We are posting so that we can answer your questions about Mount Sinai (NY) and our IM residency program. Let us know what you are thinking, we're happy to help!
Mount Sinai IM Residents want to answer your questions
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Hi guys, thank you so much for taking questions. It's nice to be able to get the info straight from the source and not just through hearsay. I interviewed at Mt. Sinai and absolutely loved it so I'm thinking about ranking it #1. A few questions I had lingering:
1. Could you comment on the clinical training provided by the program? What is the most interesting case you've seen this month? How transplant heavy is the program? Do you ever feel like you're taking care of too many private patients?
2. Do you feel like you're missing anything since Mt Sinai doesn't have a Level I Trauma Center? I know Elmhurst does but it seems like you guys spend only 1-2 months there in 3 yrs.
3. How much interaction do you get with the Mt. Sinai residents from the affiliate programs like Elmhurst and VA? Does it ever feel like you're all in one huge class? Do you enjoy working with them?
4. What is the policy on Moonlighting?
5. How much is the current rent for a studio in Sinai housing? Is it nice? Dilapidated? Variable?
6. I've heard from residents that Sinai doesn't take their own for Cardiology, yet on the fellowship match list it seems quite a few have matched in the last 3 years. Would you care to clarify on this?
7. At this point, a new program director will soon be named. What changes do you foresee with this? Dr. Babyatsky is easily one of the best PDs I have met on the road. The guy is solid. Any idea who the new guy will be? I have no doubt it will be someone great but my main concern is if he will be able to assist the residents as much as Dr. Babyatsky supposedly does during fellowship match. Will he make calls to other fellowship PDs across town and will he have the same amount of influence since he is relatively new?
8. Finally, I'm not from NYC so I don't know many people there. Does the program actively do things to foster camaraderie amongst the residents? Are there program sponsored events for the residents to have fun at? Are most of the residents single/committed/married/with kids?
Once again, THANK YOU so much for answering my laundry list of questions. I was very impressed with Mt. Sinai and everyone there seemed incredibly happy.
I'm not the OP but I can answer some of your questions.
1. The liver service can be fairly transplant heavy but otherwise it's not too bad. Private patients are at most 1-2 of your list at any time, but usually none.
2. We spend ~5-6 months at Elmhurst over the 3 years. I'm not sure how much working at a level I trauma center will affect your training in IM. I can definitely see it being important for surgery or EM, but I've never dealt with any trauma related cases, even at Elmhurst.
3. There isn't much interaction with the VA residents. There's more interaction with the Elmhurst residents, but I would say the programs are still pretty much separate, both in training and camaraderie.
4. You can moonlight at Sinai once you get your license (usually during 2nd year). Not sure how it works if you mean moonlighting at other institutions, if that's even possible.
5. Studios are variable in terms of niceness and pricing. It generally ranges from $1100 to 1600 or so.
6. Sinai has two cardiology programs. One is the research track and the other is the clinical track. It's harder to match into the research track.
7. Should be announced VERY soon. Regardless of who is selected, I'm quite certain Dr. Babyatsky will still function very much like a PD, especially in making calls and assisting the residents.
8. There are lots of official (at least once a month) and a lot more unofficial events. I can't compare it to other programs, but I feel that Sinai does a great job making sure everyone is having fun and is happy despite the difficulties of training. This is one aspect that I can guarantee you have nothing to worry about at Sinai. The match list, the training, all of that are definitely concerns but having fun and happiness should not be one of them. The chief residents, attendings, and Dr. Babyatsky all make sure of it.
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Hello. I am a current hem/onc fellowship applicant scheduled to interview at Sinai. Just wanted to hear your perspective on the quality of the fellowship training programs that you have observed thus far. Specifically:
1) Quality of the hematology consults?
2) Do you have interaction with the heme/onc fellows on any services, and if so, how do you feel their autonomy is in decision making?
3) Finally, how difficult is it to obtain housing of your choice and what is the price range for 1 BR housing?
Thanks!
1) Quality of the hematology consults?
2) Do you have interaction with the heme/onc fellows on any services, and if so, how do you feel their autonomy is in decision making?
3) Finally, how difficult is it to obtain housing of your choice and what is the price range for 1 BR housing?
Thanks!
