M. Bridget Downes, M.D.
M. Bridget Downes, M.D. has been working as a child/adolescent/adult psychiatrist since 1994. Bridget completed a Psychiatric Residency and Child Fellowship at New York Hospital/Cornell, Westchester Division. She then went on to work as the Unit Chief for the Children’s Psychiatric Unit at the Behavioral Health Center in Valhalla, NY. In 1999, Bridget left the Behavioral Health Center and began a private practice in Greenwich, Ct. where she continues to see children of all ages. She also became the child psychiatrist for the Child Welfare Program at Westchester Institute of Human Development. She sees foster children for psychiatric evaluations, ongoing diagnostic assessments, and medication management. Bridget has been the child psychiatrist there for over 20 years and continues to find the work interesting and challenging.
Prior to becoming a psychiatrist, Bridget graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Animal Behavior and Neurophysiology. Her MD was earned at New York Medical College where she was elected to AOA Honor Medical Society. Upon graduation, Bridget did a residency in internal medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village (1981 -1984). During this time she was a witness to the unfolding of the AIDS epidemic. She then went to work as an internist at the Rikers Island Health Services in order to fulfill an obligation to the National Health Service Corps. During her time there, (1984 – 1988) the AIDS crisis spread to the jail population largely due to IV drug use.
Bridget has always loved the theater and can trace the beginnings of this love to her childhood when her mother was a member of the Douglaston Community Theater. She and her siblings spent time at rehearsals, made props and enjoyed the excitement of opening nights. NYC Children’s Theater brings together many of Bridget’s interests and she looks forward to participating in its mission to promote social and emotional resiliency and a lifelong love of theater, song and books.
Bridget lives in Greenwich Connecticut with her husband, John. They have three adult children all of whom live in Manhattan/Brooklyn.