Housestaff Mental Health and Wellness

Crisis Services

Mount Sinai Crisis Hotline Available 24/7 for any trainee experiencing a mental health crisis or urgent mental health issue. This hotline will confidentially provide immediate crisis counseling and referral to services as needed. Call 212-241-2400 or 1-866-339-7725

National Suicide Prevention Hotline Hotline provides 24/7 free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. Call 1-800-273-8255

Crisis Text Line Free 24/7 support at your fingertips. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor.

NYCWell 24/7 hotline for confidential mental health support provided by New York City. Text 65173, Call 1-888-NYC-WELL, Visit https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/en/

Wellness Days

To allow residents and fellows to attend to their personal health and wellness, including medical, dental, and mental health appointments, annually (academic year) residents and fellows will be provided with four (4) wellness days in addition to other leave time (including sick and vacation leave). This is provided and structured with the goal of minimizing disruptions to both patient care and training, while allowing residents and fellows sufficient protected time for appropriate personal health maintenance and wellness. In addition to using this time for personal health maintenance, wellness days may also be used for the following:

• To care for the child of a resident/fellow who has a health condition requiring treatment or supervision.
• To care for an ill family member (parent, spouse, or child) or partner, including medical, dental, and mental health appointments where the resident/fellow’s presence is needed.

In acknowledgment that many appointments do not require an entire duty period to be taken off, the four (4) days may be used in half-day (4-hour) increments to allow residents/fellows to perform normal duties before and/or after the appointment.

Departments will be required to make every effort to accommodate residents and fellows using a wellness day during scheduled duties and are asked to establish policies and procedures for usage of this time:

• Departments will be asked to track this leave time separate from sick and vacation time but may not require that residents/fellows provide documentation of appointments.
• Prior to using a wellness day (or portion of a day), advance notice of at least 7 days wherever practicable should be provided to the resident’s/fellow’s Program Director or designee to ensure adequate coverage. Residents/fellows and programs are encouraged to ensure that the supervising faculty service attending is made aware as well.
• Programs are encouraged to implement a system of coverage to ensure that use of wellness days does not produce an undue burden on other residents and faculty and minimizes disruptions to patient care and resident/fellow learning.
• Residents/fellows are encouraged wherever possible to schedule appointments when not assigned to clinical duties but should not be penalized by programs for use of a wellness day.
• Residents/fellows may be asked to provide alternate days/times for use of wellness days where appropriate to accommodate the needs of the program.

Unlike sick leave, wellness days are earned quarterly (one wellness day per quarter); may not be accrued (must be used in the quarter in which they are earned) or carried over to subsequent training years; and may not be used to extend any other type of leave (vacation; sick or FMLA; conference/educational).

When using wellness days residents/fellows should be aware of the attendance requirements for eligibility for Specialty Board examinations with reference to minimal, contiguous time that must be spent in a training program.

Mount Sinai Student and Trainee Mental Health (STMH)

STMH Website Aron Hall, 50 E. 98th St, 1st Floor, Suite 1B, New York, NY 10029 Phone 212-659-8805; Email STMH@mssm.edu

A wide range of services are available through Student and Trainee Mental Health (STMH). Services are free for all trainees, regardless of insurance plan. Request an initial appointment by calling 212-659-8805, or by emailing STMH@mssm.edu. These calls are always confidential.

Offerings Include:

• Initial evaluations

• Crisis intervention

• Short- to intermediate-term psychotherapy

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy

  • Supportive psychotherapy

  • Organizational skills training

  • Stress reduction

• Pharmacotherapy

• Groups (recent group therapy offerings have focused on organizational skills to deal with ADHD, processing racial trauma, using DBT/CBT skills to deal with anxiety during COVID-19)

The office also provides referrals for psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, as well as specialized services such as dialectical behavioral therapy programs, intensive outpatient services, and disorder-specific treatment programs (e.g., severe eating disorders, substance use disorders).