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Everything you ever wanted to know about Sinai housing short of visiting (location, costs, floor plans, etc) is here: http://www.mssm.edu/education/residencies-and-fellowships/housing/resident-housing (courtesy of google)
Actually-not. I have been trying to find out for the last several months if a married couple, definitely, can be guaranteed a one bedroom rather than a studio. I have emailed the housing office several times, phrasing the question differently each time and I have not gotten a straight answer. On my interview day, I asked several residents and did not get a definitive answer. The wording on the website and in the housing contract is vague regarding the matter, basically saying a couple will qualify for adequate housing. I need to know, will there be a wall separating me from that other person at least occasionally?
Is it possible for a married couple to be guaranteed a one bedroom?
I'm another Sinai resident. Here's my input for the questions above.
1. I think the clinical training you get at Sinai is excellent. The combination of 3 hospitals (Sinai, Bronx VA and Elmhurst) ensures a wide-variety of cases as well as acuity. In general, VA and Elmhurst are particularly valuable b/c you see more bread-and-butter cases as well as very advanced disease that you are diagnosing for the first time. Elmhurst is particularly great in that patient's literally come straight off the plane at JFK from another country. So, for example, got to diagnose and treat a lady just arrived from Africa with malaria. In general, there is a good balance between autonomy and feeling you have plenty of backup when needed. Sinai does a lot of liver transplants so you get a ton of experience with end stage liver disease. There is a separate service for post-transplant. In terms of private patients, at Sinai, being a large referral center in Manhattan, it has its share but the vast majority of your list is with the service attending.
2. I think trauma center level only matters for ER or surgery residencies.
3. As mentioned by previous poster, they are pretty much separate (mostly IMGs). We do morning report with them and that's about it. At the VA you sometimes work more closely with them when admitting because they can be the medical admitting resident.
4. Moonlighting is allowed as long as you don't violate work duty hours as far as I know. People will occasionally do shifts on hospitalist service, etc.
5. Studios on UES are variable price, would check on Craigslist. I live in a one-bedroom doorman building owned by Sinai thats 3-5min walk from the hospital. Rent is just over 1800/month.
6. I think it's variable how many match to Sinai cardiology from year to year. Agree with other poster, fellowship program has a research and clinical/community track, the former is more difficulty to match to as you usually need significant research experience.
7. New PD going to be announced in next week or so. Dr. Babyatsky is still going to be very involved in program and I think he will still be placing calls for people for fellowships. I think for fellowship though, while the PD letter/call matters, the letter/call from someone in that field likely matters more (i.e. which mentor/letter writer in that field that is going to go to bat for you)
8. Sinai is a very social program. There are lots of events/happy hours that really foster comraderie and a happy atmosphere. Housestaff really is a mix of single/married.
The Sinai housing department is very non-committal with answering these kinds of questions. It seems like they wait until close to end of academic year to essentially take inventory on what's going to be available and match it up with requests from incoming residents. There's a new managment company so not sure if their foresight into what's going to be available come May/June/July is going to get any better.
Good news is that UES has a ton of apartment options outside of Sinai owned properties so if you don't like what they offer you can always go elsewhere.
Thank you so much MSR2! I was getting that feeling but it helps hearing you say it. I guess come March 17th, this may or may not be an issue for me.
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Thanks for answering all of our questions!
How much would an APT outside Sinai housing cost? $1200 for a studio seems pretty cheap already for NYC standards.
I have found this website to be helpful for getting rough prices of upper east side/east harlem.
http://www.citi-habitats.com/byRental.php
http://www.citi-habitats.com/byRental.php
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I did prelim IM some few years ago at Elmhurst. We were the closest hospital to Laguardia (which is a cursed, sucky airport). I never once had a patient straight off the plane from JFK, but 3 or 4 from Laguardia (like the leukemia patient from Colombia - bald from chemo - septic from his rotten teeth; had 13, I think, pulled in the OR by OMFS). That is not to say that it doesn't happen (although Jamaica Hospital is the closest to JFK); it's just possibly one of several things: you meant Laguardia, I was just "lucky", times have changed, or you are just "lucky".
