Medical Student Education Program

Department of Psychiatry
Medical Students Office
212-263-6237 

The primary mission of undergraduate education in psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine is to improve the psychiatric literacy of the next generation of physicians across all specialties.  We are also mindful of the value of nurturing and facilitating the interests of  those students who want to study a topic in greater depth, participate in psychiatric research, or apply for post-graduate traing in psychiatry.  The current Director and Associate Director of the Program are Drs. Myrl Manley and Natalie Gluck.

Each class at the School of Medicine contains approcimately 160 students.  We provide major required course offerings in the second and third years, participate in teaching of first year courses, and provide a number of electives that are available after completion of the psychiatry clerkship, typically taken during the fourth year.  Every student graduating from the School of Medicine will have been exposed to the care and treatment of psychiatric patients, be knowledgeable about the the diagnosis and classification of the main categories of psychiatric disorders, understand the variety of somatic and non-somatic treatments available and how they are prescribed, and will have demonstrated competence in the evaluation, dagnosis, formulation and treatment planning of psychiatric patients. 

The NYU School of Medicine recently completed the reorganization of the preclinical curriculum from department-based courses to multi-disciplinary organ system-based modules.  The change was consistent with national trends, changes in the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), and the recommendations of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) the national body that accredits medical schools.  Third year clerkships remain department-based.  First and second year courses are graded pass/fail.  Clerkships are graded Honors, High Pass, Pass, and Fail.  M.D.-Ph.D. students are given letter grades (A-C) in their pre-clinical years of training.