Training Office Welcome

Welcome to the SUNY Downstate Medical Center Department of Psychiatry Office of Training!

SUNY Downstate is one of the largest health science centers in the United States. Downstate is rooted in a century-old tradition of teaching, patient care and research. Originally founded in 1860, Downstate today is the center for academic medicine in Brooklyn. It is the seventh largest medical school in the nation, with schools of nursing, health related professions and graduate studies.

The General Psychiatry Residency Training Program is a four-year accredited educational program and as the only university-based program in Brooklyn it is also the largest with a total of 48 residents training in general psychiatry. Our residents are trained at various outstanding clinical sites in Brooklyn and Manhattan including: University Hospital of Brooklyn, Kings County Hospital Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, Brooklyn Veterans Administration Medical Center, Coney Island Hospital, and Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. Together, these sites offer the residents a diverse patient population to treat and an exposure to every facet of mental health treatment.

The Department of Psychiatry has a rich history in community psychiatry, dynamic psychiatry, psychopharmacology, neuroscience and research. We are now at the forefront of psychiatric research with both the Center for Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and the Institute for Genomic Health.

Like the borough of Brooklyn itself, we pride ourselves on the diversity of our residents. Applicants to the program hail both from across the United States and across the world. The resident classes here at SUNY Downstate are a mix of US medical graduates and International Medical Graduates—American citizens who have completed medical school abroad and others who are foreign nationals on visas. We believe that the diverse array of patients we serve benefit greatly from this cultural and ethnic diversity.

Residents here at SUNY Downstate also have the invaluable experience of teaching the medical students. Because we are grounded in a medical school-setting, our residents are integral in teaching medical students, an experience that enriches the learning experience for both. Universally lauded by our students and residents. Research is expected as well, and our protected one-month rotation in the PGY2 year is the springboard for this endeavor. Didactics are comprehensive and built into all four years of training. We are committed to community psychiatry. Not only do all of our residents gain experience assessing and treating individuals with mental illness who are homeless but most "give back" to the community by volunteering at the Brooklyn Free Clinic, the annual NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Walk, the annual AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention) Walk or other initiatives.

The academic and clinical rigor of our program, along with its focus on research, produces graduates with impressive CVs who go on to compete for highly sought after fellowships, academic positions, hospital appointments, community employment or private practice work. We take pleasure in having launched some of the most talented and exemplary psychiatrists both here and abroad. We hope that exploring our website will give you more detailed information about our training program. Thanks for visiting and don't hesitate to contact us directly. As we say to our new recruits: "Welcome to the family."

Vice Chair for Education
Director, Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program

About Me

Dr. McAfee graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a double degree in Biology and Psychology. After two years performing molecular biology research as the Lab Manager at Boston University School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology, he enrolled at New York Medical College, graduating in 1997. He completed a residency in Adult Psychiatry at St. Vincent’s Hospital in 2001, completing his fourth year while serving as the Executive Chief Resident of the department. He then ran the adolescent and young adult inpatient psychiatric unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital, while maintaining a private practice in psychiatry and psychotherapy in New York City. In March of 2005 he was appointed the Director of Residency Training for the General Residency Training Program at St. Vincent’s Hospital. After the closure of St. Vincent’s, Dr. McAfee worked as the Associate Medical Director of Behavioral Health for F*E*G*S*, where he oversaw the transfer of a large outpatient clinic and instituted clinical standards. In February 2011, Dr. McAfee was recruited to Maimonides Medical Center to serve as the Vice Chairman of Education and Residency Training Director. He was appointed Interim Chair of Psychiatry in August of 2013 and named permanent Chair in December of 2016. In 2018, he returned to residency training as Vice Chair of Education and Residency Training Director at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.

His clinical areas of interest have included prodromal psychotic states, the mental health care of those with chronic medical illnesses and adolescent psychiatry, as well as sexuality and LGBT mental healthcare. He is published in the areas of adolescent diabetes treatment, psychological reactions to 9/11/01, reactions to mass disaster, resident countertransference and patterns of utilization of restraint in inpatient settings, as well as on the use of simulation to teach residents ECT. He is the recipient of the Teacher of the Year award by the Departments of Psychiatry at St. Vincent’s Hospital (2004) and Maimonides (2015), certificates of appreciation from New York Medical College for excellence in medical student teaching (2004 & 2005), the American Psychiatric Association’s Irma Bland award for excellence in resident education (2005), and also the APA‘s Nancy A. Roeske award for excellence in medical student education (2006). In 2004 Dr. McAfee was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, New York Medical College chapter; as the faculty member inductee as voted by the AOA medical students. He is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and of the New York Academy of Medicine. In 2014 he was inducted into the American College of Psychiatrists, and he remains active in committee work at the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (a psychiatry think tank) and as a member of the IMG Fellowship selection committee of the Association of American Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training.

Associate Program Director
Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program

About Me

Dr. Lubin is a Brooklynite and a Downstate-lifer. He is a proud graduate of the NYC public school system. He attended Midwood High School, CUNY Brooklyn College and SUNY Downstate Medical School. Dr. Lubin went on to complete both his general psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and is a double board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. Dr. Lubin has great affinity for inner-city communities and the unique challenges such communities present. He often leverages his knowledge of the inner city’s sub-culture and his relationships with leaders in the community to advocate for patients and their families. His passion includes increasing mental health awareness in the inner city and encouraging community engagement through mental health outreaches.

Dr. Lubin is privileged to serve in the role of Associate Program Director (APD) of the general psychiatry residency program where he builds on his passion for teaching and shaping residents’ residency education and experience. Currently, at Kings County Hospital Center, Dr. Lubin serves as the medical director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Services (CAPIS) and directs the pediatric psychiatry consultation service. In these roles, Dr. Lubin enjoys shaping the inpatient education experience of all rotating trainees.

Residency Administrator
Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program

About Me

Juliet is a Trinidadian native, raised in Brooklyn (right down the street from SUNY Downstate). She attended Clara Barton High School for Nursing in Brooklyn where she made up her mind to be involved in health care. She received both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Health Care Administration from the University of Phoenix. Juliet has been involved in Graduate Medical Education since 2002, when she started working at Beth Israel Medical Center. Since then, she has worked at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Lutheran Medical Center, and finally ending up at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in 2011.

Through her experience with various residency training programs, she has had the unique opportunity to use her leadership and interpersonal skills to help foster an academic, clinical, and professionally oriented program for the residents and work closely with the PD. This provides a deep sense of reward, humility and value that remains with her to this day. Juliet’s goal has always been to support residents from an administrative aspect in order to facilitate the residents in achieving their optimal potential, which includes promotions to prestigious fellowship programs. She is seen as the backbone of the residency program and is always proud of her work in helping further enrich the careers of future psychiatrists.

Juliet is certified with the Training Administrators for Graduate Medical Education (C-TAGME), is the Founder and Chair of the Residency Program Coordinators’ Forum at SUNY Downstate and the Co-Chair of the AADPRT Program Administrators Planning Committee.