusive of an assessment of the fellows’ competency-based milestones. It is the goal of the fellowship to prepare fellows for the rigors of academic careers as well as advancing their clinical growth. The fellows, in turn provide feedback to the fellowship through program evaluations, supervisor evaluations and participating in the Annual Program Evaluation of the fellowship.
Location
Westchester Medical Center is located in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State, less than one hour from New York City. This area offers the cultural diversity of the metropolitan area, the scenery of more “upstate” regions and excellent schools. Salary and benefits are highly competitive, and there is no overnight or weekend call. There are opportunities for moonlighting.
Yvette Smolin, MD, is Director of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Westchester Medical Center and Clinical Assistant Professor at New York Medical College. Dr. Smolin earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Skidmore College and her Master’s Degree in Community Mental Health from Northeastern University. She graduated from New Jersey Medical School and completed her residency in psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center. She completed her fellowship in Psycho-Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City. She is board certified in both Psychiatry and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry.