June 10, 2008
Thank you for your inquiry regarding our urology residency training program. I appreciate your interest and wish to tell you more about it. Please check out our website at www.downstate.edu/urology.
The SUNY Downstate Medical Center is one of the largest health science centers in the United States and one of four such campuses within the 64 unit State University of New York, the largest multi-level system of public higher education in the nation. The SUNY Downstate Medical School (SUNY Downstate) is located on a 13-acre urban campus in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn. The medical school traces its origins back 134 years and was the first medical school to incorporate the teaching of medicine at the hospital bedside. The "Downstate" era began in 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the cornerstone for the Basic Sciences Building. The medical school now is the largest in N.Y. State. The complex was expanded in 1966 with the opening of Downstate University Hospital Brooklyn . The School of Graduate Studies, the College of Health Related Professions, and the College of Nursing were also added that year. Today, SUNY Downstate is the focal point of a health-care network that encompasses 18 hospitals and research institutions and more than 40 health-related facilities in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and beyond.
In 2000 the Association of American Medical Colleges ranked Downstate 7th nationally in the number of alumni who hold full-time faculty positions in other medical schools. In terms of the number of alumni who are department chairs at other medical schools, Downstate was ranked 9th nationally.
One of the co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology for 1998 was Robert F. Furchgott, Ph.D, Distinguished Professor and former chairperson, Department of Pharmacology. He received the prize for his the discovery of the role of nitric oxide in the body's control of its vascular system. His work has led to a virtual revolution amongst researchers in all disciplines worldwide, prompting the exploration of a vast new field with huge potential for significant discoveries. Another great achievement at SUNY Downstate was the invention of the MRI by Dr. Ray Damadian.
The Department of Urology is independent of the other 19 clinical departments. Since assuming control of our training program, I have pursued a vigorous revitalization of it. This has resulted in major changes in our faculty, hospital rotations, research, resident profile and medical student and resident education activities.
Our program is four years in length and has always been fully accredited by the ACGME. A renewal of our accreditation was awarded in 2007.
The program is divided into two halves. Each resident is an assistant resident for two years and then chief resident for two years. Our residents currently rotate through our 6 integrated hospitals. These include the combined SUNY Downstate University Hospital Brooklyn (UHB/ Kings County Hospital Center (KCHC) rotation, as well as Brooklyn Veterans Administration Hospital (BVAH), Long Island College Hospital (LICH) and Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer (MSKCC). This variety is important to the educational process since it exposes the residents to a range of patients with divergent characteristics and faculty with widely divergent philosophies. The alert resident can tap this rich resource: Several core faculty members are at each institution.
Since July 1, 2003 our Urology-4 residents have been rotating through the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as acting fellows. In this capacity our residents have all the responsibilities and operating privileges of regular fellows. This is in addition to the long established Urology-2 four month rotation. The educational program at MSKCC is superb and features a weekly lecture on some aspect of basic science or clinical care of urologic malignancies. In addition there is a weekly multidisciplinary uro-oncology conference. Dr. Joel Sheinfeld at MSKCC directs the fellowship program. He is a full voting member of our residency selection committee. Dr. Sheinfeld is one of the world's leading authorities on testicular cancer. The Chief of Urology at MSKCC is Dr. Peter Scardino, one of the world's leading authorities on prostate cancer. This new arrangement also enables us to improve resident education in medical oncology and radiation oncology. Several years ago MSKCC recruited Dr. Bertrand Guilloneau from France to join the faculty. He is one of the world's pioneers in laparoscopic surgery. The MSKCC Department of Urology now has 17 urologic faculty including specialists in reconstructive urology, female urology and erectile dysfunction. All MSKCC urology staff are also SUNY Downstate faculty members. Dr. Macchia is consult in urology at MSKCC.
In 2005, Dr. Dale Distant, the Chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery in the Department of Surgery, accepted a dual appointment in the Department of Urology, whereby Dr. Ivan Colon of our department and our residents collaborate with Dr. Distant in the performance of the laparoscopic donor nephrectomies. Also in 2005 Dr. Erich Lang was appointed vice-chairman for uroradiology in the Department of Urology. His principal appointment will be as professor in the Department of Radiology. Dr. Lang is one of the world's preeminent uroradiologists. He was the long-term professor and chairman of the Department of Radiology at Louisiana State University and more recently Professor of Radiology at Tulane University until displaced by hurricane Katrina. The Departments of Urology and Radiology at SUNY Downstate have a long history of close cooperation and collegiality.
Another exciting development in our department is the reconstruction of Kings County Hospital Center. A new bed tower was opened in 2001. The S building was opened in June 2006. It houses ultra modern state-of-the-art operating room. It is home to the new emergency room and the diagnostic radiology suite. Other new buildings are under construction.
In December 2007, we moved into new facilities for the urology office space and outpatient area.
Aside from MSKCC our 29 core faculty are distributed at the various hospitals. Many of the core faculty have fellowship training. This staff is augmented by approximately 20 voluntary urologists. Although all areas of urology are covered competently, we have strengths in pediatric urology, robotics video urodynamics and voiding dysfunction, female urology, reconstructive surgery, percutaneous endourology, cryosurgery, lithotripsy, laparoscopic surgery, trauma, oncology, brachytherapy and microsurgery. The faculty staff the N.Y. Stone Center, a state- of-the-art-facility located at LICH.
