The Columbia University Department of Psychiatry is one of the largest in the country in terms
of faculty size as well as state, federal, and foundation research support. We have extraordinary clinical, educational, and
research resources. Our faculty includes over 400 psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and neurobehavioral
scientists. Two faculty members were recently selected as Nobel Prize Laureates for their work in neuroscience, Drs. Eric
Kandel (2000) and Richard Axel (2004). Clinical facilities and laboratories of the Psychiatry Department are located in a
large number of institutions and health care systems. These include New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical
Center, the New York State Psychiatric Institute, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the Washington Heights Community
Mental Health Center. The Department of Psychiatry also houses the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, the Mind/Brain Institute,
a Howard Hughes Research Institute and the Stanley Center for Applied Neuroscience of Bipolar Disorders.
The Setting
The
Columbia University Department of Psychiatry is located at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in northern Manhattan,
part of an urban neighborhood that is ethnically and economically diverse in a city that has been called the capital of the
world. The institutions which comprise the teaching facilities of the Department are described below.
Columbia University Psychiatric Services
The Psychiatry Department provides clinical services at Columbia University Medical Center in programs
operated through New York Presbyterian Hospital as well as faculty practice programs operated through Columbia University.
The programs are also teaching sites for medical students, residents, psychology interns, and other types of trainees. The
inpatient program operates 65 licensed beds providing 1800 adult annual admissions, clinics that provide over 80,000 visits
to adults and children, and an comprehensive psychiatric emergency program (CPEP) providing over 3000 visits. The Department
operates a day treatment program and intensive outpatient program and a neuropsychology assessment service. It provides comprehensive
outpatient and inpatient evaluations of complex patients. It also provides specialty consultative services for Autism, Lyme
Disease, Eating Disorders and other disorders. In addition, it provides a full range of substance abuse services.
The New York State Psychiatric Institute
The New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), established in 1895, was one of
the first institutions in the United States to integrate teaching, research and therapeutic approaches to the care of patients
with mental illnesses. In 1925, NYSPI affiliated with Presbyterian Hospital, adding general hospital facilities to the Institute's
psychiatric services and research laboratories. These facilities were supplemented in 1983 by a 14-floor Psychiatric Research
Building, the Kolb Annex.
The NYSPI was further modernized in 1998
by opening of a new hospital building to replace the original one. Overlooking the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge,
the new Psychiatric Institute provides a state-of-the art environment for patient care, education, and research. The approximately
320,000 square feet offer space for 60 inpatient beds, 23 specialized outpatient research clinics, educational facilities,
and research laboratories. Walkway bridges to and from the Kolb Annex and New York Presbyterian Hospital provide comfortable
and efficient all-weather avenues for patient and staff travel within the Columbia University Medical Center.
From the beginning, NYSPI has been at the forefront of psychiatry, making major contributions
to the clinical care and understanding of the mentally ill. Through the years, distinguished figures in American psychiatry
have served as directors of the Psychiatric Institute. It is now led by a noted academic psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman.
The excellence of the Institute is reflected in the rare perfect score received in the most recent hospital accreditation.
The New York Presbyterian Hospital
The main Presbyterian Hospital structure is the 745-bed Milstein Hospital building, which offers
state of the art advanced medical procedures and its critical care capability. Presbyterian Hospital also includes the Morgan
Stanley Children's Hospital, the Harkness Eye Institute, the Sloane Hospital for Women, the Neurological Institute, and the
Vanderbilt Clinic. The Allen Pavilion, a 300-bed community hospital component of Presbyterian, is located at the northern
tip of Manhattan. In total, Presbyterian Hospital has approximately 1,200 beds. Each year, over 46,000 patients are treated
in the hospital and approximately 700,000 patients are seen in the outpatient clinics and doctors' offices. The professional
staff consists of over 1,100 attending physicians, 500 residents and many clinical and research fellows.
In 1999 Presbyterian Hospital merged with New York Hospital, a Cornell affiliate,
to become New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH). In 2005, NYPH was recognized as #7 in the US News and World Report Best Hospitals,
and as #2 nationally in Psychiatry.
The Columbia University Medical
Center offers superb primary care to the Washington Heights community and also provides advanced specialty care to patients
from throughout the country. Psychiatric services at the Columbia campus of NYPH include 50 inpatient beds, an outpatient
department with 100,000 visits/year, a comprehensive emergency service with 3,500 visits/year, a child psychiatric clinic,
and a consultation-liaison service. Construction on a new inpatient unit was completed in 2002, and new child psychiatry facilities
recently opened.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons
Now part of Columbia University, the College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded
in 1767 and was the first school in North America to award doctoral degrees in medicine. 'P&S' has developed extensive
new facilities over the past few years, including the Hammer Health Sciences Center - a 20-story structure housing an excellent
medical library, amphitheatre and teaching facilities. The medical school is considered to be among the finest in America,
and has traditionally been one of the nation's primary sources of practicing doctors and researchers.
The Columbia Psychoanalytic Center for Training and Research
This Center, founded in 1945, was the first major psychoanalytic institute to be established
in a university medical school. This step was taken with the belief that psychoanalysis and medicine would each benefit through
a close relationship, with access to patients, facilities, teaching programs, and research opportunities. The Center is located
in the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Affiliated
Institutions
Columbia's Department of Psychiatry has significant
affiliations with hospitals including: Harlem Hospital Center St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital CREEDMOOR Psychiatric Center Hall-Brooke
Behavioral Health Services
