NYC IM Residencies

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Bethany555

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
104
Reaction score
81
Hey All,

I'm applying to IM residencies this year and am hoping to match to either NYC or Boston due to my husband's job. I've completed interviewing at Boston programs and have some NYC interviews coming up in the first half of January. So far, I loved BWH but wanted to learn more about the NYC programs before interviewing

The search feature turned up some good results - most people have pretty poor things to say about NYC residencies comparatively. However, most posts were a few years old. If anyone has current information, I would love to hear!

Location: NYC > Boston (career-wise marginally better for husband, currently live in Philly so closer to friends, his parents live in NY state)

Reputation: Boston (MGH/BWH) > NYC (Columbia/Cornell/NYU/Sinai), not very important to me

QOL: Biggest thing for me. How is life in the hospital at these programs? Do the residents get to enjoy NYC at all?

I'm mainly looking at 'soft' characteristics like

Overall Workload (Are they pushing/breaking 80 hours every week, X+Y scheduling, high pt turnover, etc.): ?
Supportive Leadership: ?
Collegiality: ?
Housing: Cornell > others?
Ancillary Staff (do you have to put in your own IVs, draw blood, EKGs, transport patients, etc.): Sinai > Cornell > NYU > Columbia?

Members don't see this ad.
 
I applied to a couple NYC programs, so I can give my thoughts about NYU and Columbia.

Columbia: very supportive leadership (the PD is fantastic, extremely funny, dynamic, and likes to just hang out with the residents). I think the workload is pretty intense, I didn't meet a single intern during the day or pre-interview dinner except for a disgruntled neuro prelim who sat down at lunch, answered a couple of questions while shoveling food into his mouth, and told us that his prelim year was a pain in the ass, calling the hospital "more dysfunctional than a VA". But I met a bunch of R2s and the chiefs, all of whom seemed to like it. I get the sense that your intern year is extremely tough. I was told by the chiefs that they monitor the ancillary services a lot more now and that most interns are drawing vastly less labs/cultures/etc than they had done as interns. Residents said they never had to transport patients unless they were worried the patient could code/die en route. But I didn't get hard numbers, so hard to say. Columbia pays a very nice salary and most residents I met actually lived in studios or shared places in the upper west side. Money didn't seem to be a huge issue. Traditional non-block schedule is a big turn-off, honestly. The chiefs extol it as preserving continuity but also note that residents don't like it and they are looking to change at some point to an X+Y system.

NYU: Much more of a "homey" place than Columbia and much more personable. PD is a nice guy and the chiefs I met were so chill and friendly. Bellevue seems like a nice place to train, although it's dated for sure and I was told by some residents that they drew some number of labs on most days. So you have to deal with that, but residents honestly just said that they got used to it quickly and ultimately didn't really mind the experience. The new hospital, Tisch-Kimmel, is absolutely gorgeous and if you rank that track higher, you may spend up to 60% of your time there, with only 20% for both the VA and Bellevue. I hear you never have to draw labs or do other scutty activities there. The facilities are out of a sci-fi book. The downside is that the place was frequently described as more "fellow-run" than Bellevue, so you have to think about what is more important to you. People seemed to live within a 20-25 minute walk of the hospital without any major issues. The two R2s I asked both said they lived with others (one had a roommate, one had a husband) and that everything was manageable on their salary. NYU is growing like crazy and is shooting up the rankings. There is definitely a lot of energy in the air, lots of big-shots, clearly lots of money. That 4+2 schedule is sweeeet.

Basically, both seem to be great places to train. I'm ranking both near the bottom because of location (my wife and I are southern folk and the idea of living in NYC doesn't appeal to me at all). But they both seem nice and I don't think the ancillary services issue should influence your rankings. Either way you'll adapt. Fellowship matches at both places are cash money. NYU wins based on location, facilities, Bellevue, 4+2, ancillary services IMO. You don't get that Ivy name, but prestige won't make your residency life any better. And with NYUs rapid ascent into the top-tier, I think that prestige gap - if it even still exists - will only get smaller. Plus I would imagine your husband would work someplace south of 180th street, unless he works at the hospital itself.
At Columbia - they emphasized that they are practically a 4+2 but not officially for whatever that means. I think the mean that the +2 isn't necessarily clinic but nonetheless you have wkends off. With regards to drawing labs, it was emphasized that morning and evening labs are always drawn by nurses - it's only at other times that you'd have to draw them. I agree with the limited resident contact...kind of strange. Also, for the first 30 mins of the pre-interview dinner, only applicants were there. Anyway, some eventually showed up and they seemed cool and happy.
 
