Mt Sinai Beth Israel IM residency - Question and possible warning for those ranking

[publius87]

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping to get some thoughts of those who interviewed at Mt Sinai BI and/or are familiar with the big changes in their health system (specifically the closing of their hospital and transition to a 70 bed hospital by sometime in 2021, with a shift to make an outpatient heavy IM residency). I have mixed feelings from my interview day and hoping I could get some thoughts from you guys.

During the interview day the PD assured us that the IM residency program will continue despite the changes. Speaking to the chiefs and residents, they never brought up any concerns and had nothing but amazing things to say. I'm specifically interested in heme-onc and really like that a good number of their residents enter heme-onc fellowship. I overall had a great vibe up until my interview which was at the end of the day. I really hit it off with my interviewer (a young medicine attending) who at the end of the interview brought up the changes going on at BI. He told me from his point of view there is a lot of "uncertainty", that if I'm not okay with uncertainty then "I should pick a better program if I have other options." I specifically asked if my ability to see complex patients would be effected during my training and while he assured that they still see complex patients at BI, he wasn't able to guarantee they will keep coming to them in the future.

Leaving the interview day, I obviously felt very uneasy. At this time they are extremely low on my rank list but I wanted to reach out to see other's experiences before I finalize my list. Like I said, despite what that attending told me (which could just be a disgruntled doc), this program really fits everything I look for (amazing location, large city, diverse patient population, friendly and amazing residents, PD, and staff, good heme-onc rotation and fellowship placement).

Thanks

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[whoknows2012]

There are soo many decent to good community programs in the tri state area including but not limited to;

Jacobi
Slr
Lenox hill
Njms
Winthrop

Less good but still worth looking at
Sinai elmhurst
Nyp queens
Maimo

I wouldn’t risk it and rank BI given the changes. That’s my take though so obviously get some advice from others as well

 

[gutonc]

I can't believe that BI is still trying to pretend to have an IM residency program. Pathetic.

 

[whoknows2012]

I can't believe that BI is still trying to pretend to have an IM residency program. Pathetic.

Agreed. It’s been 2 yrs now since the news broke and as above there are so many other programs that don’t have this knock on it. It’s a massive huge blistering red flag when a faculty member suggests there’s uncertainty

 

[NYCdude]

Also interviewed there and really liked the experience but have no idea what the heck is gong on.

So essentially what's the worst case scenario here. That they don't have a hospital anymore and you end up training at clinics? How do they maintain accreditation then?

 

[bobow98]

Rotate you up to the big shop uptown ;-)

 

[rokshana]

Rotate you up to the big shop uptown ;-)

Doubtful...worst case scenario...orphan status and then may get pick up by o e of the other nyc programs...it’s what happened when st Vincent’s closed.

 

[IM-2019]

I had a very similar interview experience, it's currently at the bottom of my rank list because of how uncertain the program's future seems. Are there any official statements regarding the future of the IM program there? PD made similar reassurances during my interview day about the program continuing but only shrinking slightly, but I don't see how it can if they'll be running a 70 bed hospital only

 

[NYCdude]

I had a very similar interview experience, it's currently at the bottom of my rank list because of how uncertain the program's future seems. Are there any official statements regarding the future of the IM program there? PD made similar reassurances during my interview day about the program continuing but only shrinking slightly, but I don't see how it can if they'll be running a 70 bed hospital only

So I spoke to a resident and they said that some rotations will be outsourced to either main hospital or some of the other affiliates like Roosevelt and what not. That definitely sounds better than staying at a 70 bed hospital but I wonder if training at Mt Sinai proper for a few rotations makes up for that lol.

 

[whoknows2012]

So I spoke to a resident and they said that some rotations will be outsourced to either main hospital or some of the other affiliates like Roosevelt and what not. That definitely sounds better than staying at a 70 bed hospital but I wonder if training at Mt Sinai proper for a few rotations makes up for that lol.

No.

 

[Jinxapotato]

Hey OP I also interviewed there and possibly with the same young attending, as I heard the same message as you:"you can get into a better place".
My understanding is that they will be moving to a smaller hospital, and outsource some rotations to other Mount Sinai Campuses (SLR mostly). I also ranked them pretty low on my list.
However having said that, I enjoyed interacting with the residents and the PD seemed really down to earth.

 

[publius87]

So I spoke to a resident and they said that some rotations will be outsourced to either main hospital or some of the other affiliates like Roosevelt and what not. That definitely sounds better than staying at a 70 bed hospital but I wonder if training at Mt Sinai proper for a few rotations makes up for that lol.

The heme-onc rotation is already moved to the main Mt Sinai hospital. If i remember right, the plan to get around having reduced inpatient beds is to make the residency schedule 1/3 inpatient and 2/3 outpatient.

Similar to others, this will be at the bottom of my rank list. Maybe in the end it will all work out for them and I hope it does, but I don't think I want to be a guinea pig during this transition.

 

[C_Mill]

So apparently due to COVID, the transition to more ambulatory care has halted. Any thoughts on its status as an IM residency program now? I really like the program but I am scared of it getting shut down in the middle.

 

[Redpancreas]

So apparently due to COVID, the transition to more ambulatory care has halted. Any thoughts on its status as an IM residency program now? I really like the program but I am scared of it getting shut down in the middle.

This was the only interview I did not attend back when things were in person. Out of curiosity, why do you like it?

 

[C_Mill]

This was the only interview I did not attend back when things were in person. Out of curiosity, why do you like it?

It's a program in the city that matches pretty well to GI. And they have Mount Sinai benefits (housing/some electives)

 

[internist10101]

Current resident - support from the top down has been incredible. New PD seems like she fits well with the friendly and welcoming culture at BI. I have felt confident in any decisions made by the admin because the residents are at the forefront of any major decisions made within the program.

I too had trepidation about the downsizing but took a chance because of a great interview day, fellowship match, and from what I had heard from rotating Sinai students. Given the COVID situation sinai has realized it needs BI to function and compete as one of the top systems in NY and the country. Since COVID and new hospital scrapped, no one has mentioned downsizing.

I will graduate in a few months feeling as if I could walk into any hospital in the country and be more than competent.

 

[collegestud2013]

For most people I wouldn't rank any NYC programs high on the rank list unless you have significant personal reasons to be in NYC and are restricted geographically. You will have to deal with insanely high COL (and a salary that is not enough to compensate for it) and the high level of scut you'll need to do due to lack of ancillary services in hospitals (this is especially true in inpatient-heavy specialties like IM or Surgery).

But then again if this problem is really only 1/3 inpatient and 2/3 outpatient, that may provide for a cush IM residency while only leading to minimal loss of training experience for those who want to pursue outpatient medicine down the line.