And, although I didn't see malaria, I saw a diplomat (not just a local, run-of-the-mill guy, with no resources, but a higher-up) from Senegal with miliary TB - he looked like he'd been shot with a salt gun. We thought he was going to die, but he didn't. I also had 4 patients from Tibet that year (in Tibetan, "naza" means "pain"); one guy had liver abscesses from Entamoeba histolytica! And, for three of the Tibetans (4th guy was weird), there was a sublime, ethereal peacefulness like which I've not again experienced, simply from entering the room. It was just wonderful.
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I am actually interested in this as well. Can anyone chime in?
How much do residents typically spend on on-call meals at Mount Sinai? Has there been any push for the program to cover this for residents? Since its NYC. I know that NYU doesn't cover it, but I believe Cornell does?
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The lady I was referring to came from Africa through JFK, but the main point is that the diversity of patients at Elmhurst is great with many patients originally from different parts of the world who are living in or recently immigrated to Queens. Supposedly more languages spoken in the zip code where Elmhurst is located than anywhere else in the country.
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Yeah, per the US Department of Commerce, 11373 is it!
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Some more questions for you guys if you don't mind.
1. How early do you guys get there and how late do you stay on call and non-call days? How many hours of sleep do you average a day?
2. As for days off, do you guys have golden weekends, 1 weekend day off per week, or is it just whenever is convenient for the team?
3. If a resident wanted to present at a national or regional conference, is there financial support?
4. Are translators in good supply on the floors and in clinic?
5. Does Mount Sinai have a gym residents can use?
Muchas gracias.
1. How early do you guys get there and how late do you stay on call and non-call days? How many hours of sleep do you average a day?
2. As for days off, do you guys have golden weekends, 1 weekend day off per week, or is it just whenever is convenient for the team?
3. If a resident wanted to present at a national or regional conference, is there financial support?
4. Are translators in good supply on the floors and in clinic?
5. Does Mount Sinai have a gym residents can use?
Muchas gracias.
Hi, thanks for taking the time to answer questions. I'm a current third year, very interested in your program. I've been receiving mixed messages about doing an away rotation at your top program (an opportunity to audition, but also an opportunity to look like a bumbling doof). What has your experience been with visiting students? Is Sinai a hard hospital to acclimate to in a brief, 4 week block?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks very much for organizing this thread. I'm expecting the response to my question to be something like, "Are you out of your mind?", but what the heck.
I'm interviewing at Mt. Sinai for ID and am married with 2 young boys (they'll be 5 and 2.5 by the time I start fellowship). The clinical portion of the training is split between Mt. Sinai, and Elmhurst. In terms of housing, accepting that we will be "cramped" for 2 years, is it realistic to look for housing options in Yonkers, nicer parts of the Bronx, or Queens and deal with commuting (I'll be the one having to suck it up either way), or should I really just think about ranking some other place despite all the great things about Sinai's programs? I'm mentioning these non UES options only because of the hassles I've seen mentioned on this thread with the MS housing department. NYC I know is for the young and single, not the old and married, but if someone wants to offer advice, it would be most appreciated.
Thanks again.
I'm interviewing at Mt. Sinai for ID and am married with 2 young boys (they'll be 5 and 2.5 by the time I start fellowship). The clinical portion of the training is split between Mt. Sinai, and Elmhurst. In terms of housing, accepting that we will be "cramped" for 2 years, is it realistic to look for housing options in Yonkers, nicer parts of the Bronx, or Queens and deal with commuting (I'll be the one having to suck it up either way), or should I really just think about ranking some other place despite all the great things about Sinai's programs? I'm mentioning these non UES options only because of the hassles I've seen mentioned on this thread with the MS housing department. NYC I know is for the young and single, not the old and married, but if someone wants to offer advice, it would be most appreciated.
Thanks again.
You certainly are curious about the program!
1. The schedule really varies and changes between intern year and resident year and depending if you are at Sinai or an affiliate. But your average day at Sinai as an intern is you get in to pre-round starting sometime btw 530-6am (although this depends on number of patients you have and how early in the year it is). Residents come in at 7am for team rounds. On call days one intern is overnight the other goes home somewhere btw 7 and 10 and comes back the next morning to work full day. Post-call intern on weekdays leaves around 830am (PA assigned to team takes over) and on weekends a little later. Sleep on overnight call really depends on night but as an intern is usually little to none.
