Comments from the Class of 2005
Boston College
STRENGTHS: Clinical experience. Mentors, especially
at KCHC/UHB.
LIKED BEST: Clinical experiences."
STRENGTHS: Early clinical exposure. Hands-on experience. Accessibility of faculty.
Diversity of students. Diversity of patients. Wide exposure to different pathologies.
LIKED BEST: Patient care. Community service opportunities."
Brigham Young University
STRENGTHS: Availability of faculty and staff. Clinical
experience. Diversity of the campus. Cost.
LIKED BEST: Working in a diverse, intellectual environment."
STRENGTHS: Anatomy, patients and cost.
LIKED BEST: Neurology -- most attending time I have had in 4 yrs. Invaluable.
A few good attending experiences can make a world of difference."
Brooklyn College
STRENGTHS: Clinical Exposure - diversity and volume
of pathology. Exposure to great clinicians. Autonomy on the wards.
LIKED BEST: Level of responsibility on the wards. Primary Care 1
at St. Vincent’s. Adolescent HIV. Involvement with American
Medical Student Association."
STRENGTHS: Good clinical educational experience. Very
aware of religious constraints & responsive
to those constraints. Non-competitive environment. Multi-Cultural."
STRENGTHS: Extent & variety of medical pathology.
Ability to be (more) directly involved in patient care. Early exposure
to clinical medicine.
LIKED BEST: Ability to study medicine close to home."
STRENGTHS: Great clinical education - wide variety of clinical sites for rotations.
Diverse student population.
LIKED BEST: ECM Mentorship, CBL/LABS group study sessions. Radiology
elective."
STRENGTHS: Lectures during the first & second
year strongly corresponded w/block exams, thereby eliminating searches
through extraordinary amounts of literature or textbooks. Plenty
of time is left over to study for the boards after the second year.
LIKED BEST: Despite stereotypes of “The Medical School” I
still had time for family and friends."
Brown University
STRENGTHS: Strong basic science education, especially
in biochemistry and neuroscience. Early clinical responsibility and
high level of function on team in the clinical realm. Varied clinical
exposure-from Lenox Hill to B’klyn VA to KCHC. Strong mentorship
- both organized and unplanned.
LIKED BEST: Motivated, diverse, kind involved student body. Broad
clinical exposure, with increased student involvement. Really getting
to know patients & their families. Working with great leaders & legends
in medicine."
City College
STRENGTHS: Clinical exposure and clinical experience
LIKED BEST: My clinical experience at Kings County and Downstate."
LIKED BEST: The diversity of the community. Kings
County."
STRENGTHS: Clinical experience. The diverse pathology
present in the community. Friends/study groups I’ve met. Attendees/Residents.
LIKED BEST: Clinical group. I feel well prepared for residency."
College of Mt. St. Vincent
STRENGTHS: Clinical experience, diversity of people/backgrounds,
cost and diversity of rotations/sites.
LIKED BEST: Bonds I developed with new colleagues and mentors."
Cornell University
STRENGTHS: Lots of clinical experience. Variety of
affiliate hospitals and experiences. Lots of ambulatory medicine
(Primary Care, Geriatrics, etc). Diverse student body with a great
deal of academic ambition.
LIKED BEST: Medicine at KCHC. Psychiatry in the G building. Excellent
library system. Psychiatry reading elective."
Dartmouth College
STRENGTHS: Supportive classmates. Patient population.
Accessible faculty. Clinical experience. Hands-on experience -- draw
blood, place IV’s, deliver babies. Community service opportunity
-- flu vaccine project, Daniel Hale Williams health fair/obesity
walkathon.
LIKED BEST: Integrated curriculum. Clinical experience. Great classmates."
Fayetteville State University
STRENGTHS: Working with the diverse population of
patients seen at KCHC, UHB, SIUH, Methodist and LICH.
LIKED BEST: The people I’ve met and the friendships, being able to work
with the community I grew up in."
