Clinical Curriculum

The intern year of the Triple Board curriculum focuses on pediatrics.  You are fully integrated with your categorical peers in the pediatric residency, participating in the categorical residents' orientation and benefiting from the full pediatric educational curriculum, including morning report, noon conference, academic half day, and grand rounds. The year consists of 13 four-week blocks. First year rotations include four blocks of inpatient pediatrics, six weeks in the pediatric Emergency Department  at The Mount Sinai Hospital, two weeks in the pediatric Emergency Department at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, and one block each in outpatient ambulatory care, well baby nursery, neonatal intensive care, adolescent medicine, developmental pediatrics, and an elective. One half day a week, you participate in the Pediatric Continuity Clinic together with your Triple Board co-residents. First year residents have two two-week vacation blocks.

Second Year

In the second year, you are integrated into both the categorical psychiatry residency and the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship, each for a six-month block.

In adult psychiatry, you have four to eight weeks in the psychiatric emergency room, four weeks on the inpatient geriatric psychiatry unit, ten to fourteen weeks on the general psychiatric inpatient unit, and four weeks on the adult neurology consult service, all at The Mount Sinai Hospital. You get one week of vacation during these six months.

The child psychiatry component consists of three months on the child and adolescent inpatient unit and three months in a day-treatment program setting, both based at Mount Sinai Morningside on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. You get 15 vacation days to take during these six months.

Residents join weekly full-day didactics in child and adult psychopathology and psychopharmacology, individual and group therapy, and developmental theory. Didactics also include journal clubs, case conferences, formulation rounds, process group, and frequent guest lectures.  During the second year, you take on a minimum of one child or adolescent outpatient therapy case and are assigned a supervisor with whom you discuss work and examine evidence-based treatment options. This is the beginning of a unique longitudinal experience for you, during which you can work with a patient dynamically for four years and witness development in vivo.

As in the first year, you continue to participate in pediatric continuity clinic, attending clinic one half day a week throughout the entire year.

Third Year

The third year is a return to the pediatric experience, this time as a senior resident. You are reintegrated into the pediatric third year class, the same class with which you entered residency.

During the year, you have two blocks of pediatric intensive care and one block each of inpatient pediatrics, emergency medicine, neonatal intensive care, outpatient ambulatory care, and pediatric neurology. You get five blocks of elective time in the third year, with opportunities to explore pediatric sub-specialties, complex care, child abuse, global pediatric and mental health, and school-based health. Your vacation is again split into two two-week blocks.

The didactic curriculum is similar to the PGY-1 year. We encourage pediatric senior residents to take a more active role in the teaching process. You will be responsible for supervising interns. 

You continue Pediatric Continuity Clinic as in the previous two years. In addition, you continue your outpatient child psychiatry case with supervision, as in the second year.

Fourth Year

Your fourth year is devoted to outpatient adult psychiatry, integrating with the PGY-3 categorical psychiatry class. You spend the year managing medication and conducting psychotherapy in the outpatient setting. You carry a varied case load, from medication management to a variety of psycho-therapeutic modalities, enabling you to gain clinical exposure and experience while honing skills in all aspects of outpatient adult psychiatry. In addition, you expand your child and adolescent psychiatry caseload to get a broader experience in managing children. You also begin to see patients in the Triple Board Clinic, a resident run integrated care clinic within the MSH Pediatric Associates Clinic. You get 20 total vacation days.

Didactics include a full day of classes each week, led by leaders in their fields. You are exposed to more thorough examinations and practical applications of various psychotherapies and pharmacological managements. Our partnership with the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute enables you to connect with the leading minds in psychoanalysis. You also continue with process group and Pediatric Continuity Clinic every other week.

Fifth Year

The final year of the program lets you consolidate your knowledge while immersing yourself in child psychiatry. The core of your fifth year is the outpatient child and adolescent therapy cases. You join the consultation/liaison service at The Mount Sinai Hospital for six months, seeing acute cases in the emergency department and working working with your Pediatrics colleagues to manage complex cases. Residents are also immersed in the Mount Sinai Health System’s various Centers of Excellence and have opportunities to gain more clinical experience in areas such as autism, ADHD and learning disorders, OCD and tic disorders, developmental disabilities, eating and weight disorders, forensics, and psycho-oncology. As in the fourth year, you get 20 total vacation days.

You can continue the Pediatric Continuity Clinic and most residents carry several adult outpatient psychiatry cases from the fourth year. You run the operations of the integrated care Triple Board Clinic and collaborate with pediatric residents and attendings on mental health care teaching and integration within primary care.

The didactic curriculum parallels the second-year child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship curriculum. You have one class day each week.

When you complete the PGY-4 year, you become eligible to take the pediatric board examination. Residents often sit for the exam in the fall of this fifth year.

Fifth years also assume the role of Chief Resident, playing a critical part in assisting Triple Board program leadership and working as liaisons among the various departments to optimize the educational experience for Triple Board residents.

Additional Opportunities

In addition to the core curriculum, you may choose to supplement your education with any of the following:

• Moonlighting (PGY2-5) in pediatrics (well-baby nursery and NICU shifts, primarily) and adult psychiatry (weekend inpatient admissions) at Mount Sinai Hospital
• Joining global health tracks through either the Pediatrics or Psychiatry Departments, with opportunities to travel internationally
• Serving as a group leader for PEERS, a program created by a Mount Sinai medical student and psychiatry resident to be a processing and mentorship space for first year medical students