I really applied to Stony Brook on a whim as an OOS student and received an II yesterday! I totally did not expect to get one, so I am wondering if you could help me with why Stony Brook. I did an internship at MSKCC 2 summers ago, which is mainly why I applied to SB because I love New York. I know SB is a big research school, but I feel as if that cannot be my only reason for wanting to go to SB. Any and all advice would be great!
1) Major academic institution with residency/fellowship programs in nearly every specialty/subspecialty. I think there is everything now except except for transplant/CT surgery, maybe dedicated IR, and perhaps some other very small surgical subspecialties. This means there is ample opportunity to do research in any field, and you can do all or most of your rotations at the university medical center...so plenty of opportunity to build connections in whichever field you decide to pursue. Will be very important for getting letters, etc., when applying to residency.
Edit: sorry, there are all these fields (no transplant though), and you can even rotate through chest surgery, for example. I just mean no explicit fellowships there.
2) Dynamic curriculum - can read about it on the website. Stony Brook is very forward-looking in terms of curriculum and willing to make changes if the evidence shows it works. For example, now students here take step 1 after clerkships--big jump in avg score. All unit exams (except for anatomy, at least when I took it) are computerized NBME-style exams (old nbme test questions). Extremely good prep for shelf exams and step 1/2. Also hammers home what the nbme really believes to be the most important knowledge. Also, overall great courses, good mix of small group pbl, etc.
3) reasonable clerkship schedules...really no weekends or 24-hr call nonsense
4) some ridiculously dedicated, knowledgable, helpful, and talented faculty in the dean's office.
5) can go anywhere from sbu for residency. A lot of students also stay at Stony Brook because it's a great hospital.
6) Stony Brook and surrounding villages (three village area, can look it up) are extremely nice. All median incomes $100,000+, very safe, movie theater, restaurants, Port Jeff beach town, etc. However, there is still a great mix of patients, from the ultra-wealthy to the impoverished/uninsured.
7) patient population is interesting and diverse. Many poor people, also many minorities (moreso Hispanic than black) but also a large amount of "blue collar" working people, firemen, construction, etc. Very rewarding to work with. Much different than what I saw working in NYC during undergrad.
8) start seeing real patients every few weeks maybe half-way through first year if I remember correctly. As part of the ICM course. And there are constant clinical skills center OSCEs through the years, so great prep for step 2 CS. I didn't even feel like I had to study for that.
9) MS4 electives are so varied, and you can basically do whatever you want if it's available.
