Welcome from the Transitional Year Residency Program Director

Welcome from Erik Riesenfeld, MD, Program Director

Welcome to Bassett Healthcare Network’s Transitional Year Residency Program. Our program offers a 1-year training program where residents are primarily based at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, New York.

Residents will receive comprehensive, broad-based clinical and research experience in an atmosphere of high academic standards and closely personalized training at one of the nation’s best rural healthcare systems.

Since Bassett's earliest history in the 1920s, educating physicians has been a central force in the organization's evolution and Bassett's mission has always included education, patient care, and research. The transitional year will provide a well-balanced clinical year in multiple disciplines treating Bassett’s culturally and economically diverse patient population. The program will prepare residents for specific specialties or will facilitate the decision-making process for careers that have not yet been chosen.

Graduates of the Transitional Year program receive credit toward eligibility in the fields of Psychiatry, Pathology, Anesthesiology, Ophthalmology, Physical Medicine, Radiation Oncology, Dermatology, and Radiology. Further, with a careful choice of electives, graduates may also receive one-year credit for Internal Medicine, Family Practice, General Surgery, Pediatrics, Neurology, Emergency Medicine, &/or Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Our program believes in the reduction of burnout to increase resiliency and well-being that will translate into improving patient safety, quality, and satisfaction. In our program, we try to instill a sense of belonging, trust, and partnership for active involvement and leadership. Our residents live and train in a wonderful upstate New York lakeside community, with a seasonal tourist population and a peaceful year-round life. Hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, running, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, cycling, and boating are among the outdoor activities enjoyed, just to name a few. Many of our residents and faculty walk or bike to work.

We aspire to achieve true workforce diversity through mentoring, coaching, advocacy, and the cultivation of an inclusive work environment. We are immensely proud of the graduates of this program and their potential to advance in their medical careers. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions about the transitional year program at Bassett.

Erik Riesenfeld, MD
 

Our Leadership Team

Erik Riesenfeld, MD
Program Director

Anne Gadomski, MD
Scientific Director

Mary Wiswell, C-TAGME
Program Coordinator