Thanks! I'll definitely have to take a look at the Tisch-Kimmel track. Your thoughts echo a lot of what I've heard about Columbia in terms of the workload. Were you able to get a sense of the cohesiveness of the resident class / whether they had any time to enjoy the city?

Would also love to hear any thoughts on Sinai / Cornell, if anyone has them. My husband would work in Midtown, if we moved to NYC, so it would be a reasonable commute (20-25 minutes per Google Maps) from any of the 4 institutions by subway.
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
Thanks! I'll definitely have to take a look at the Tisch-Kimmel track. Your thoughts echo a lot of what I've heard about Columbia in terms of the workload. Were you able to get a sense of the cohesiveness of the resident class / whether they had any time to enjoy the city?

Would also love to hear any thoughts on Sinai / Cornell, if anyone has them. My husband would work in Midtown, if we moved to NYC, so it would be a reasonable commute (20-25 minutes per Google Maps) from any of the 4 institutions by subway.
I'd just note that most of the Columbia residents live in upper west side which is a reasonable compromise between Washington Heights and Midtown. The residents did seem cohesive and touted the free wkends as great. But, they definitely seem to work hard and appeared visibly tired on interview day
 
Yeah I think the Columbia kids had an ok amount of time, though it's hard to compare it to other programs. People didn't seem to be breaking hours, but I imagine 70 to 80 is not uncommon. The lack of residents, especially interns, at the happy hours should say a lot. The pod system seems like a good way to promote social lives.
Yea, I agree though the dinner was earlyish (6pm) and was relatively far from the hospital
 
bumpp about comparing the big 4 nyc programs!
 
Hey All,

I'm applying to IM residencies this year and am hoping to match to either NYC or Boston due to my husband's job. I've completed interviewing at Boston programs and have some NYC interviews coming up in the first half of January. So far, I loved BWH but wanted to learn more about the NYC programs before interviewing

The search feature turned up some good results - most people have pretty poor things to say about NYC residencies comparatively. However, most posts were a few years old. If anyone has current information, I would love to hear!

Location: NYC > Boston (career-wise marginally better for husband, currently live in Philly so closer to friends, his parents live in NY state)

Reputation: Boston (MGH/BWH) > NYC (Columbia/Cornell/NYU/Sinai), not very important to me

QOL: Biggest thing for me. How is life in the hospital at these programs? Do the residents get to enjoy NYC at all?

I'm mainly looking at 'soft' characteristics like

Overall Workload (Are they pushing/breaking 80 hours every week, X+Y scheduling, high pt turnover, etc.): ?
Supportive Leadership: ?
Collegiality: ?
Housing: Cornell > others?
Ancillary Staff (do you have to put in your own IVs, draw blood, EKGs, transport patients, etc.): Sinai > Cornell > NYU > Columbia?

Sinai: very friendly residents and everyone seemed to get along very well. Probably the closest resident class (that I've seen) of the NYC programs. Residents all had a pretty good work-life balance. However, heard that subspecialty faculty tend to have a lot of ego, which may or may not be an issue depending on your career interest. Location is fantastic and most people live on the UES although they all had roommates/significant others. Ranked it the highest out of the NYC programs (but then again I ranked NYC programs the lowest c/w programs in other major cities).

Cornell: by far the most "cush" although I'm sure their residents come out well trained. Census of ~6 on the team I spent time with in the morning. Have more VIP patients than the other programs. Even better location than Sinai given slightly closer to Midtown, but their "subsidized" housing is still whoppingly expensive. Pre-interview dinner was fantastic but I didn't click well with the residents I met during the actual interview day. Ranked it the lowest out of the NYC programs.

Columbia: not much more to add in addition to above. Hardworking residents who all seemed competent. A few people had an entitled air to them, but that was probably just bad luck on my part. Least ideal location. Fantastic research. Strongest clinical training. Ranked it below Sinai but above Cornell.