Haverford College
STRENGTHS: Clinical rotation. Opportunities for research.
LIKED BEST: Clinical rotations."
McGill University
STRENGTHS: Strong clinical training, diverse patient
population, wide variety of cases, helpful faculty and academic development
office.
LIKED BEST: Interacting with patients from diverse backgrounds, being mentored
by attending."
Medgar Evers College
STRENGTHS: The environment for me was conducive for
learning.
LIKED BEST: Clinical years were very informative. The pathology seen was enlightening.
I felt very comfortable with the patients."
New York University
STRENGTHS: The diversity of the students and the support
they offered. The Pathology at KCHC. The different hospitals (city
based and private), which gave me a better understanding of where
I would like to be.
LIKED BEST: My fellow colleagues. Medicine rotation at KCHC; the quality of the
senior resident and attending helped me decide on a career path."
STRENGTHS: 3rd yr. clinical clerkships are great.
Get to do a lot and learn a lot. Clinical teaching is great. Step
1 class and Kaplan at Downstate.
LIKED BEST: Students, friends and diversity."
Northwestern University
STRENGTHS: Clinical experience: able to adapt to new
environment quicker. Felt comfortable with patients on every clinical
rotation. Kaplan Step 1.
LIKED BEST: My friends. Most people I met here were very friendly."
Providence College
STRENGTHS: Strong hands-on experience during 3rd & 4th
year. Good Step 1 board preparation.
LIKED BEST: Meeting and working with other schools and doctors from various cultures
and countries. Proximity to N.Y.C."
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
STRENGTHS: Varied clinical sites, strong clinical
experience, diverse patient population, and generally approachable
faculty. Opportunity to care for the underserved. Emergency Medicine
Dept. Involved faculty.
LIKED BEST: Diverse group of people."
Sophie Davis
STRENGTHS: Very strong clinical experience – lots
of variety in pathology. Strong hands on experience. Great variety
in number of affiliated hospitals. Very strong ER & Downstate
students going into the ER are generally sought from other programs.
LIKED BEST: The amount of hands-on experience and variety of clinical
encounter.
STRENGTHS: Experience & experience."
STRENGTHS: Competent teaching faculty. Variety of
clinical cases.
LIKED BEST: Independence when interviewing patients.
Ability to perform skills such as venipuncture."
St. Johns University
STRENGTHS: 3rd & 4th year experience, we get lots
of experience working with patients. We had a certain amount of independence
that I don’t think other schools have.
LIKED BEST: I loved all 4 years of medical school but I especially
enjoyed the clinical years. Sub I was also a wonderful experience."
SUNY Stony Brook
STRENGTHS: Kings County and its clinical exposure.
Exposure to many medical procedures as a student.
LIKED BEST: Kings County and its clinical exposure.
STRENGTHS: When I started, the strength of SUNY Downstate
was the cost of tuition. But as time went on, tuition kept going
up. I’ve met some great faculty here - they helped me on this
journey, but you have to seek them out. They, the faculty, are one
of the biggest strengths at SUNY Downstate. I also enjoyed getting
a head start in clinical medicine within the 1st 2 years of medical
school.
LIKED BEST: The people I’ve met through my journey through medical school
have made my time here at Downstate an experience to remember & cherish."
STRENGTHS: Involved in a diverse patient population
and thus diverse disease processes. Responsibilities were at the
level of an intern if desired. Teaching conferences and mentorships
were adequately instituted and practiced. Clerkships achieved their
goal, i.e., well trained medical students.
LIKED BEST: Year 1- Emerging Medicine elective, CBL
Year 2- Mentorship, GYN/Breast/Urology patient models.
Year 3- Wide variety of institutions, adequate patient
responsibility, diverse patient population, intense clerkships, supervised autonomy
with many responsibilities.
Year 4- Ease of elective scheduling."
STRENGTHS: Great clinical skills experience. Great
learning resource center. On-campusMarch 22, 2007al rotations. Clinical electives."
