A comprehensive clinical, educational and research program in human and medical genetics has been in existence at Mount Sinai School of Medicine for more than 40 years, first as the Division of Medical and Molecular Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics, and more recently, as the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences. Our faculty provides general genetic services as well as specialty programs in cancer genetics, metabolic disease, cardiovascular genetics, and others. In addition, comprehensive genetic testing services are available through biochemical, cytogenetic, and molecular laboratories and there is a program of basic and clinical research involving the efforts of over 100 faculty and staff which is supported by over $10 million in research grants. Our center has served as an accredited ABMG training site for clinical, biochemical, and molecular geneticists since 1982 and an accredited ABGC training site for our Genetic Counselor Training Program, which offers a master's degree.

In 1995, the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences (formerly known as " Department of Human Genetics") at Mount Sinai School of Medicine became the first approved residency program in Medical Genetics in the country. This program provides a unique, four-year experience for candidates committed to a career in genetics. More recently, a five-year joint Pediatrics-Medical Genetics residency and a five-year joint Internal Medicine-Medical Genetics residency were established for those individuals interested in dual certification. Our residents have the opportunity to receive their basic training in providing patient care by serving as house officers in a multidisciplinary program, with particular emphasis in Pediatrics or Internal Medicine during the PGY-1 year, and a combination of Pediatrics or Internal Medicine and Genetics rotations in subsequent years. The third and fourth years of the four year residency provide an intensive training experience in genetic medicine including general genetics and dysmorphology, prenatal genetics, inborn errors of metabolism, and all of the clinical laboratory specialties including cytogenetics, molecular genetics, and biochemical genetics. For the five-year program, the fourth and fifth years have this intense genetics training component, and residents in the third year spend half their time in genetics rotations. These innovative programs have been designed to prepare the next generation of geneticists to meet the challenges resulting from the delineation of the molecular basis of inherited and common disorders. Our residents will be uniquely qualified to apply the diagnostic and therapeutic advances being developed in laboratories across the nation, including molecular diagnosis, gene therapy, and gene product replacement therapy.

In addition to these programs, we also offer other residencies and fellowships to outstanding candidates who have completed residency training in another specialty, such as pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and internal medicine. The two- or three-year training program leads to board qualification in clinical genetics as well as to board eligibility in a laboratory specialty for those trainees selected for the three-year track.

Postgraduate Level-1 (PL-1) house officers are chosen exclusively through the National Intern and Resident Matching Program (NRMP). One or two categorical PL-1 house officers are accepted into the program each year. One or two additional PL-4 positions are available for residents who have already completed residency training in another area such as pediatrics, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology. Additional positions leading to board eligibility on a laboratory specialty are also available through the support of our NIH-sponsored training grant. Residents are selected on the basis of recommendations from their primary care training program and personal interview.

Goals and Objectives of the Program

The primary goals of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences are 1) to provide superior genetic medical care to patients from fetal life into adulthood in an academic environment and 2) to participate in and initiate basic science and clinical research related to the diagnosis, treatment and understanding of genetic disease. The overall educational objective of the two and four year residency training programs is to provide an optimal environment for the clinical and research training of residents. To achieve these goals and objectives, the faculty of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, which include ABMG-certified experts in clinical genetics, biochemical genetics, molecular genetics and cytogenetics, interacts in a multidisciplinary fashion with faculty in the Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neurology, and Internal Medicine to provide trainees with a diverse and comprehensive educational experience.

The specific educational objectives of the three and four year programs include the attainment of general knowledge about the mechanisms of disease and the application of the understanding of these mechanisms to the diagnosis, treatment and counseling of patients and to the development of basic and clinical research protocols designed to investigate specific problems. Residents attain this knowledge through didactic sessions and through clinical rotations that expose them to all aspects of clinical care, clinical research and clinical laboratory activities in genetic medicine.