MSH Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship | Icahn School of Medicine

The Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is a one-year program designed to train future leaders in the field of geriatric psychiatry. Approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), our clinical training program offers extensive experience in the evaluation, diagnosis, management, and compassionate treatment of psychiatric conditions in older adults.

Our health system is a world leader in integrated clinical care, education, and research. Geriatric psychiatry fellows learn how to evaluate, diagnose, and longitudinally treat geriatric patients with a range of psychiatric problems across diverse clinical settings in three locations: Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center, The Mount Sinai Hospital, and James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The fellowship provides our trainees with essential clinical experiences caring for older adults with anxiety disorders, depression, psychosis, substance use disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementias, post-stroke neuropsychiatric conditions, and more. Our program trains future leaders in the field of geriatric psychiatry, positioning our graduating fellows at the forefront of the subspecialty.

You will learn under renowned faculty as you care for patients, teach, develop academic interests, and collaborate with colleagues across the Mount Sinai Health System. Our fellows graduate from the program with advanced knowledge and skills, including:

Phenomenology of psychiatric illness in older adults and how it differs from younger patients
Expertise in geriatric psychopharmacology
Psychosocial aspects of aging including adaptation to retirement, loss, physical illness, loneliness and alienation, and societal ageism
Clinical application of neuropsychological assessments
Immersion in the geriatric psychiatry literature with evidence-based clinical application
Teaching and team leadership skills
Design and implementation of clinical research
Prioritizing principles of equity in the care of geriatric patients

Meet the Directors

Corbett A Schimming, MD

Program Director

Dr. Corbett Schimming has been deeply engaged in clinical work with older adults throughout his career. As Program Director, he focuses on mentoring a new generation of academic and clinical leaders in geriatric.

View Profile

Lea K Marin, MD, MPH

Associate Program Director

Dr. Lea K. Marin, Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry and Associate Program Director, is passionate about training future psychiatrists to care for older adults.

View Profile

Karen Dionesotes, MD

Assistant Program Director

Dr. Karen Dionesotes, Assistant Program Director, is passionate about medical education & health policy and health systems delivery change to improve clinical care for older adults.

View Profile

About the Fellowship

Fellows receive close supervision of clinical activity, including inpatient and outpatient clinical rotations in specialized geriatric psychiatry units; consultation liaison exposure in nursing homes and home-visitation programs; experience in interventional psychiatry; and a wide selection of elective programs and research opportunities with Mount Sinai’s renowned  psychiatric research teams.

We offer protected time for weekly didactics every Thursday. This interactive lecture series provides in-depth teaching on epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, differential diagnoses, and treatment for psychiatric disorders in later life and in medically complicated patients. Additionally, fellows attend biweekly journal clubs, weekly inpatient and outpatient case conferences and interdisciplinary treatment rounds, and seminars given in The Barbara and Maurice Deane Center for Wellness and Cognitive Health and Mount Sinai’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Electives
Taking advantage of all Mount Sinai has to offer, our program provides fellows with additional clinical experience to develop niche expertise through elective rotations in:

During clinical rotations, our fellows rotate through multiple learning settings including The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center, and James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Throughout the clinical rotations, fellows have the opportunity to learn from exceptional faculty, and to teach and mentor residents and medical students.

The Barbara and Maurice Deane Center for Wellness and Cognitive Health: At the Center, fellows receive extensive specialty training in the treatment of cognitive disorders, providing interdisciplinary care for people living with dementia and related disorders.

Center for Neuromodulation: Our health system is one of the few in New York City to offer a full range of neuromodulation services. Fellows gain comprehensive experience in the initial assessment and use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), intranasal and IV Ketamine, Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for the treatment of severe psychiatric mood and psychotic disorders

James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Community Living Center Nursing Home and Home Based Primary Care Services: Fellows serve as consultants to the nursing home and home based primary care services, providing guidance on the management of psychiatric illness in these unique settings.

Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatient Units: Fellows function as assistant service chiefs on the geriatric psychiatry units of the Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center and The Mount Sinai Hospital, gaining experience in managing severe mental illness in older adults as clinicians, leaders, and educators. Our attending geriatric psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and rehabilitation therapists provide comprehensive neuropsychiatric and medical evaluations, and develop the most effective treatment plan for each patient. The inpatient care we provide includes psychopharmacotherapy, individual and group psychotherapy, ECT, and after-care planning.

Geriatric Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics: In the outpatient departments of the Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center and James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, fellows work with integrated teams of geriatric psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and primary care providers. These multidisciplinary teams of dedicated professionals provide comprehensive neuropsychiatric assessments, psychopharmacology, individual and group therapy, and patient and caregiver support groups.

View our sample rotation schedule.

To be considered for this fellowship, you must have completed (or be on track to complete) an ACGME-accredited or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada residency in general psychiatry. We evaluate applicants and offer positions on a rolling basis.

To apply, please submit the following materials to Corbett Schimming at Corbett.Schimming@mssm.edu:

Completed Mount Sinai Graduate Medical Education Trainee application
Curriculum vitae/resume
Personal statement detailing your interest in geriatric psychiatry
Three letters of reference (one must be from your current training director)

Applications are accepted at any point during the third year and early in the fourth year of residency training. Positions are offered on a rolling basis.

We provide a generous benefits package for fellows, including: