COVID-19 ALERT: Find COVID-19 Testing Sites. COVID-19 Vaccine Info. New Visitor Policy. Make a Donation.
NYC Health + Hospitals and NYU Langone Health Launch Early-Career Psychiatry Leadership Program to Address Complex Mental Health Needs and Substance Use Disorders
Apr 25, 2022
NYC Health + Hospitals and the Departments of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine (NYU GSoM) today announced a new professional development and training program to help early career psychiatrists prepare for leadership roles in the public health system and other public settings that serve New Yorkers with complex mental health and substance use needs. The new NYC Health + Hospitals/NYU Public Psychiatry Leadership Program is seeking applications from practicing psychiatrists who are committed to improving and transforming the delivery of behavioral health services in New York City. The new program will expand the success of a collaboration that began in 2008 between NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and NYU GSoM that have since helped propel the careers of more than 50 psychiatrists who have taken on leadership positions in NYC Health + Hospitals, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and other public mental health community organizations. To learn more, visit the NYC Health + Hospitals/NYU Public Psychiatry Leadership Program webpage and apply here.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the already complicated mental health landscape has become ever more challenging for patients and doctors alike. Many psychiatrists have vast clinical experience but lack opportunities to hone in their leadership skills and learn about the complex organizational structures and tools to effect change and improve care and outcomes for New Yorkers with serious mental health needs and substance use disorders,” said Dr. Charles Barron, NYC Health + Hospitals Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Office of Behavioral Health. “Our training program will provide psychiatrists with the additional support, mentorship, and education they need to function effectively in public health settings. By doing so, we not only help them succeed now but also help them become leaders in public mental health for the future.”
“Developing the types of public programs we need to treat high-risk youth requires vision but also understanding of systems and how to manage change within them. This leadership training program adds to the clinical expertise child & adolescent psychiatrists have already developed by giving them that understanding,” said Dr. Jennifer Havens, the Arnold Simon Professor and Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU GSoM and Director of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health in the Office of Behavioral Health at NYC Health + Hospitals.
The NYC Health + Hospitals/NYU Public Psychiatry Leadership Program will offer a yearlong curriculum that will include formal mentorship connections, and a robust course schedule based on the American Academy of Community Psychiatry standards that define essential knowledge for public psychiatry. Participating psychiatrists will develop increased competence in leadership skills, change management strategies, use of quality improvement structures, business planning, and finance, public policy and legal aspects of mental health care. Applications are due May 18, 2022 and the program begins July 2022. Eligible psychiatrists can apply here.
NYU has long had a strong commitment to public health, given its affiliation with NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue since 1898. This is yet one more way to ensure a strong link between academic excellence and public health. “Our institution has long been a leader in training public psychiatrists through the connection with Bellevue and we are excited to continue and expand this work more broadly in this larger collaboration with NYC Health + Hospitals,” said Dr. Charles Marmar, the Lucius Littauer Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at NYU GSoM.
The program is co-directed by Dr. Swati Shivale, who brings her years of experience working within the adult psychiatry services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue including in the forensic and psychiatric emergency room settings, and Dr. Rebecca Weis, who currently serves as Chief of Service for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. Since mental health services in New York City are provided in a variety of settings through a complex infrastructure of emergency rooms, crisis programs, public hospitals, ACT teams, community non-profits, Federally Qualified Health Centers, intensive community programs, shelters, the criminal justice system, and state hospitals, the Public Psychiatry Leadership Program is designed to support psychiatrists who work full or part time in any of these public behavioral health service settings.
“We bring our own differing experiences to the table and then work to ensure that our faculty and speakers bring additional diverse perspectives to the curriculum, creating an exciting mix of learning for our participants,” said Drs Weis and Shivale.
Participants will receive membership to the American Association for Community Psychiatry (AACP), and the necessary support to receive certification in Public and Community Psychiatry offered by the AACP.