Dr. Ciril Godec, is urology chief at Long Island College Hospital and is a highly experienced and expert surgeon. He and his staff provide an active surgical service environment for our residents. Dr. Aizid Hashmat was our very first “Teacher of the Year” and editor of a textbook entitled “The Penis” published in 1993. Dr. Godec is an expert in radical prostatectomy and co-editor of “Prostate Cancer”, a textbook published in 2003.
Dr. Mark Horowitz, our pediatric urologist and an alumnus of our residency, joined us in August 1994. He was appointed Director, Division of Pediatric Urology in March, 2003. Dr. Horowitz has a variety of research projects in progress and is contributing steadily to the literature. His practice is based at SUNY Downstate, SIUH and LICH. Dr. Horowitz has been “Teacher of the Year” 3 times.
The rotation through SIUH is also a very busy one. Dr. Nicholas Karanikolas is local program director for SIUH and LICH. Dr. Mark Plawker heads our journal club. Dr. Nachum Katlowitz is Acting Chief of Urology at SIUH. He is fellowship trained in infertility and sexual dysfunction. He also provides microsurgery experience for our residents. There are additional well trained and experienced urologists at SIUH.
Dr. William Blank is fellowship trained in fertility/impotency/microsurgery. He is acting Chief of Service at the Brooklyn VA Hospital.
Dr. Llewellyn Hyacinthe is Director of Urology at KCHC. He has instituted a number of new programs and clinical services at KCHC. He also has a private practice at Downstate. He's also Co-Director of our Robotic Program
Dr. Ivan Colon joined our faculty on July 15, 2002. Dr. Colon completed a fellowship in laparoendourology under Dr. Gerhard Fuchs at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is working at Downstate University Hospital Brooklyn, LICH and the Brooklyn VA Hospital. He also provides cryosurgery expertise. He is leading our robotics initiative.
Dr. Nicholas Karanikolas joined our faculty in December 2006 following completion of his urology residency here at SUNY Downstate. He completed a 2 and half year fellowship in urologic oncology at MSKCC. He is Director of Urologic Oncology at SIUH, is Director of the montly multidisciplinary urologic/oncology conference at SUNY Downstate, is Local Program Director at the BVAH and SIUH and is a member of the AEC and is Director Resident Research.
Dr. Wellman Cheung completed a female urology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Florida. He joined us in 2003 with a dual appointment in urology and obstetrics/gynecology. He practices at SUNY Downstate and the BVAH.
Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, an internationally recognized expert of voiding dysfunction, joined the VA staff full time on April 1, 2008.
In October, 2002 Marvin Rotman, MD, Professor & Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology was the recipient of the gold medal award of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology. A gold medal award is the highest award ASTRO bestows.
There is an active intra and extramural didactic educational program to supplement thorough surgical training. A weekly department-wide conference is held which all residents and select core faculty attend. Each month one is devoted to pediatric urology and one to cases involving patient safety and adverse events.One conference per month is a multi-disciplinary uro-oncology one. A research conference is held every other month. Our journal club is held monthly, usually in the evening at a local restaurant. The club is directed by Dr. Marc Plawker. Other faculty members routinely participate. In addition, each hospital conducts its own series of educational activities, which may include general urology conferences and special conferences for uro-pathology, uro-radiology, and uro-oncology.
Our residents receive a stipend to attend the Basic Science in Urology conference held annually by the American Urological Association (AUA) at the University of Virginia (usually in the U-1 or U-2 year). Our library, which is the fifth largest medical school library in the country, has every textbook and journal in the English language pertinent to urology. It is housed in our $52 million dollar medical education building.
There is a very active Section on Urology of the New York Academy of Medicine. Each year it conducts a series of valuable educational activities in which our residents participate. There are also 2 lectures per year by recognized authorities, a urology research fellows night and a lecture by the awardee of the Section's F.C. Valentine Medal for career achievement in urology. Resident stipends are provided by the department.
The N.Y. Section of the AUA hosts the F.C. Valentine Residents Essay Contest and a Residents Debate Night each year. Our residents participate.
Our residents have the opportunity of attending the annual meeting of the AUA. Those who have papers accepted for presentation receive a stipend from the department and have priority to attend. Approximately half of the residents attend each year.
There are many other urologic activities in the N.Y. area. These are brought to the attention of the residents by a weekly email calendar of events. Every effort is made to provide time for them to attend.
In addition to their clinical activities, the faculty conducts research in a variety
of areas. Our residents participate in our research or initiate their own. Each year our faculty and residents present our papers at the national AUA meeting, at the Section on Urology of the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting, and at other meetings. Our work is published regularly in peer-reviewed journals. Our research may be purely clinical or in coordination with basic scientists in our medical school.
