bottom tier programs

[4424]

---

Members don't see this ad.

ASIDE FROM LOCATION, does anyone have anything particular that separates these 3 programs for ranking?

1. st vincents manhattan
2. st vincents brooklyn/queens (nymc b/q)
3. nassau (long island)

thank you

 

[plasticbuddy]

I can only compare St. V's manhattan vs. Nassau

these are questions I always ask myself on the interview day....

RESIDENTS HAPPY?
St. V's Manhattan: I got a good impression, they seemed friendly - one girl was going to Mass eye and ear for retina & another to NYU for medical retina, Dr. Rosberger & others seem very supportive and really friendly

Nassau: mediocre... residents didn't seem happy about driving all over the place and for most you could sense it wasn't where they wanted to be, a couple seemed outright miserable including one 3rd year who was going straight to private practice.

DECENT FELLOWSHIPS?
St. V's Manhattan: shockingly yes! i couldn't believe that they had sent multiple residents to mass eye and ear and other good programs. I was pretty impressed they did this despite their poor reputation - residents stated the attendings seriously go to bat for them while applying for fellowship

Nassau: they seemed OK, they have a connection w/Dr. Lopez from Columbia for retina but beyond that... I think this is mainly for future private practice docs.

PROBATION?
St. V's Manhattan: Yes on probation, they don't have basic electroretionography stuff
Nassau: no, not on probation... but they don't even have an OCTIII (yikes!!)

DIDACTICS?
St. V's Manhattan: seems mediocre to good
Nassau: seems poor to mediocre...

LIKELIHOOD OF HAVING FUN:
St. V's Manhattan: huge likelihood, right in the village... great location and your vehicle when you do have to go out to staten island is provided. call seemed fairly chill and attendings seemed supportive

Nassau: not likely at all, LI is so freaking boring if you are in your mid 20s and not married.

NAME/REPUTATION?
both are seen as not the greatest.... the good thing about St. V's tho is that you can get hooked up with other top names in the city doing research etc to build your CV

My 2 cents:
OVERALL, I think you'd have to be a masochist to chose nassau over St. V's regardless of probation. You are going to have a blast in NYC and have a better chance of a solid fellowship.

 

[4424]

plastic buddy. thank you very much, i really appreciated that info. that was hugely helpful and informative!!

anyone else's thoughts with b/q?

 

[lilybriscoe]

I can only compare St. V's manhattan vs. Nassau

these are questions I always ask myself on the interview day....

RESIDENTS HAPPY?
St. V's Manhattan: I got a good impression, they seemed friendly - one girl was going to Mass eye and ear for retina & another to NYU for medical retina, Dr. Rosberger & others seem very supportive and really friendly

Nassau: mediocre... residents didn't seem happy about driving all over the place and for most you could sense it wasn't where they wanted to be, a couple seemed outright miserable including one 3rd year who was going straight to private practice.

DECENT FELLOWSHIPS?
St. V's Manhattan: shockingly yes! i couldn't believe that they had sent multiple residents to mass eye and ear and other good programs. I was pretty impressed they did this despite their poor reputation - residents stated the attendings seriously go to bat for them while applying for fellowship

Nassau: they seemed OK, they have a connection w/Dr. Lopez from Columbia for retina but beyond that... I think this is mainly for future private practice docs.

PROBATION?
St. V's Manhattan: Yes on probation, they don't have basic electroretionography stuff
Nassau: no, not on probation... but they don't even have an OCTIII (yikes!!)

DIDACTICS?
St. V's Manhattan: seems mediocre to good
Nassau: seems poor to mediocre...

LIKELIHOOD OF HAVING FUN:
St. V's Manhattan: huge likelihood, right in the village... great location and your vehicle when you do have to go out to staten island is provided. call seemed fairly chill and attendings seemed supportive

Nassau: not likely at all, LI is so freaking boring if you are in your mid 20s and not married.

NAME/REPUTATION?
both are seen as not the greatest.... the good thing about St. V's tho is that you can get hooked up with other top names in the city doing research etc to build your CV

My 2 cents:
OVERALL, I think you'd have to be a masochist to chose nassau over St. V's regardless of probation. You are going to have a blast in NYC and have a better chance of a solid fellowship.

Great post, plasticbuddy! I totally agree. I also interviewed at both St. V's and Nassau because my husband wanted to live in NYC for work.
Nassau has all the classic warning signs about a program: only get to meet one resident, faculty ask gender-related questions ("when ya gonna have a baby?"), interview day is totally disorganized. And the non-classic warning signs: eye clinic is in a trailer, faculty member interviews in hunting cap and jacket, only have enough lunch for half of the applicants. I think the other points have been nicely summarized above.
As far as St. Vincent's, my big concerns were travelling between multiple different hospitals, the hospital of St. Vincent's being bankrupt, the low surgical numbers driving some residents to seek extra surgeries abroad and the probabtion.
In summary, I did not rank Nassau and ranked St. Vincent's last.

 

[iserg]

The above are all good points about St. Vincent's Manhattan vs. NUMC, but I had a different opinion after interviewing.

To me, NUMC seemed structurally more sound. It has a busy clinic and the residents seemed to get along pretty well. No doubt, the physical plant was not pretty, but I think it's worth the trade if one gets to see a lot of pathology.

More importantly, I preferred that NUMC is associated with a VA hospital and with SUNY Stony Brook. To me, having a VA is key. Would you rather have to spend a few months in India just to get your cataract numbers?

Also, they take four residents per year, which I think makes for a nicer program compared to 2/year. With more residents, there is more personal variation, and the work load / call schedule can be spread out more comfortably.

Finally, the didactics I think are in Manhattan, some at MEETH and some at NYEE. This seems pretty good, although one would have to make the effort to drive into Manhattan once a week.

To me, NUMC seems like the better choice than St. Vin Manhattan.

Just my viewpoint.

 

[4424]

The above are all good points about St. Vincent's Manhattan vs. NUMC, but I had a different opinion after interviewing.

To me, NUMC seemed structurally more sound. It has a busy clinic and the residents seemed to get along pretty well. No doubt, the physical plant was not pretty, but I think it's worth the trade if one gets to see a lot of pathology.

More importantly, I preferred that NUMC is associated with a VA hospital and with SUNY Stony Brook. To me, having a VA is key. Would you rather have to spend a few months in India just to get your cataract numbers?

Also, they take four residents per year, which I think makes for a nicer program compared to 2/year. With more residents, there is more personal variation, and the work load / call schedule can be spread out more comfortably.

Finally, the didactics I think are in Manhattan, some at MEETH and some at NYEE. This seems pretty good, although one would have to make the effort to drive into Manhattan once a week.

To me, NUMC seems like the better choice than St. Vin Manhattan.

Just my viewpoint.

good points as well. st vincents b/q takes 2/yr but st vincents manhattan has 3. all 3 of them participate in the greater ny lectures on wed evenings so in that respect they are the same. b/q seeemed to have the best numbers (150 cataracts + new hospital affiliation so potential for more) prob because they only take 2/yr.

any other opinions?