I live in NYC and have never needed a car. However, I keep hearing that we will need them once we get to third year. Since this is a big financial decision, I thought I'd ask those of you who've been through 3rd year and beyond, whether or not you really needed a car. Since all the hospitals I'd be training at are within reach of public transportation, the only reason I can think of to have one is that I might be getting out of the hospital at odd hours of the night when it would be unsafe to take public transportation. Would you please comment on the times of day or night you found yourself venturing home? I know hours are different for different rotations. Thanks in advance!!
Don't know the specifics of "3rd Year" requirements, but taxis run 24 hours in NYC, my sister has lived there for 2 years without a car (she loaned it to me) and has had no problem whatsoever, she travels quite a bit and often needs taxis in the wee hours of the morning and has had no problems. She wouldn't use public transportation,subway or bus, in the AM hours for safety reasons. Cars are a pain to park in NY!!!
rubyness, are you at Downstate? That's the only school i've heard of students needing cars (b/c of leaving Flatbush in the middle of the night).
Can any NYCOM 3rd or 4th year students reply to this?? Whether you lived near to the campus for the first two year and then moved closer to public transport for the Clinical rotations? WOuld be very interested to know whether a car is really needed even around the NYCOM campus.
Thanks for your responses...yes, I'm at Downstate. The thing is in Brooklyn, there isn't access to cabs like there is in Manhattan. We can take car services here, but it costs a lot (for me about $20/ride) and the drivers are somewhat non-reliable--if you call a car you will be waiting and waiting if they show at all. And there are drivers who walk around in front of the hospital asking if you want a ride, but to be honest they don't look especially trustworthy. I don't know if they're affiliated with actual companies or if they're just driving their own cars about... in the middle of the night after a long shift I don't want to have to worry about who is safe to ride with and who isn't.
Doc_hubby, I'm a fourth year graduating (yea!) from NYCOM. You really do need a car all four years. There is no housing on campus, and most people live in surrounding areas near school the first 2 years and commute to school. I had a housemate who for a year didn't have a car and he either took the bus or bummed a ride, but it was REALLY inconvenient. You need a car to get around Long Island. As for the 3rd and 4th years, I moved into Queens for those and still needed my car. We have hospital affiliates in some not-so-nice parts of the city, and you really don't want to use public transportation around those parts (i.e. south bronx). We're not like some of the university-based programs that have a central hospital within walking distance of campus. We have tons of affiliated hospitals which I think is a total advantage in that you get lots of different experiences in hospitals, neighborhoods, patient populations, etc. Hope this info helps. Good luck next year!!!
Kellishka, Thanks for the info. It really helps. You wouldn't happen to know any APEP participants at NYCOM would you? It's the special program for IMG's. My wife is applying for the APEP and we are looking for current students to get feedback from. Thanks again!!
Doc_hubby- you're welcome, and best of luck next year. There are a lot of APEP students at NYCOM, but I'm not close with any of them. Maybe if you put a separate post on this site looking for fellow APEP's, you'd get a response. There have to be a few of them surfing this site! Good luck!
