Mount Sinai

[WilsonCrohn]

If anyone has any questions regarding the workload, match lists, research, comparisons to other hospitals, etc. feel free to post it here. I'll try my best to answer it as a current resident.

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[disorder]

If anyone has any questions regarding the workload, match lists, research, comparisons to other hospitals, etc. feel free to post it here. I'll try my best to answer it as a current resident.

Any misgivings about the program (ie anything you would change)?
How's the ancillary staff at Sinai?
How's mentorship and research opportunities?
Why'd you choose Sinai?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

Any misgivings about the program (ie anything you would change)?

If you asked me this a couple of years ago I would probably have more to say. There have been a lot of changes for the better that were made during this time. I think one change that I would make would be to include a MICU month during intern year, as most other hospitals do.

How's the ancillary staff at Sinai?

It's always interesting when people ask this question because of all the rumors that go around for NYC hospitals (especially in these forums). Maybe times have changed or maybe it's different in other hospitals. I've never once voluntarily drawn blood. The only times I needed to were if the nurse could not get it, in which I would do an arterial stick. If blood draws occurred at random times, I would frequently have to be on top of things and call the nurse to draw the blood, but that's it. I've never transported a patient on my own - I would sometimes have to accompany transport for a critically ill patient. I've never once did an EKG on my own, except in med school.

How's mentorship and research opportunities?

I've found both mentorship and research opportunities easy to find. You get paired up with a mentor during your first year, someone who may or may not be in the same field you're looking into. Once you're in the program here, it's also easy to find a mentor who's in the same field and usually it's someone pretty prominent (at least in GI and cardiology). I have not heard of one person really struggle to find research, there's plenty of it going on.

Why'd you choose Sinai?

Location was a big factor (NYC, right next to Central Park, close to the subway). The people here were down to earth, both residents and leadership, which was not the case at other NY programs. Also, of the two specialties I was interested in when applying (GI and cardiology), Sinai has the strongest GI program and a very strong cardiology program (traditionally Columbia was the strongest but not sure if that's still the case).

 

[anya1207]

Thanks for offering to answer our questions! Is Sinai looking to move to the block (+1/+2) scheduling that many other programs have been doing?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

Thanks for offering to answer our questions! Is Sinai looking to move to the block (+1/+2) scheduling that many other programs have been doing?

Not that I'm aware of.

 

[Cardiologist2Be]

If anyone has any questions regarding the workload, match lists, research, comparisons to other hospitals, etc. feel free to post it here. I'll try my best to answer it as a current resident.

Thank you! I have sent several emails to the PD/ coordinator re: interview invitation but have not heard back. I consider myself to be a competitive applicant and have gotten offers from all the tier 1 and 2 schools that I applied to. I was suprised not to hear from Mt Sinai. Do you know Mt. Sinai has been sending invites out and if they still are?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

Thank you! I have sent several emails to the PD/ coordinator re: interview invitation but have not heard back. I consider myself to be a competitive applicant and have gotten offers from all the tier 1 and 2 schools that I applied to. I was suprised not to hear from Mt Sinai. Do you know Mt. Sinai has been sending invites out and if they still are?

A lot of it is luck. It's difficult to get interviews at every place, even if you're competitive. It's getting late in the season in terms of interviews, so I would guess they aren't really giving out more unless people cancel. But this is just a guess since I'm not involved in the process.

 

[LovelyBRass]

Do you ever carry more than the 10-patient cap? I have heard of interns carrying as many as almost 20 patients over at their Elmhurst rotation (don't want to be too specific about whom I heard this from - sorry).

 

[disorder]

It's always interesting when people ask this question because of all the rumors that go around for NYC hospitals (especially in these forums). Maybe times have changed or maybe it's different in other hospitals. I've never once voluntarily drawn blood. The only times I needed to were if the nurse could not get it, in which I would do an arterial stick. If blood draws occurred at random times, I would frequently have to be on top of things and call the nurse to draw the blood, but that's it. I've never transported a patient on my own - I would sometimes have to accompany transport for a critically ill patient. I've never once did an EKG on my own, except in med school.

Yeah, I ask because I don't want to spend my time in residency doing someone else's job. It's fine to do it as a med student.

Are there care coordinators/discharge planners and/or pharmacists that round with the teams? I understand every program will have a certain amount of social work, but how much are the residents involved in having to do this?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

Do you ever carry more than the 10-patient cap? I have heard of interns carrying as many as almost 20 patients over at their Elmhurst rotation (don't want to be too specific about whom I heard this from - sorry).

At Sinai, if you are on general medicine, you almost never reach the 10 patient cap. It certainly is possible, but probably only happens to 2-3 interns each year. I would say the average size of the team on general medicine is 10-15 patients. Teams generally have 2 interns who split up these patients (if there is 1 intern, which rarely happens but sometimes does, the cap is 10 for that team). Additionally, many months there is a sub-i who takes 3-5 patients, which are managed with the resident and not the intern. So per intern, usually it's about 6-7 patients, and if there's a sub-i, can be much less.

