Suny Downstate?

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gboom22

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Anyone have any up to date info on Suny Downstate's PM&R program?
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I interviewed there last year...Very unpleasant experience, didn't even rank them.
 
One of the technically most proficient co-fellows I trained with at Emory was a graduate of the Downstate program. PM me, and I can refer you to him - he seemed to have not been any worse for the experience.
 
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Dr. Pipia has worked hard to improve the program. He got the program out of probation just over a year ago. My chief resident from my 1st year at Nassau is now an attending at Downstate. He is a pain specialist (anesthesia based fellowship training). A fellow NYCOM classmate just finished training out there as well. The program is worth checking out. The one drawback that I see is that the PM&R program is under the ortho department. Personally, I am not a fan of having our specialty run under another specialty's department.
 
I don't think it is such a good program. I went there for an interview and I am kind of surprised that I wasn't ranked (Despite having the program in probation). PD seems to be too cocky...
 
This program is NOT on probation anymore.
 
Worst interview day, I have EVER had, and that's saying alot considering how many interviews I have done under different specialties in the past.

You sit around and wait, wait, wait. The PD acted like I wasn't good enough for him, hey maybe its just me, but I did interview at better programs (in my opinion), and match. I am grateful that he invited me. I had no intention of ranking this program, but then I met a few of the residents and toured the place. It was much better than it seemed in the interview day. The residents seemed happy there (at least the ones I met, and I did meet some that weren't scheduled just by touring). I think it comes down to whether you need to interview there to be around New York City. They are used a lot as a backup for people that want to be/stay in the New York City area, from asking around during interviews. If not, I think there are better programs out there. But, that is just my opinion, and I didn't/couldn't find out much about the program. They were on probation because from what I recall them telling me, some resident was spending too much time at one hospital and it didn't fit the criteria the ACGME had outlined, but don't quote me on this. It didn't seem to have anything to do with incompetence of training per se. They are NOT on probation any longer. Check it out, and make your own decision. Contact people there, and former residents. The training seemed solid to me, and will get you where you need to be, but the question is, would you rather be somewhere else. In my case, I didn't really want to be around New York since I'm not an East Coast kind of guy.
 
I am very pleased at Downstate. Our program Director has transformed this program in a very short time. I am sorry that you had a bad experience. Dr. Pipia can be rough at times, but he is a great teacher and walks the walk. Our seniors are getting the fellowships they want, (two pain fellowships last year), our hours are pretty good. Our residents are cool and happy. Dr. Pipia refuses to rank poor candidates. He will go through the scramble or pick up surgery/ortho candidates outside the match. The match is pointless if you pick up someone who you are stuck with. Until Downstate builds a reputation of being a better program, which now it is, he wont change his ways. We are residents have our complaints but so do my friends at Emory, Michigan, all the brooklyn programs, NYU .. etc... We are one of two programs that offer the MD/ accupuncture course.. UCLA being the other one.. as far as I know.. If you are a foriegn grad, he is trying to get away from that as well. To make a point we just signed out of the match one surgery resident from UCLA went to med school in Cali, and another DO from Florida. SO we are getting great applicants, just not the typical way. Our program unfortunately for the applicants is spread across the Brooklyn and Staten Island. So your rotate to 4 to 6 hospitals during the year. So you dont get the whole experience. Out patient at St. Johns is amazing. In patient at Staten Island is heavy in TBI and a great experience. Kings county underwent a 450 million dollar renovation that the rehab department was apart of. So its Cush. Downstate is downstate. Our residents go out (the single ones ) once or twice a week, those of us that work out do it regularly. This was not my first choice, but now that I see that Pain is very reachable, I work about 55 hours a week, love my attending, hang with the boys , live in a nice condo , things arent so bad.. Hope this helps..
 
I would like to agree with the resident as an applicant that interviewed. Dr. Pipia is a very warm and approachable person, who supports his residents. He is currently supporting a research initiative at his program. One of the two residents that matched in pain at his program had 14 abstracts and papers during his residency and he's still got 6 months of training left. Dr. Pipia is looking for people that want to make a difference in the field and will bring their drive and passion to enhance his program as well as get an education tuned to the residents interests. I was thinking this would be the very end of my rank list if it all before arriving, but I was very gladly mistaken. Interview day is in a much rougher looking side of town than Manhattan, but in interviewing with Dr. Pipia I can see he will tailor the program so residents can find their calling within the field of PM&R. Keeping an open mind applies to institutions as well as individuals.
 
I have a friend who is student at SUNY Downstate and had a rotation at Rehab , Whatever he told me about that program I could not believe it. One of the weird thing there, is the PD who has all the odds , his residents described the guy as the most sick person on earth, do not think even to go for interview there. People at the downstate is saying PD is relative to orthopedic chair who support him, patients, staff ,doctors hated the PD and The rehab department as a whole . My 2 cents do not even think to apply there
 
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please be careful about posting people's names on the forum and making negative comments when they are not here to defend themselves.
 
