Adapted version of my interview notes from the 2012-13 interview season. Its definitely worth applying to all of them, and making your own impressions. In my opinion there was no clear-cut best program, or obvious way to rank them. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses and a strong case could be made for any of the four. Its going to come down to personal fit and arbitrary gut feeling. So here it goes, in alphabetical order:
Columbia the best name recognition, and strong research history. Also, notably the only pediatric hospital in the city. The Apgar Scholars program seems like a great opportunity for someone who wants to do research. Schedule seemed like more hours than Sinai/NYU, but less hours than Cornell. Residents also really liked the clinical base year here they dont send you out to other sites, and it seemed carefully designed to be the best experience possible - mainly on subspecialty services. On the downside, their leadership seemed very aloof and not involved in resident life (unlike every other program in the city). In comparison to Cornell, Columbia Presbyterian does not have as nice of facilities and pretty much operates at capacity, when I visited residents complained about waiting for PACU beds. Location is by far the worst of the four, Washington Heights also leaves a lot to be desired, and residents commute from elsewhere
its a decent commute on the A Train from the UWS, which is expensive, and salary is not adjusted accordingly (PGY1- 54K, PGY2- 57K, PGY3- 60, PGY4 - 62) plus a laughable $3000 housing stipend. Overall this is a big program, and although the atmosphere and location is pretty gritty and I certainly wouldnt describe it as a warm-and-fuzzy place, camaraderie among residents seemed very good, and definitely great as an academic heavyweight with strong commitment to research.
Cornell Facilities stand out as possibly the nicest in the country, subsidized housing across the street, in beautiful area of the upper east side. Amazing regional experience at HSS, and affiliation with Sloan Kettering. Everyone likes the new PD, young attending who went through the program - hes making changes but cant do it all overnight. The culture of this program is still not warm and supportive, but its on its way there. Call is from home (for better or for worse - some residents said they love it, some said they feel like they never leave work). They still have the worst hours of any of the NYC programs, and the list seems to come out later than most other places (like 6ish, then preops), and it was hard to figure out the schedule on interview day. When I went back for second look, most were leaving between 6-7pm. Require many months of ICU (Im pretty sure it was 7 months) I went to check out ICU rounds, seems like a good experience, but it must eat into elective time and I thought it was a little extreme. Clinical base year seemed like it was mostly surgical, with some anesthesia mixed in. Intraop teaching seems pretty good but didactics only about once a month could be good or bad depending on how you learn. They have a PGY1 year attached, but mostly surgery, and youll also spend some time at NY Downtown hospital which was described as the resident at the interview dinner as the wild west. I also interviewed here for a preliminary medicine year NY Downtown is kind of a hole-in-the-wall (but likely changing in the future, they were just bought by NYP). The patient population is also the least diverse (and most healthy) of all the manhattan hospitals, no trauma, but still sure to have some big cases at MSK/HSS/NYP. Overall a great program especially for regional and ICU, with strong clinical training.
NYU I thought it was the most balanced of the bunch, but slightly less name recognition than the NYP programs. PD was refreshingly relaxed, and seemed to genuinely care about resident life. I also interviewed with the chairman who was also down-to-earth, but is stepping down to focus on his lab. Hours were very reasonable relieved by the call team or CRNA between 4:00-5:00. Residents seemed really happy, great camaraderie, and reasonable hours. In my opinion, they have the best location of the four. Great variety of hospital settings and case mix NYU (nice private hospital), Bellevue (public hospital facilities are a little grungy, except the ICUs which are new and really nice, the major trauma center for Manhattan, team leader experience, and incredibly diverse pt population and case mix), and Hospital of Joint Disease (Strong regional its not HSS, but you should get plenty of exposure at a dedicated ortho hospital). They have a great new simulation center, the nicest I have seen anywhere but at this point it is underutilized by the anesthesia program. Research is not as strong as Cornell/Columbia, but it seems like theyre building it up, and there is a research scholars option with a substantial stipend to those who are interested. Didactics a few times a week (protected, CRNAs relieve the residents). Also a downside, this is an advanced only program it sounds like the program prefers that residents are able to choose where they do a prelim, as IM there has a reputation of being a difficult year. Like Columbia, no housing, but pay is a little better (PGY2-62, PGY3-66, PGY4-68), and great location (short trip anywhere in lower manhattan, with rent in Kips Bay is a little better than other areas of manhattan) While the lack of housing is a downside, overall this program offers the most diverse case mix, patient population, and practice setting, supportive administration with happy residents, solid regional exposure, in a great location in lower Manhattan.
Sinai The biggest strength of this program is an administration that is very involved in education. Per the PD Some programs view residency as a job
this is anesthesia school great simulation-based education, didactics, intra-op teaching, and their chairman of anesthesia is now the interm president-CEO of the hospital. They also have a clinical educator tract which was kind of unique, with paid teaching time medical students (both clinical students, as well as preclinical physiology) and junior residents and building a education portfolio. Hours here were also reasonable typically out around 5:00ish. If you have to stay late, you automatically get paid if youre there past 7:00. Not a trauma center, but possible month at Elmhurst to get more trauma is you want it, and they have a huge liver transplant program. Clinical base year is pretty much a transitional year, even mix of medicine and surgery although you do need to travel to Elmhurst for some rotations by campus shuttle. After the base year, residents spend almost all their time at Mount Sinai Hospital which has a unique culture tight knit, maybe even a little gossipy - people either love it or hate it. Location is near central park, with good subsidized housing options its on the northern fringe of the upper east side, so the neighborhood becomes Spanish Harlem to the north, but a short walk southwest and youre standing on museum mile and central park. Reputation is great in the northeast, less layman recognition outside of the area, but well-known among anesthesia people. As far as cases, cardiac is particularly good here. Regional is on the weaker side, compared experiences at HSS/HJD. Overall while they might not have the university/research powerhouse university affiliation, I was impressed with the programs strong commitment to education and resident life like the others, definitely worth checking out all four to see if its a good fit, you really cant go wrong.