STRENGTHS: Clinical experiences. Autonomy on the floor
and in clinic. Ability to be able to experience hands-on medicine.
Variety of hospitals to choose from.
LIKED BEST: Residence Life. Student life on campus. Clinical years. Orientation."
Union College
STRENGTHS: Academics - 2nd year enthusiastic faculty.
Good academic mentoring for residency.
LIKED BEST: Student meetings/activities. Dorms/on campus housing
activities. 3rd year clerkships @KCHC. Great preparation for residency."
University of California at Berkeley
STRENGTHS: The first year on a whole was well taught,
well organized and very interesting.
LIKED BEST: 4th yr. radiology elective – Lenox Hill medicine
elective."
University of Delaware
STRENGTHS: Clinical expertise & experience. Mentorship.
Patient population & variety of diseased patients.
LIKED BEST: I liked my classmates. On the whole, I felt that we were
all down-to-earth people wanting to be great physicians, which meant
less competitiveness amongst ourselves as future colleagues.
STRENGTHS: Opportunity to do away electives. Emergency Medicine. Diseased community
that we serve. CBL groups.
LIKED BEST: Hanging out w/some classmates. Proximity to Manhattan.
Opportunity to do clerkships at all different sites."
University of Florida
STRENGTHS: Clinical experience. Diversity of patient
population & variety of diseases & disease presentations.
LIKED BEST: I enjoyed the strength of my basic science and clinical
training. The friendships I formed & class unity.".
University of Maryland
STRENGTHS: Diversity of the student body. Early clinical
exposure.
LIKED BEST: Participating with other interested students in various
student organizations."
University of Maryland-College Park
STRENGTHS: The strengths were the population we were
able to serve, the comradery amongst my class and the willingness
of the faculty to help. We also had numerous resources available
to help us deal with academic or other problems.
LIKED BEST: The organizations I got to join. The people I got to
network with. "
University of Michigan
STRENGTHS: Integrated systems - block curriculum.
Excellent clinical experience. Diverse patient population. Our MD's
love to teach.
LIKED BEST: Medicine rotations at KCHC."
University of Rochester
STRENGTHS: Clinical experience gained at KCHC/DMC
and other affiliates. Relatively lower tuition compared to most other
schools nationwide.
LIKED BEST: Commitment university fosters with the community. Representation
of diversity in faculty. (especially during clinical years)."
University of Scranton
STRENGTHS: Clear objectives for lectures & exams
in yrs 1 & 2. Prepared me well for USMLE 1 & 2. Hands on
clinical experience. Variety of sites & experiences or clinical
rotations. Professionalism training.
LIKED BEST: Prepared me to enter any residency I desired."
University of Virginia
STRENGTHS: CBL. Block system in the 1st & 2nd
Year. Patient population at KCHC and DMC exposed me to a variety
of diseases."
Virginia State University
STRENGTHS: The responsiveness of faculty to student
concerns.
LIKED BEST: The clinical experience began early. The community."
Wesleyan University
STRENGTHS: The clinical foundation is a definite strength.
I feel prepared for whatever challenges residency will bring. Another
strength is the various support systems provided through the office
of Academic Development.
LIKED BEST: The diversity of the student body. The opportunities
to participate in the leadership of the student organizations. The
wonderful patient population. Opportunities to participate on committees
that address important campus issues.
STRENGTHS: Give students more independence. Good clinical experience
with a variety of sites -- private and public hospitals that can
be chosen based on individual interests.
LIKED BEST: Good basic science lectures."
STRENGTHS: Broad clinical exposure. Faculty
experience. Research opportunity (library).
LIKED BEST: Education, patient exposure, colleagues, support staff
and faculty."
STRENGTHS: Third year clerkships at Kings County -
ability of students to do procedures. Clinical teaching is great.
Variety of hospitals/Patient Population.
LIKED BEST: Friends. Being close to NYC. Lots of hospitals to rotate
through. Kaplan for Step 1 on campus."