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That seems excessively 'big-brother"-ish (1984 reference, not the reality TV show), especially in light of drusso's back and forth with the folks at UW in the past.

I, for one, believe names should be allowed on here. Transparency is good. Most residencies operate in the shadows far too much, and SDN should not contribute to their ability to obfuscate.

This forum should welcome both positive and negative comments. If the Downstate PD wants to, he, like others in the past, are free to come onto this forum and defend himself.
 
I didnt rank it...there are much better programs in the area..
 
ampaphb said:
That seems excessively 'big-brother"-ish (1984 reference, not the reality TV show), especially in light of drusso's back and forth with the folks at UW in the past.

I, for one, believe names should be allowed on here. Transparency is good. Most residencies operate in the shadows far too much, and SDN should not contribute to their ability to obfuscate.

This forum should welcome both positive and negative comments. If the Downstate PD wants to, he, like others in the past, are free to come onto this forum and defend himself.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing when I read it. We can say "PD at U of ____" but not their name? anyone can look it up, and many know who they are without that.

Who does this protect? The person named, SDN, the mod or the poster?

In general I agree we shouldn't name names, but once the cat is outta the bag, should it be put back in?

Ahhh, ethical dilemmas...
 
Anybody else notice that the PD is mentioned by name in the two posts preceding the edited post?

I'm against outing SDN users. But this is not the case here. The names of PDs are public knowledge, easily accessible. Whether or not this PD is around to defend himself here is irrelevant. That being said, IMHO negative comments and criticism should be done in a professional manner, and the way this particular post was crafted, I wouldn't place too much stock in it (disclosure - I have nothing to do w/ the SUNY Downstate program).

BTW - It is really hard putting a cat back into a bag. I've tried and have the scars to prove it.
 
ampaphb said:
That seems excessively 'big-brother"-ish (1984 reference, not the reality TV show), especially in light of drusso's back and forth with the folks at UW in the past.

I, for one, believe names should be allowed on here. Transparency is good. Most residencies operate in the shadows far too much, and SDN should not contribute to their ability to obfuscate.

This forum should welcome both positive and negative comments. If the Downstate PD wants to, he, like others in the past, are free to come onto this forum and defend himself.
Click to expand...
I agree with you 100%. It is a good thing for SDN because there are some shady residency programs out there, and that is a fact. They can lie about things and get away with it all the time, unfortunately. Of course it is a small percentage that do this stuff, but those places need to be held accountable at least when it comes to transparency for students. It is up to the medical student to take it all in, believe it or not, and to find out for themselves whether or not it is true. Never believe anything you read on the internet without looking into it yourself with an OPEN mind, and not make prejudments.
 
samdoor said:
I have a friend who is student at SUNY Downstate and had rotation at Rehab , What ever he told me about that program I could not believed it. One of the wired thing there, is PD who has all the odds ,his residents described the guy as the most sick person on earth, do not think even to go for interview there. People at the downstate is saying PD is relative to orthopedic chair who support him, My friend said patients, staff ,doctors hated the PD and The rehab department as a whole . My 2 cents do not even think to apply there
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Dude, you need to learn to spell and write English better. I could hardly figure out what you a saying. It is weird not wired.
Also, you post this "slander" but don't have anything to back it up. I'm not saying what you're saying is untrue, but back it up at least, sheesh. What do you mean he has all the odds?
 
I have nothing to do with the program but trying to save a nice guy somewhere from a hidden hole . Good luck for everybody .
 
in the past we've had issues with posts like this before - especially by people who haven't posted in the past. I was hoping to tone it down by deleting the name so if someone googled his name, this post wouldn't pop up as the first thing. There was a post slamming another PD a few years back and I got some nasty email/call from some "higher ups" in PM&R. Maybe I was too sensitive because of that experience.

The TOS states "You shall not post on these forums any Content which (a) is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, harassing or threatening, (b) contains viruses or other contaminating or destructive features, (c) violates the rights of others, such as Content which infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or violates any right of privacy or publicity, or (d) otherwise violates any applicable law. "


I'm going to reverse the edit and let it stand as it was originally.
 
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[ If you are a foriegn grad, he is trying to get away from that as well. To make a point we just signed out of the match one surgery resident from UCLA went to med school in Cali, and another DO from Florida. SO we are getting great applicants, just not the typical way. ]


I am FMG. I want to tell that resident (iilir) who wrote that you deserve to be in that program and with that PD, both of you are cocky. Your are in NY where 75% of people are foreign. Your attending 95% are FMG and your fellow residents are 90% are FMG You need to see a psychiatric doctor, Also this is violation of the law
 
ramy123 said:
Also this is violation of the law
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There is nothing in the least illegal about a program having a preference for American graduates.
 
