The Psychology Internship Training Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center is ideal for candidates who are interested in experiencing working in a bustling academic medical center servicing one of the most racially and ethnically diverse counties in the country!
Our health system’s locations throughout the Bronx and Westchester make us an excellent match for psychology interns who are interested in building their competence and confidence in the assessment, conceptualization, treatment, and research of the full range of psychiatric disorders, while also addressing issues of race, ethnicity, culture, diversity and social justice in a largely underresourced patient population.
As the University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center is nationally recognized for clinical excellence - breaking new ground in research, training the next generation of healthcare leaders, and delivering science-driven, patient-centered care – all of which has caused it to be ranked among the top hospitals nationally and regionally by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, we have a history of providing leading-edge lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) care in our hospitals, community health centers and specialty clinics, were the first health system to have a float in the NYC Pride (2016), and have been designated eight years in a row as a leader in LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign.
Being housed within an Academic Medical Center, the Psychology Internship Training Program emphasizes learning about the nature of psychopathology from both clinical and research perspectives. Clinically, interns gain experience with assessment, diagnosis, case conceptualization and formulation, and treatment from a variety of theoretical orientations (CBT, DBT, ACT, Psychdynamic, etc.), using different modalities (e.g., individual, couples, family, group, etc.) while in different settings (outpatient, inpatient, consult, emergency room, etc.). We also believe that a scientific approach to the understanding of psychopathology requires an empirical curiosity, regardless of one's theoretical orientation. As such, interns also have protected time to engage in research and other scholarly activities during the year. Thus, by the end of their training, our interns have a strong command of the expanding knowledge base in psychopathology, including the complex interrelationship between biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors, and the impact they have on symptom expression, based on a combination of clinical and research experiences.
We offer four specialized training programs: an adult track, a child and adolescent track, a combined (child-adolescent-adult outpatient) track, and a Neuropsychology track. While each of the specializations has its own goals and objectives (please see our website for details), they all share the same overarching philosophy: that the internship should provide interns with: (1) a broad set of high quality clinical experiences that are sequential, cumulative, of graded complexity and customized to fit the individual goals of each intern; and (2) the opportunity to develop their ability to formulate independent research or other scholarly activities (e.g., critical literature reviews, dissertation, efficacy studies, clinical case studies, theoretical papers, program evaluation projects, program development projects) that are of sufficient quality and rigor to have the potential to contribute to the scientific, psychological, or professional knowledge base.
Each specialization has required core rotations, which can also be supplemented from a wide variety of clinical electives. While there is a limit on the number of clinical electives one can add, the program makes every reasonable effort to tailor training to the needs and interests of the individual intern. This individualized training program is discussed and finalized prior to the start of the internship year, but can also be modified as the year unfolds.
Finally, along with clinical service and research, we also place great emphasis on education. This includes intense clinical supervision (on average 5-7 clinical supervision hours per week) using a variety of different theoretical orientations, including: psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, dialectical behavioral, integrative, family/systems, and lifespan developmental approaches. In addition, interns have a dedicated day of didactics (Thursdays) throughout the academic year (July to June) and our Departmental Grand Rounds also run on Thursdays from September to June. Taken together, these account for 4-5 hours per week of the interns' time.