Hey Radioh3ad and madonna,
Downstate pushes a lot of anatomy, supposedly more than average schools. We're just finishing up our musculoskeletal block, and I have to say it's been quite intense (supposedly head & neck is worse, but I can tell you all about it in a month or so..) Yes, we are assigned eight people per cadaver here, but we're divided into two groups of four and we alternate dissections - which means you'll do about two or three labs a weeks with your group. Although actually doing the dissection is an important learning process, you'll quickly find that most of the learning is done after that particular section of the body has been dissected. Dissection can be a rather tedious and tiring procedure (a lot of skinning, defatting, and cleaning..) Before each lab however, we always have about a 1/2 hour cross-over period where both groups will be present together to review structures or participate in tags which the instructors have placed for us on the cadavers. The labs are open 24/7 which means you're free to be in there, and any of the other labs, to practice and review as much as you like whenever you like. That's when the learning really happens. The lab professors are quite amazing really. They rotate through the different labs for each block or half block. From what I see, they are all very passionate about teaching anatomy. I wasn't as impressed with the genes-to-cells lecturers, but that's a pretty dry block to start with.
As for East Flatbush, well it's no wonderland. But if you'd rather live somewhere pleasant, there are places like Park Slope, Prospect Heights, or Carrol Gardens not too far away (just to name a few). I live in Park Slope and it takes me 25 minutes to get here by subway or 15 minutes by bicycle. I strongly recommend not living in East Flatbush if you're the type that needs to get away from the med school environment at the end of the day. There are probably about 40% of us first-years who don't live on campus, and that number increases (not surprisingly) after the first year. However if you want to live here, make sure you send in your housing application early so you won't have to deal with being shuffled around. From what I hear, there are always housing options, but they might not be the ones you want. The pros of living here are:
1. you can roll out of bed and go to lecture (and then roll back into bed)
2. you can access the labs easily
3. you live closely with your peers (..not necessarily a good thing i guess)
and that's probably about it.
Finally, there are a great number of people from all over the US representing numerous cultures here. Downstate prides itself on its student diversity, so you can be sure that there is a huge contingency from CA
And for any of you out-of-staters: it's pretty easy to switch to NY in-state residential status after the first year. There's nothing as sweet as being able to pay your entire tuition with your credit card.
Well, I hope that's helped. Tell me if there's anything else you'd like to know. Good luck!
N