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Ampaphb, I am talking about the program. Those guys don’t know what thery are doing. There is no problem for you to choose FMG or American . The problem of devaluating one group
 
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It seems like this PD is only interested in #'s and nothing else. That approach to recruiting candidates sooner or later is going to burn him. How can he know for sure whether these candidates are committed to the field when they haven't even carried out an elective? I mean come on, they were applying for ortho and didn't match so next year they will apply again, and guess what? If they match they will jump out of the ship, and that obviously means more calls for the remaining residents. Those are my 2 cents take them or leave them...
 
samdoor said:
[St. Johns is amazing. In patient at Staten Island is heavy in TBI and a great experience. Kings county underwent a 450 million dollar renovation that the rehab department was apart of. So its Cush. Downstate is downstate. Our residents go out (the single ones ) once or twice a week, those of us that work out do it regularly. This was not my first choice, but now that I see that Pain is very reachable, I work about 55 hours a week, love my attending, hang with the boys , live in a nice condo , things arent so bad.. ]




There is something wrong with this resident(iilir)
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Hi Samdoor,
Sorry that you spend so much time on these boards.. maybe you need to go out a bit .. enjoy the city.. maybe have a drink, sexual relations?? I was mearly , and quickly defending my program, which is more than adequate. My program director is fair. Don't talk trash about something you have no clue about. Also you don't know me, your bad. And for who ever thinks its arrogent to prefer American Grads over foriegn, get better board scores.. this is not medicine or family , but a competitive field nowadays.. It has nothing to do with where a person is from, or what have you .. just he would prefer US grads because more often than not they are better trained early on.. That being said, we have had multiple Ross students who were better than our downstate students.. we have had some bad apples that make it harder on the rest. and oh yeah Sam, some of us have a life , and can manage our studies too.. Anyone who is interested in Downstate feel free to message me.. don't be bothered by boards.. and don't let anyone or any post make you change your mind about where you want to go.. alot of haters on these boards... good luck all !!!
 
I am not sure what you are talking about Ilir. PM&R has the lowest average board scores compared to other fields, including IM and Family.
 
iilir said:
Hi Samdoor,
Sorry that you spend so much time on these boards.. maybe you need to go out a bit .. enjoy the city.. maybe have a drink, sexual relations?? I was mearly , and quickly defending my program, which is more than adequate. My program director is fair. Don't talk trash about something you have no clue about. Also you don't know me, your bad. And for who ever thinks its arrogent to prefer American Grads over foriegn, get better board scores.. this is not medicine or family , but a competitive field nowadays.. It has nothing to do with where a person is from, or what have you .. just he would prefer US grads because more often than not they are better trained early on.. That being said, we have had multiple Ross students who were better than our downstate students.. we have had some bad apples that make it harder on the rest. and oh yeah Sam, some of us have a life , and can manage our studies too.. Anyone who is interested in Downstate feel free to message me.. don't be bothered by boards.. and don't let anyone or any post make you change your mind about where you want to go.. alot of haters on these boards... good luck all !!!
Click to expand...

This is rehab medicine at its finest.
 
Dear : iilir

Thank you for your valuable advice, Please read your own posts on the site previously and tell me, if I was wrong with my impression about you .

Aug 2007: I am a surgery intern, designated... I a FMG, I was matched into a PM&R program for 2008. I have a desire to serve. But I dont want to make a career out of the military. Can I serve for 2 or 3 years without a long term commitment?? Will i lose my spot for next year?? can I do reserves?? I am a little confused.. Thank you for your replies in advance..


Aug 2007:I matched for 2008, love my program, but my wife doesnt like the city.. do swaps really work?? anyone interested???

Aug 2007: is there any site to find out what fellowships residents landed from certain programs??

1st : I am an attending in NY, I know everything about your program
2nd: your are FMG and you are writing those comments about FMG, It is bizarre.
3rd : from your posts , your are a guy who could not get what he want and landed in Rehab, try to cope, be patient , just 2 more years, .
4th :pM&R has the lowest average board scores compared to other fields from AAPMR website
5th : Be careful, if your PD knew that you want to leave the program you will be in troubles’’

Good luck
 
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paindefender said:
This is rehab medicine at its finest.
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Why do even bother reading the PM&R forum when you hate it so much? Have you ever had anything worthwhile to say?

Did your therapist diagnose you as Borderline Personality Disorder, or just Narcissitic?
 
Please check your emotions before hitting the "submit reply" button. Please adhere to the TOS guidelines posted by Axm397.