2. During ward months you have one golden weekend, one Saturday off, one Sunday off, and the 4th weekend is your "black" (long call Saturday so there both days). Would be nice if we could take day off when convenient! haha
3. If you have an abstract/project and you are the one presenting at the conference there are funds available, I think for 1 conference a year.
4. I speak Spanish so I'm not the best to comment on this but it seems like usually people use translator phone when needed though many of the staff or others on team can help translate.
5. Can get discount membership at 92nd Street Y.
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Thanks a ton for putting up with all these questions. Just a major life decision, you know? Hope to see you next year!
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I've asked a couple medical students I know from Sinai and neither of them know anything about him other than the fact that he is in Pulm/CC. If any of the residents could chime it, it'd be much appreciated.
The housestaff is familiar with Dr. Lorin because he is one of the MICU attendings. He is also the program director for the Pulm/Critical Care fellowship at Sinai so he has administrative experience. He has a reputation as an outstanding teacher. I think he is a straight shooter who will go to bat for residents. Seems like a fun guy as well. Had a meeting with all the residents already and has some good ideas on how to continue to improve an already great program. Overall, I think he's a great pick.
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I know this is getting to be very close to ROLs being due. I would just like to ask for reassurance:
1) How is the working environment at Sinai, between residents and with attendings? I come from the South where everyone is very friendly and supportive and I'd like to go a program where people are positive and happy.
2) All rumors aside, what is the actual situation with nursing staff? How many blood draws do you have to do in a week? EKGs? Transport? Does it get in the way of patient management when interns have to do these things?
3) How do you feel about not having an ICU experience in PGY-1?
Thank you for your time.
1) How is the working environment at Sinai, between residents and with attendings? I come from the South where everyone is very friendly and supportive and I'd like to go a program where people are positive and happy.
2) All rumors aside, what is the actual situation with nursing staff? How many blood draws do you have to do in a week? EKGs? Transport? Does it get in the way of patient management when interns have to do these things?
3) How do you feel about not having an ICU experience in PGY-1?
Thank you for your time.
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It cracks me up that lots of people (MSSM and otherwise) have answered questions here, but not the OP who was "happy to help!"
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I recieved a note last friday from mount sinai about the community-track. Did they send it to everyone...or just folks they are planning on ranking...
I got one. Don't they only have like 3 spots?
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i didn't receive that email, but I did get an email from one of my interviewers and dr. babyatsky saying that they felt mt.sinai was a good fit for me and that i would do well there. no explicit language saying i'm ranked to match, but overall positive.
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Hi Swagger,
Did you receive this email out of the blue or was it in response to something you sent them? Just curious? Anybody else get feedback like that...unprovoked?
i sent them a thank you note back in november when i interviewed, but this most recent email just came out of the blue last week.
1. It's great. The attendings are all usually very supportive. The environment in general is very friendly, supportive, and laid-back. It's one of the few things that separates Sinai from the other NYC programs.
2. The only times I do blood draws are when I need to know the results as soon as possible. For routine draws, never. For most other important draws but that I don't need to know right away, also never. However, for crashing patients, I'll need to do it, but it's usually in combination with an ABG which I'll have to do anyway. I've never once done an EKG. The only times I need to transport is if it's a critical patient that the nurse does not feel comfortable transporting by herself (some ICU patients). So the time spent doing these things is minimal. I've heard it's very different in some of the other NYC places.
3. Hard to say because I don't have anything to compare it to. Plus there are going to be lots of changes in the scheduling for next year. A lot of the floor patients are ICU-candidate patients anyway (intubated, on pressors), so there's never a lack of dealing with critical issues.
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Interested in the same!
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Hi!
I am currently in 4th Year in a 5 year program (IMG). I am interested in Mount Sinai's IM Residency.
1) I wanna know if doing an observership at Mount Sinai will help me in getting a residency at Mount Sinai.
2) What generally are Mount Sinai's IM Program Directors looking for in an application?
Thanks a lot.
I am currently in 4th Year in a 5 year program (IMG). I am interested in Mount Sinai's IM Residency.
1) I wanna know if doing an observership at Mount Sinai will help me in getting a residency at Mount Sinai.
2) What generally are Mount Sinai's IM Program Directors looking for in an application?
Thanks a lot.
