SUNY Downstate vs NYMC

[newtothis!!]

Hey everyone. As April 30th nears, I am trying to decide between downstate vs NYMC. Initially, I favored downstate, due to the reputation, tuition, and complete p/f for preclinical years, but after going to the second look day for NYMC, I am really torn. They both have systems based cirriculums, however NYMC seems to provide more support for their students. Trying to decided which is the better option and if the price different should really be a factor. Also with the closure of Downstate Medical Center, I am wondering how their clinicals will be impacted. Downstate residents are usually praised due to their clinical training, but now with the closure of the hospital, will they still be regarded this way? At NYMC, there is wetchester hospital, a trauma 1 center, so I feel confident I will have comprehensive clinicals there as well. Would love input/feedback from current students at both, and if anyone was deciding between the two I would love to hear your perspective.

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[Bowel-Plumber]

Disclaimer: I’m accepted at NYMC and Waitlisted at Downstate but I intend on dropping both to attend a different school

I think this is a common School X vs Y on this thread and you can probably find some comments on previous posts which could help. I visited both Downstate and NYMC’s second look days and at least from those days, NYMC impressed me a lot more. Downstate’s day kind of felt pretty weak as 2 students literally just walked us around the building and that was it. At NYMC, they not only took us around the campus but it felt more immersive. They took us to the practice clinical skills room, organized lunch with students, and really had us see a lot in one day. I’m not saying these are reasons to choose one school over another, I’m just saying that this showed me a lot more to actually make a decision.

At NYMC, I didn’t see a single student who seemed unhappy. We would walk across campus and random people would say they hope we came there and that their school is the best. At my undergrad, when we saw high school students touring everyone would scream to go somewhere else. I also got to learn more about the program from a ton of students in different years so it felt like I learned a lot about the program.

NYMC did have some turn offs compared to Downstate, just as Downstate had some turn offs compared to NYMC. The students said that there’s a lot of students so not everyone can rotate at their hospital (WMC) so they basically rotate around the NYC/Westchester region so everyone can try something somewhere else. They also use in-house exams whereas Downstate uses NBME exams. As for Downstate, they have the whole hospital issue, but I also didn’t like that you have one exam worth 90% of your grade at the end of every block (every 10 weeks or so)

I also just didn’t like the campus at Downstate. The building was old and gross and the area seemed pretty sketchy. Overall, if I was choosing between these 2 schools, I think I’d ultimately choose NYMC. I understand that it is neck and neck though and that it will come down to what you’re looking for in a med school experience. Good luck!

 

[obscurecomplimenter]

Hey, current M4 at NYMC here (so biased opinion incoming, take w/ grain of salt).

Can't speak to Downstate at all as I never applied/interviewed there -- did interview for residency there, however, and I've read a couple thought pieces expressing concerns about finding enough spots for med students/residents to train with the closure of the hospital (something that is already a historical dogfight in the NYC area, especially since it's a prime Caribbean/IMG training ground on top of all the schools). Speaking from personal experience from my clinical years, it definitely makes a difference to your clinical learning when you are rubbing shoulders with too many other students. It reminds me of the closure of Hahnemann for Drexel -- whether it's defensible or not, I can very much understand people who were spooked away from going to that school after that. The associated teaching hospital is a huge part of your experience at a given school

NYMC is certainly a humble name and lives in the shadow of its ivory tower neighbors, but our match list this year was very solid and students year after year consistently match at big-name programs, so going here won't hold back the motivated student. We have people not only matching into competitive specialties, but into competitive specialties at competitive programs. WMC is an excellent place to rotate. It's technically a quaternary referral center and the only one between the city and Albany, so you see crazy-obscure cases/pathology and faculty are accustomed to having students, so it's good formalized education. I learned a ton on my rotations here.

Not sure how much the price differential is, but this is absolutely worth considering. It may feel like a drop in the bucket when all of them are six-figure debt figures, but as an M4 looking at my loan burden, thinking about still owing debt well after I'm graying at the temples is a bit of a punch in the gut. A matter of even a few tens of thousand translates to years more of payoff. This is unfortunately one of NYMC's biggest drawbacks, but thankfully our financial aid advisor, Tony Sozzo, is an absolute treasure, which helps. He's always on top of the latest headlines about debt forgiveness, etc., and works very closely with students to ensure we get the best possible payoff plans & game the system to its max. He really cares about the students and is there for us as an advisor long after graduation.