SUNY Downstate Opinions

[MystA RavE]

Hey guys, I interviewed at SUNY Downstate last month and I wanted to see if anybody on here has any thoughts/personal experiences with the program. There was a rant posted online last year and I was curious if anything has changed since that time.

Thanks!

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[asmith1121]

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[chrisv]

It's hard to get ppl to share thoughts on the "low" programs. SDN is for those with MGH vs. BI--sounds like a 1st world problem to me. LOL

Anyway, SUNY--Downstate's been discussed in the 2012 rank list thread. My final take on it was: too many applicants calling it "strange/bad voodo/questionable" = confirms the SDN rant = don't rank (especially since its NYC). If it was just me getting weird vibes, I would've considered it to be an outlier.


Quote:
Originally Posted by HelloMoon View Post
Downstate... well if possible don't rank it. Strange interview day. Strange/inappropriate chief resident and even stranger PD in my opinion.
UIC seems like a really nice program, cannot speak for the others.
So I'm not the only one who thought that Downstate did a hell of a job of putting on the a good show. No pre-interview dinner = major red flag!!! (if you disagree on this, please chime in). Residents showed for the lunch at the end of the interview day when most of us were leaving. I stayed around to talk to a resident while the chief was hovering over the conversation, and I wouldn't say the resident seemed unhappy, just seemed disinterested.

Agreed, PD & chief gave off strange vibes.

 

[asmith1121]

It's hard to get ppl to share thoughts on the "low" programs. SDN is for those with MGH vs. BI--sounds like a 1st world problem to me. LOL

LMFAO- I think this all the time. This forum should really be about middle of the road or just programs no one knows anything about. BID vs MGH vs Upenn sounds like a location problem. I love when people are like- academics and reputation is really important to me- which one should I pick?!?!

 

[AnesApp]

It's hard to get ppl to share thoughts on the "low" programs. SDN is for those with MGH vs. BI--sounds like a 1st world problem to me. LOL

LMFAO- I think this all the time. This forum should really be about middle of the road or just programs no one knows anything about. BID vs MGH vs Upenn sounds like a location problem. I love when people are like- academics and reputation is really important to me- which one should I pick?!?!

Totally agree with the above statement

This is what I have understood after talking to a few residents.

PRO: Very reasonable hours esp. compared to NYMC, Einstein (but new pd so that may change) and Maimonides. You will be prepared for anything due the location and demographics of the population

CONS: Test scores are important and they have the ability to hold you back, which adds alot of stress. You have to worry about pissing people off because of that fear of being held back. Couple residents told me Downstate will not call anyone for you in time for a fellowship.

Bottom Line it depends how important NYC is to you. You will definitely work harder and more hours in NYMC and Maimo but it seemed less malignant when I interview there. If you feel confident that you will keep up with your readings, the added stress of tests wont bother you then Downstate might be a better choice because you will be less beat-down from the massive hours alot of NYC programs require.

NOTE: This is all I have heard from residents, so I dont know what to fully believe

I am having a tough time also between which to rank higher NYMC, Maimo, UCONN and Temple. So anyone else's thoughts would be appreciated

 

[chrisv]

So you're ranking Maimo lower than SUNY--downstate? Cuz' I took Downstate off my ROL but kept Maimo--even though they also didn't do the dinner & VERY few residents showed up on interview day = red flag, but no one that I know has gone out of their way to rant off Maimo as malignant. How bad are the hours there?

I know someone who rotated at Einstein, really liked it, lots of new CRNAs and she said that the new PD has the reputations of "turning around residencies" (like the Mitt Romney of residency programs).

UConn--strange interview day, residents looked like a sad bunch, bumped it down mainly cuz' I have a hunch that a 2016 job market will require fellowship and that's gonna be my ticket back to the west coast.

Totally agree with the above statement

This is what I have understood after talking to a few residents.

PRO: Very reasonable hours esp. compared to NYMC, Einstein (but new pd so that may change) and Maimonides. You will be prepared for anything due the location and demographics of the population

CONS: Test scores are important and they have the ability to hold you back, which adds alot of stress. You have to worry about pissing people off because of that fear of being held back. Couple residents told me Downstate will not call anyone for you in time for a fellowship.

Bottom Line it depends how important NYC is to you. You will definitely work harder and more hours in NYMC and Maimo but it seemed less malignant when I interview there. If you feel confident that you will keep up with your readings, the added stress of tests wont bother you then Downstate might be a better choice because you will be less beat-down from the massive hours alot of NYC programs require.

NOTE: This is all I have heard from residents, so I dont know what to fully believe

I am having a tough time also between which to rank higher NYMC, Maimo, UCONN and Temple. So anyone else's thoughts would be appreciated

 

[AnesApp]

I didnt get a great vibe in either place but

I did actually rank Downstate one spot higher, because I felt Maimo was all clinical. I also suppose the monthly tests in Downstate are not the worst thing in the world since it will force me to study. Cardiac cases will be better at maimo The hours are better in Downstate than Maimo. They have call break and a better call schedule. Downstate is not a cush residency but not a place with overworked residents, which is what I am looking for. It so weird that Downstate is such a polarizing residency, some things are really good and something are really bad. I did rank NYMC higher than both of those programs but I do hear the hours and the travel can be rough. I didn't like Maimo's parking situation and sitting in that basement all day was just weird.

