poopy356 said:
I have looked around this board alot, but i havent really seen much about NYU. I was hoping somebody could tell me a bit about it. It seems like it would be an upper tier school (as per NIH grants), but then again..i don't know. So, throw some pros and cons my way about NYU's program and additionally if you got it, how about westchester (valhalla), just had the PD come give a talk and she seemed pretty nice...
I've been browsing this site for the past few yrs, and even used it when interviewing a few yrs back. I agree that there is VERY little info on NYU's anesthesia program, and as a result there are a lot of rumors and reputations that linger on. I'm midway through residency, and I want to give my perspective on the program.
Whether Tisch or Bellevue, I come in at 6:30 am to set the rooms up. AT Bellevue 7-8 am there is morning conference with Dr. Capan where the anesthetic management of a case is discussed. At Tisch there there is no am conference so OR starts at ~7:15 am. The day ends ~4-4:30 pm at Bellevue (the on call team arrives), and 4:30-5:30 pm at Tisch (depending on how busy the OR is. After that, I check the next day's schedule, and see any preops. Usually at Bellevue most patients are Same day admits or Ambulatory Surg so preops are light. Tisch tends to have sicker & older pts, so there is usually 1-2 preops to do. At Bellevue I leave work ~4:30, and at Tisch ~5:30. Keep in mind that Tisch is a busier place so there are a few time ~1/mo where you may get out at 6:30-7 pm after seeing your preops! This almost never happens at Bellevue b/c the on call team arrives at 4pm to relieve you.
Our Call schedule is very experience dependant. All CA1 start w/ Jr call. At Bellevue you are part of a team, so you split all the easier cases with the other Jr on call. At Tisch you are the only Jr call, so during the day you do all the add on preops, and starting at 11pm you take over any cases still running (complex cases like cardiac or peds are covered by either a senior resident or a attending on late call). Overall Bellevue call can be very easy. Jrs on call can usually count on sleeping after midnight. Tisch is very "hit or miss". There were days that I slept in the call room all day and night, and there were days I did preops nonstop till 11pm when I had to go to the OR. Once you do OB you start taking only OB call which can make you calls crapy for the first half of your CA2 yr. Once again Tisch is busier than Bellevue. At Tisch expect to be busy most of the night sectioning or placing epidurals. During my 6 wks there I placed >100 epidurals. Bellevuve is very chill, During the day you may do one section, and one epidural all day! Once you finish all you specialty rotations, you take senior call where to do only the most complex cases (i.e. cardiac, peds, or trauma). As a 3rd yr at Bellevue you do Team Captain call where you act as Attending supervising the residents in the OR, PACU , and OB. The Attending is in house but realistically its your show!
As far as the cases that we do, Tisch as a tremendous amount of Neuro, and their pediatric cases are rapidly increasing. There are bread & butter cases in day surgery, but in the main OR we do everything except heart/lung transplant. At Bellevue there is a a lot of opportunity to use the Fiberoptic scope, Wu Scope, or even practice retrograde intubations. Over the past year our dept has become very interested in the use of ultrasound to perform nerve blocks. Currently we use the ultrasound to perform unilateral & Bilateral infraclavicular brachial plexus blocks, interscalene blks, cervical plexus blks, popliteal, and femoral blks. We also use ultrasound for difficult central line and a-line placement.
The residents at NYU are great, most of us are laid back, and we often hang out together away from work. There's usually a happy hr 1/mo sponsored by drug reps, and every fall and spring the residents and attendings play golf together. I must also mention that most of the comments concerning Dr. Blanck is correct. He has done wonders to change the academics & environment at this program. He is very approachable, and easy to talk with. He does take time to show up some of the happy hrs, and to play golf with the attendings/residents.
There are downsides to our NYU's program. For one, its not as prestigious as Colombia, Cornell, Mt Sinai. Our hospitals are not as nice. Tisch is old, and the ORs are very tiny. Imagine working in a space not much larger than a walk in closet! Bellevue is a little better, but you have to deal with older equipment, and less supplies. Another downside of our program is the calls. The call schedule is so dependant on when you do your specialty rotations. If you happen to do OB during your Ca1 yr, most of your calls from that point will by OB. If your doing OB-tisch, you will be working harder than someone doing Jr call at Bellevue. So, for those who do OB late in thier CA2 yr, their calls have only been Jr-Bellevue, and thus their year is much easier! The cheif residents this yr were good at trying to equal out the schedule so those of us who did OB early can revert back to Jr- Bellevue call. Also, at NYU we take more call as we become more senior, simply b/c we are eligible for different types of call (during a 3 wk blk I'm on call 4 time). Our call rooms also leave alot to be desired. As far as NYU's reputation as a malignant program, I really don't see that. I think the hr are average for other places. There are attendings who would rather yell first and ask questions later, but in my experience, as you become more senior they leave you alone. Its also well known that certain attendings who have a reputation as abusive do not have residents assigned to them. There are also a lot of younger attendings who have been hire who are easy going.
I hope this sheds so light on NYU's anesthesia program. I had the same questions when I was applying. I must tell you that NYU was my first choice, so I'm sure there are biases. If there are any questions, please post them, and I will try to respond to them ASAP.