On specialty at Sinai, the intern can often cap at 10 patients because teams only consist of 1 intern. This is especially true on oncology since there is slow turnover.

At Elmhurst, it is possible for a team to have over 10 patients (the most I ever had was 15 or so). Work is supposed to be divided between the intern and resident, so if there is a patient list greater than 10, the resident is supposed to write daily notes and take care of those patients by themselves. Also, only one admission note needs to be written between the intern and resident, so if the list is long, the resident may instead just do new admissions to help out. The acuity of patients is usually much less with the majority of patients being discharged in 1-2 days. Additionally, if patients only have dispo issues left, they are made alternate level of care in which notes only need to be written a couple of days per week (there is no real non-teaching service at Elmhurst). There is much greater turnover (usually ends up being around 80 patient admissions and discharges per month). It's busy and you become very efficient. Despite this, before the new work hour rules, teams would be leaving 3-4 PM, if that tells you how the overall workload is.

 

[WilsonCrohn]

Yeah, I ask because I don't want to spend my time in residency doing someone else's job. It's fine to do it as a med student.

Are there care coordinators/discharge planners and/or pharmacists that round with the teams? I understand every program will have a certain amount of social work, but how much are the residents involved in having to do this?

They don't round with the team, but you have interdisciplinary meetings each day. Interns and residents do minimal work for this. The social workers for the most part are all great at Sinai. If there are any issues regarding dispo or social issues, those patients are transferred to the non-teaching service and off your list.

 

[WilsonCrohn]

If anyone is curious about this year's match list:

Allergy/Immunology
Brigham

Cardiology
Boston University
Georgetown
Monte
Northwestern
NYU
Sinai-IT
Sinai-UC
Sinai-UC
Sinai-UC
Sinai-UC
UCLA
UMass
UT Southwestern
Winthrop

Endocrine
NYU

Gastroenterology
Baylor
Brown
MSKCC
Monte
NYU
NYU
Sinai
Sinai
Sinai
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UCSF
U of Miami
U Penn
U Penn
Yale

Hematology-Oncology
MSKCC
UCSF
Yale

Infectious Disease
Cornell
Sinai

Pulm/Critical Care
Sinai

Renal
Sinai

 

[darkelven29]

How many of the hem/onc match are fast track? I know they have a research track to both home institution, Sloan Kettering, and possibly other institutions (this I'm not sure)?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

How many of the hem/onc match are fast track? I know they have a research track to both home institution, Sloan Kettering, and possibly other institutions (this I'm not sure)?

Only 1, to UCSF. Last year both fast trackers went to MSKCC.

 

[Med85]

hi, current IM applicant here and very interested in mount sinai. i'm grateful to have seen this thread. i have 2 main questions regarding the program:

1. for the fast track pathway at sinai, is the program the same as the ABIM research pathway? i'm a little confused about how residents can go to other places like MSKCC and UCSF for fellowship because i thought you're generally supposed to stay at your home institution for 2 years for IM residency and then 4 years for whatever fellowship you decide on. is mount sinai pretty encouraging even for residents who just stay for 2 years and then do fellowship elsewhere? it doesn't seem like other programs encourage this. also, is there an official arrangement with MSKCC for heme-onc fellowship for the research pathway at mount sinai? this is the first time i've ever heard about it, but if so, that is pretty interesting. would the heme-onc faculty at sinai be "offended" if one would rather go to MSKCC?

2. i'm also curious about the lack of an ICU month during intern year. do you feel that when you do ICU as a second year it's more overwhelming or that your overall training is shortchanged by a little bit? is there a specific educational reason for this or does it just have to do with scheduling and staffing?

thanks so much, i appreciate it!

 

[WilsonCrohn]

hi, current IM applicant here and very interested in mount sinai. i'm grateful to have seen this thread. i have 2 main questions regarding the program:

1. for the fast track pathway at sinai, is the program the same as the ABIM research pathway? i'm a little confused about how residents can go to other places like MSKCC and UCSF for fellowship because i thought you're generally supposed to stay at your home institution for 2 years for IM residency and then 4 years for whatever fellowship you decide on. is mount sinai pretty encouraging even for residents who just stay for 2 years and then do fellowship elsewhere? it doesn't seem like other programs encourage this. also, is there an official arrangement with MSKCC for heme-onc fellowship for the research pathway at mount sinai? this is the first time i've ever heard about it, but if so, that is pretty interesting. would the heme-onc faculty at sinai be "offended" if one would rather go to MSKCC?

2. i'm also curious about the lack of an ICU month during intern year. do you feel that when you do ICU as a second year it's more overwhelming or that your overall training is shortchanged by a little bit? is there a specific educational reason for this or does it just have to do with scheduling and staffing?

thanks so much, i appreciate it!