I felt of the four, UCONN was the best place but I just cant live in Hartford.

 

[chrisv]

Maimo also put us in the basement, we played Jenga so maybe that's where my bias comes in. Hours and call schedule did seem better at Downstate, only if I believed them...I guess I'm gonna go with my gut here and keep Maimo on the list.

Agreed Philly >>> Hartford anyday!

I didnt get a great vibe in either place but

I did actually rank Downstate one spot higher, because I felt Maimo was all clinical. I also suppose the monthly tests in Downstate are not the worst thing in the world since it will force me to study. Cardiac cases will be better at maimo The hours are better in Downstate than Maimo. They have call break and a better call schedule. Downstate is not a cush residency but not a place with overworked residents, which is what I am looking for. It so weird that Downstate is such a polarizing residency, some things are really good and something are really bad. I did rank NYMC higher than both of those programs but I do hear the hours and the travel can be rough. I didn't like Maimo's parking situation and sitting in that basement all day was just weird.

I felt of the four, UCONN was the best place but I just cant live in Hartford.

 

[MystA RavE]

My mind is boggled now that I saw all these negative responses.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Getting confirmation of the responses you already read boggled your mind?

 

[chrisv]

I too was boggled,
especially by the discrepancy between what I heard on interview day vs. what EVERYONE else and their mom told me about the program on SDN and the interview trail.

Eventually decided to take it off my ROL,
after much mind boggling and toggling.

Getting confirmation of the responses you already read boggled your mind?

 

[MystA RavE]

Getting confirmation of the responses you already read boggled your mind?

I just didn't know if the information was actually true/current and I didn't have any other sources of information.

 

[Medman2012]

From a Downstate resident I contacted:

I am HIGHLY against ranking dstate at all. The rants posted in the past by resdients of the past years still hold true. Furthermore, the training has gone down the drain b/c the case load is so much more reduced. I remember when I first started Downstate (the main hospital) had about 30-40 cases on a typical OR day, with some them being fairly big thoracic, GU or spine cases. Now, the avg census is 15-20 cases and most of the cases are simple CA 1 level cases. The GU service is non-existent, we have about one thoracic case monthly at downstate and about 1-2 spines per month. The Downstate campus is in shambles in terms of the OR productivity - there is even talk of eliminating this hospital altogether in the next 5 years. Add on top of it that the program is by far the most malignant in the country ( I know b/c most of my friends from med school are all anes residents all over), it deserves a no rank at all. Most of the current CA 1's are here b/c either they are foreign grads i.e. straight from China or they wanted something else such as ortho/ophtho but ended up here w/o knowing anything about the program. The current CA 2 class started off with 20 residents, but during their ca 1 year, about 5-6 residents left the program b/c they were miserable - I am not sure if you are aware, but it is hard being miserable in anesthesia - it is an awesome field with a chill schedule! The current CA 3 do not get any guidance or support when it comes to getting jobs or fellowships. Rumors are that the PD even puts negative comments in LORs for fellowships. What is even more absurd is that you have to literally beg to get a day off for a fellowship interview - it may happen or it may not. I am sure during the interview they hype Kings County as this mecca of great training. In reality, Kings County is awful - we hate going there b/c we are treated like crap. We get no respect and the attendings basically bully us around. The CRNAs at County pretty much run the show and the attendings favor them highly b/c they work with them daily whereas, we the residents only rotate there for a couple of months or so. The County attendings constantly harass residents and residents often are evaluated very poorly by them. In the past, there has been talk about pulling residents altogether from Kings County b/c of the terrible work environment. There is much more than I can comment on this place but this has gotten long enough. I hope you would consider this post seriously and spread the word to your friends as well. Furthermore, I highly recommend rotating through Downstate before you even think of putting it on your ranklist.


Any residency program will provide you adequate training for the bread and butter stuff. Dstate graduate can go into private practice and do bread + butter cases. The regional, pain and thoracic at downstate is awful. There are currently CA 3 residents who are about to graduate and have not met ACGME requirements for thoracic (20) cases or nerve blocks (40). The program is working on it to make things better but it is still far, far far behind the curve. In order to teach someone regional anesthesia, one has to know it his/herself - this is the problem at dstate - most of the attendings are inbred i.e. from dstate and do not know it themselves. There are maybe 2-3 attendings who know regional at all and you may get to work with them rarely and then they must be in the regional room for any blocks to occur - chances are slim if you get the hint. You will meet the 40 required cases for ACGME but you will not be good at them for sure. otherwise, as you will see when you are in residency, most of the anesthesia you provide is similar for most of the cases except open heart (we rotate out at maimo for this) and peds. I also forgot to mention that we do not do much peds at all - our peds rotation consist of doing ENT peds cases i.e. BMTs & T&As. Very rarely do we get an actual sick baby for an ex lap or something other than an ent case.

I just wish I had done my research before picking this place.