Importantly, remember that this is a public Internet forum. Adhere to the behavior and decorum appropriate for a public venue and the exchange of professional ideas and opinions. Hint: Instead of making broad, sweeping generalizations about people, programs, or institutions, preface those remarks with phrases like, "in my opinion," or "my personal experience is..." In this way you can still communicate an idea but appropriately contextualize it as your own opinion.

Names of individuals in positions considered public knowledge can be used, but "outing" fellow SDN-users is not allowed. We each have our own personal comfort level with our degree of identity transparency. Respect that.

In general, please apply the following behavioral litmus test: If you would not stand up and say at a professional society meeting what you are about to post here on SDN, then maybe you ought not to post it at all.
 
Residents should be strong and exchange the truth about their programs to help other applicants and students. I believed there are violations in some programs which need to be discussed in site like here openly to help every one .If you will practice censorship here who will know what is going in the program like that program. I encourage anyone who knows anything about bad programs to post it without fear
 
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drusso said:
Names of individuals in positions considered public knowledge can be used, but "outing" fellow SDN-users is not allowed. We each have our own personal comfort level with our degree of identity transparency. Respect that.

In general, please apply the following behavioral litmus test: If you would not stand up and say at a professional society meeting what you are about to post here on SDN, then maybe you ought not to post it at all.
Click to expand...

ramy123 said:
Residents should be strong and exchange the truth about their programs to help other applicants and students. I believed there are violations in some programs which need to be discussed in site like here openly to help every one .If you will practice censorship here who will know what is going in the program like that program. I encourage anyone who knows anything about bad programs to post it without fear
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OK, drusso, IMHO (since apparently I can say virtually anything if I preface it with that ;) ) no one would stand up at a national meeting and say Dr. X's program is committing fraud, or Dr. Y will put on a good dog and pony show for you on interview day, but then treat you like dirt the next 3 years. In fact, your own post is incongruous - afterall, if you did stand up at a national meeting, you woudln't be able to do it anonymously.
.
On the other hand, ramy123, some of your comments, like "Those guys don't know what they are doing," "Both of you are cocky," and "You need to see a psychiatric doctor" are personal attacks, not "truth". Such hostile vitriol does nothing advance the discussion, and probably were deserving of the censorship you desire to avoid. If you want us to respect what you have to say, give us facts, not just random, shoot from the hip, personal invective
 
ampaphb said:
That seems excessively 'big-brother"-ish (1984 reference, not the reality TV show), especially in light of drusso's back and forth with the folks at UW in the past.

I, for one, believe names should be allowed on here. Transparency is good. Most residencies operate in the shadows far too much, and SDN should not contribute to their ability to obfuscate.

This forum should welcome both positive and negative comments. If the Downstate PD wants to, he, like others in the past, are free to come onto this forum and defend himself.
Click to expand...

Never, ever name names in a negative sense, on a web bulletin board; not the program, not the hospital, not the PD. These sites are, indeed, monitored by programs. And, yes, it does sound like "1984", but the flip side is when you give your opinion, if you are in a program, it can hurt you in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. I've seen that happen, and it's just not worth it.

So, caveat emptor (even with the best of intentions),

Nu
 
NuMD97 said:
Never, ever name names in a negative sense, on a web bulletin board; not the program, not the hospital, not the PD. These sites are, indeed, monitored by programs. And, yes, it does sound like "1984", but the flip side is when you give your opinion, if you are in a program, it can hurt you in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. I've seen that happen, and it's just not worth it.

So, caveat emptor (even with the best of intentions),

Nu
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Which is why, when someone does step up and makes negative comments in the course of an even-handed review, they are highly valued. Glowing, sweepingly positive reviews, are self-serving, specifically BECAUSE residents know they will be seen by their peers, PDs, and Chairs. Similarly, wholly negative reviews are discounted when they appear to be disgruntled folks who feel they got treated poorly by some aspect of their program

No program is all good or all bad. It should be a red flag to applicants if a PD is unwilling to have his or her program's flaws discussed in this type of venue.
 
More to the point, Program Directors, their designees or representatives, are more than welcome to post here and correct *ANY* perceived or actual misrepresentation about their program without any fear of censorship.
 
Mods, this thread has outlived its usefulness.. I recommend shutting this one down.
 
In my personal opinion, Doctor maturation start from medical school and residency. If you accept abuse and mistreatment or unfairness under any circumstances during those years, you will be unfair and disturbed during your practice.

If we are able to teach the medical students and residents not to accept abuse and to fight it ,We will produce a mature doctor who is fair to himself and to his patient.

The resident is the weakest person in the hospital, and he will accept anything until he is graduated.

The job start from here by the supervisors in this site who claim they are here for years

NUMD97 : you sound like soviet union under KGB in 1970.
 
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