I don't know the specific details for fast tracking and research pathways. Fast trackers do 2 years at Sinai, and then fellowship for 4 years, wherever that is. There is no official arrangement that I know of between Sinai and MSKCC, but many fast trackers interested in heme-onc end up there since it's one of the better places for fellowship in NYC. From what I know, spots are in essence guaranteed at Sinai but you are allowed to apply to other places after intern year, and many people do (although most end up staying).

As for the MICU, I don't think it's overwhelming, but I do think it would be educationally beneficial to have MICU during intern year, especially since it's common to have vented patients or patients on pressors on the floors. I don't know the decision behind it and why CCU is done during first year but MICU isn't. It does make the MICU rotation easier, however, to have only second years because you can divide all of the patients and admissions in half, as opposed to taking half of the patients and still overseeing the other half. It may change at some point because there are now fellows in house 24 hours, but there are no plans to do so in the near future.

 

[msVII]

Hi,

Thanks for all of the great info. Could you talk a little bit about where residents live and about how much they pay? (I'm worried about how difficult it may be to live in NYC on a resident's salary...) Thanks!

 

[WilsonCrohn]

Hi,

Thanks for all of the great info. Could you talk a little bit about where residents live and about how much they pay? (I'm worried about how difficult it may be to live in NYC on a resident's salary...) Thanks!

Most residents live in Sinai housing. There are a lot of great options. If you are not from NYC, you will be surprised by the price, it is by no means cheap. Usually it ranges from $1200-1700 a month for a studio or 1 BR, more for a 2 BR. It is somewhat subsidized. Other people are able to find better deals in the near vicinity. Some people prefer to live downtown, the west side, or in the other boroughs (Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn). It seems difficult to do so, especially during intern year, but many people are able to do so with no problems.

I remember when interviewing for residency that many people brought up the housing cost issue. I would not worry about that at all, whether thinking about Sinai or any NYC hospital. The salaries are usually higher than other places (including California) to make up for this difference and it is very easy to live in NYC, enjoy the city, pay your debt, etc. with the salary provided. Just don't expect to save up that much to purchase a house when you graduate.

 

[darkelven29]

I have a quick question. I remember the MICU only had two isolation beds, and the rest just have a screen. Have you ever run out of ICU isolation beds?

 

[RainerMaria]

How many packs of ramen noodle do MSSM residents eat per week to start paying off their debt? Is shrimp really the best flavor?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

I have a quick question. I remember the MICU only had two isolation beds, and the rest just have a screen. Have you ever run out of ICU isolation beds?

Do you mean airborne isolation? All of the beds are contact isolation in the MICU, but I think only 1 or 2 airborne isolation. Usually this isn't an issue, but overall the MICU beds in general are in short supply and many MICU-type patients end up staying on the floors.

 

[WilsonCrohn]

How many packs of ramen noodle do MSSM residents eat per week to start paying off their debt? Is shrimp really the best flavor?

Shin Ramyun noodles, the choice of college and med school students.

 

[Tomodachi123]

The match list looks pretty good. Thanks WC.

 

[darkelven29]

I'm trying to understand the dept. leadership changes if someone could explain, it took a while to piece together the history, let us know if there's inaccuracies here.

So in fall 2010, Dr. Babyatsky (GI doc and program director) was named chairman, then he left the position in June 2012, Dr. Murphy (nephro) was acting chair and now the chairwoman. What was the reason for Dr. Bayatsky's leaving? He's a big shoe to fill?

Dr. Scott Lorin was replaced as the program director from 2011-2012, how come he decided not to continue as program director? Is he still active in teaching residents?

 

[WilsonCrohn]

I'm trying to understand the dept. leadership changes if someone could explain, it took a while to piece together the history, let us know if there's inaccuracies here.

So in fall 2010, Dr. Babyatsky (GI doc and program director) was named chairman, then he left the position in June 2012, Dr. Murphy (nephro) was acting chair and now the chairwoman. What was the reason for Dr. Bayatsky's leaving? He's a big shoe to fill?

Dr. Scott Lorin was replaced as the program director from 2011-2012, how come he decided not to continue as program director? Is he still active in teaching residents?

That's accurate. I'm sure there were behind-the-scene reasons as to why these changes were made. Dr. Babyatsky initially went on temporary medical leave and then decided to step down a couple of months later. None of the residents know the exact details of this, but it was an unfortunate loss as he was loved by the entire program. I am not familiar with the details surrounding Dr. Lorin's departure (although he is still at Sinai and involved with the residents), but have heard rumors that Dr. Cilmi, the current PD, was the department's pick even before Dr. Lorin was selected but only became available this year. Whether this is true or not I do not know. Regardless of the reason, the timing was done before the start of the interview season so that the applicants would not have to worry about an unannounced new PD that would be selected after match lists go in, as some other programs have done in the past.

 

[darkelven29]

Thank you for all the responses! Really helpful.