NYU: did not receive IV there (but have a couple of good friends who trained there)

Based off of what you are looking for, it sounds like NYU is probably the best bet, followed by Sinai>Cornell, then Columbia (taken into account desire to be closer to Midtown, work-life balance, and overall collegiality).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Cornell: by far the most "cush" although I'm sure their residents come out well trained. Census of ~6 on the team I spent time with in the morning. Have more VIP patients than the other programs. Even better location than Sinai given slightly closer to Midtown, but their "subsidized" housing is still whoppingly expensive. Pre-interview dinner was fantastic but I didn't click well with the residents I met during the actual interview day. Ranked it the lowest out of the NYC programs.

One of my colleagues trained at both Cornell and NYU for residency and she said the census/volume at Cornell was much higher compared to NYU, and that Sinai was considered the cushiest of the big 4. So would caution against the expectation of Cornell being cushy or else you'll be disappointed after matching haha.
 
At Columbia - they emphasized that they are practically a 4+2 but not officially for whatever that means. I think the mean that the +2 isn't necessarily clinic but nonetheless you have wkends off. With regards to drawing labs, it was emphasized that morning and evening labs are always drawn by nurses - it's only at other times that you'd have to draw them. I agree with the limited resident contact...kind of strange. Also, for the first 30 mins of the pre-interview dinner, only applicants were there. Anyway, some eventually showed up and they seemed cool and happy.

I think the real problem with not being 4+2 isn't necessarily the weekends on +2, but having to leave the floors to go to clinic once a week. I imagine carrying your co-interns list and your own list would SUCK (imagine having a list of 20 for a day). And if you're NOT carrying their pager, imagine having to respond to pages while trying to see each clinic patient in 30 minutes. But I'm biased.

OP I've been at NYU for a while, message me if you have any questions.
 
I think the real problem with not being 4+2 isn't necessarily the weekends on +2, but having to leave the floors to go to clinic once a week. I imagine carrying your co-interns list and your own list would SUCK (imagine having a list of 20 for a day). And if you're NOT carrying their pager, imagine having to respond to pages while trying to see each clinic patient in 30 minutes. But I'm biased.

OP I've been at NYU for a while, message me if you have any questions.
At my home institution, which is traditional, the intern with clinic gets as much done as possible and then the senior finishes the rest. I agree it would be terrible to pick up your co-interns list but I dont see any reason why you would
 
At my home institution, which is traditional, the intern with clinic gets as much done as possible and then the senior finishes the rest. I agree it would be terrible to pick up your co-interns list but I dont see any reason why you would

Just going off my own experience, if I'm going to 1-5 clinic, I can finish all my progress notes but a lot of the daily tasks are gonna be left behind. I would just hate to be a resident and have to also be an intern for 2 days a week. But if it works it works maybe I'm just lazy.
 
How difficult is matching at the NYC and Boston IM programs? Would 240 with some research from a mid tier not in the NE cut it, or is it heavily biased toward NE students, top tier schools, and higher step? If this is an answerable question outside of a forum, would anyone be able to point me to a source?

If you're talking about the top tiers discussed here, you'll need more than just a step score coming from a mid-tier. AOA or at least a lot of honors in M3 is an important factor.
 
How difficult is matching at the NYC and Boston IM programs? Would 240 with some research from a mid tier not in the NE cut it, or is it heavily biased toward NE students, top tier schools, and higher step? If this is an answerable question outside of a forum, would anyone be able to point me to a source?

Montefiore in the Bronx and BMC (BU) are excellent programs in the above cities that you’d be much more competitive at. Between the 3 Harvard’s and 4 manhattan programs, getting an interview at even one is far from a guarantee with your stats. BIDMC, Cornell and Sinai seem to be more open than Columbia the Brigham and MGH. I purposely left NYU out bc while their program is the least prestigious of the 4 nyc programs, they tend to be the most selective for some unknown reason. Maybe the most particular? (Ie looking for a specific type of applicant)

The one caveat is if you have a PhD, are AOA or have a 1st author nature paper (kidding but obviously some majorly impactful research)
 
While I did not train in NYC, I know a few that did and keep in mind that ancillary services are minimal. People I knew who trained in NYC programs had to 1) draw blood, 2) transport patients for example to/from Radiology
 
Top