More information is available on the STMH Website: Student and Trainee Mental Health Program at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | Icahn School of Medicine (mssm.edu).

We encourage any trainee who is struggling psychologically or emotionally with any aspect of residency to schedule a visit with one of our providers. We provide both psychotherapy and medication management. Most commonly, residents see us for problems in the realm of burn-out, adjustment difficulties, depression, anxiety, and attentional symptoms. It is not necessary for a trainee to have a DSM diagnosis in order to use our services. Residency (and life transitions that often occur during residency) can be stressful. Meeting with a psychiatrist/therapist can be helpful in coping with stressors and restoring a sense of wellness.

• Access to Care:

  • Graduate students, medical students, residents, clinical fellows, and post-doctoral fellows who call or email for a routine appointment will receive a call back from the practice no later than one business day from the time of the call.

  • Upon callback, the practice administrator and scheduler will assist in matching the student or trainee with the most appropriate provider depending upon their needs, requests and availability; we will offer an appointment within one week or sooner for urgent matters. Kerissa Roberts, program manager kerissa.roberts@mssm.edu.

  • All providers have moved to centralized scheduling. This allows our administrators to streamline the scheduling process and increase provider availability.

  • The STMH service is operational from 9-5pm Monday-Friday, with some providers offering evening hours. Answering service number on nights and weekends: 212-241-5581.

  • STMH services are delivered on site at Mount Sinai Hospital primarily, and Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Beth Israel at least 1 day per week.

  • For emergency psychiatric services, contact the psychiatrist on-call through the page operator at 212-241-5581, call the Psychiatric Emergency Service at 212-241-5637, or go to the Emergency Room.

• Duration and continuity of services: There is no cap on the number of STMH visits. Where and how care is best delivered, and the overall duration of treatment, will be decided upon the individual and recommendations of the evaluating/treating provider. Length of treatment is flexible as treatment needs may change over time.

• Non-Sinai based psychiatric referrals - speak with wellness reps or chiefs for assistance in finding a non-Sinai mental health provider.

Other Mount Sinai Resources

Office of Well-being and Resilience: Office of Well-being and Resilience

• Mission: to drive change by supporting initiatives that promote well-being and reconnect you with the meaning of your work.

• Integrated model of professional fulfillment: Personal Factors and Health + Workplace culture + workplace efficiency and function + Mental Health Support

• Many wellness resources available on the website

• Annual surveys to assess well-being across the Mount Sinai system

MSH Psychiatry Faculty Practice: Mount Sinai faculty members trained in a variety of disciplines across all areas of mental health. Call 212-659-8752 to schedule an appointment. MSH faculty practice

Employee Assistance Program: The EAP provides free, confidential short-term counseling services to Mount Sinai Employees and their covered dependents by licensed social workers. To make an appointment please call 212-241-8937.

Mount Sinai Calm: Wellness Consultations with social workers at Sinai. Program also runs free yoga, meditation and pilates for staff. Mount Sinai Calm. Phone 212-659-8872, Email 4calm@mountsinai.org

ICARE: The ICARE Team provides completely confidential “emotional first aid” for Mount Sinai Health System caregivers and staff experiencing normal stress reactions to unanticipated or adverse patient events or outcomes. Employees can reach the ICARE team at 212-241-8989 (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).

WellConnect: WellConnect is a free, confidential well-being program available 24/7 to Mount Sinai Residents and to their household members. It offers 5 free sessions that can address issues including emotional stressors, relationship issues and life-work balance. WellConnect can also provide access to legal and financial consultations and referrals to housing, utility and childcare resources. The number is 212-241-2400 or 1-866-640-4777 (school code: ICAHN).

Low Cost NYC Resources

Columbia University Dean Hope Center for Psychological Services and Education
Thorndike Hall 6th floor, 525 West 120th street
Sliding scale, max $40 per sessions
212-678-3262

NYU Langone Free Mental Health Clinic
212-206-5200
Free of cost when working with mental health interns