A compilation of recent publications and published abstracts is available on our website. (www.downstate.edu/urology)
In the past, two of our medical students were awarded first prize in the laboratory division of the National Medical Student Research Forum for their participation in my androgen receptor project. Medical students presenting urologic research have won our school-wide research competition, represented SUNY Downstate at the statewide competition, and presented at the New York Academy of Medicine. Our residents regularly win prizes in the F.C. Valentine Residents Essay Contest involving 120 residents from all 16 ACGME approved programs in the geographic area of the NY Section - AUA.
At the end of each rotation each resident is formally evaluated by each faculty member with whom he/she worked. Similarly, each resident gives me his/her written evaluation of the rotation. To help you and me assess your knowledge and to help me assess our program, each resident must take the AUA in-service examination each year. The minimum acceptable score is 30th percentile. This is also excellent preparation for the Part 1 examination of the American Board of Urology.
Promotion is not automatic and is determined by recommendation of the AEC to the chairman.
I strongly encourage fellowship training for interested and deserving residents. Many of my residents have done such training and gone on to full-time academic positions in respected medical schools. Several have achieved national and international prominence. I have enclosed a brief summary of these individuals and their accomplishments. There is a strong demand in private practice as well for our well trained residents.
The bottomline is that our residents are very pleased with our program. Graduating residents are very confident of their abilities. Many of our former residents financially support the educational program for our current residents.
The department also hosts a variety of social activities. In December there is a holiday party. At the end of each academic year there is a departmental dinner and academic awards ceremony. The purpose of this event is to honor the graduating residents and to also recognize those residents who have distinguished themselves academically during the preceding year. Our graduating residents are also honored along with chief residents from other departments at the annual dinner of the Residents and Fellows Alumni Society (link).
Our residents and faculty live throughout the metropolitan New York area including Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Staten Island and New Jersey. New York City is the safest city in America with a population of over 1 million according to FBI statistics. Despite the atrocity of 9/11 the city is full of energy, as usual.
Brooklyn itself is a vibrant area today with a variety of excellent restaurants and diverse entertainment and nightlife activities. Its diversity makes it a microcosm of the world culturally. It is home to the Brooklyn Museum of Art (www.brooklynart.org), which is the second largest museum in the United States and which houses a world class collection of Asian art. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is world class as well. It is home to an incredible Japanese garden which is particularly impressive during the cherry blossom season. The website for the Brooklyn Historical Society is www.brooklynhistory.org. We even have our own beer! Check out www.brooklynbrewery.com. Brooklyn has lots of trendy restaurants and a vibrant nightlife.
I'm seeking medical students with high mental and physical energy and enthusiasm to join our program. By applying to our program you agree to contribute to the academic atmosphere of the department by proactive participation in our educational program and research efforts, including co-authorship of peer reviewed publications and acceptance of papers to be presented at local/national meetings. If you are not sincerely interested in clinical research, this might not be the program for you.
This is a very abbreviated overview of our department. Please understand that I will continue to make substantial changes in our program. Each year I distribute Department-wide Guidelines (DWG) which govern all aspects of resident activities. A copy is available upon request.
TO APPLY FOR THE RESIDENCY:
Entry into our urology residency requires a minimum of one year of ACGME approved general surgery training at SUNY Downstate to be completed prior to the actual urology residency.
If you have already graduated medical school, you have two options depending on your situation. Either complete an additional one year of surgery here or apply for a position that may open up by virtue of illness, withdrawal, or non-renewal of contract. The latter situation is unlikely. If you do select the latter, your pre-urology year must have been served as a regular resident in a general surgery program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). You must then augment your application by including the results of Parts II and III of the USMLE tests and your general surgery in-service examination scores.
All positions are allocated through the AUA RESIDENCY MATCHING PROGRAM FOR UROLOGY. You must register with it 713-622-2700 or 800-282-7077 ext 86. The urology match is completed before the deadline for filing for the surgery match. The AUA website is www.auanet.org.
All applications are via ERAS - the Electronic Residency Application Service. Its website is: www.aamc.org.
Promotion from general surgery to urology is not automatic, but dependent on satisfactory performance.
If you wish to apply to the Department of Surgery, even if you do not match in urology, make a separate application to it in addition to your application to urology. Contact Ms. Natasha Stepanets in the Department of Surgery at 718 270-1973/4.
If you wish to obtain a copy of the SUNY Downstate Medical School Bulletin, I suggest that you call or write to the admissions office at 718-270-2446.
WEBSITE
www.downstate.edu/urology
INTERVIEWS:
Every application to our program is carefully reviewed to determine who is to be offered an interview. This is difficult because there are so many qualified applicants. We get hundreds of applications. We can offer interviews only to approximately 35-40 applicants. Therefore, even well qualified students may not be offered an interview.
We evaluate all information available to us: rotation evaluations, Dean’s letter, rank in class, USMLE1 score, letters of recommendation, research productivity, fit, interviews, and the results of the ranking by the residents’ subcommittee for those who did rotate with us. Each member of the selection committee following the interview independently scores each student on a scale of 10-1 with 10 being the highest. We discard the highest and lowest score from each evaluator. We then average the rest and reach a numerical score. We then develop a rank list based strictly on the score. We then discuss that ranking and see if we agree or need to make minor adjustments.
We are all well aware how important this process is to each applicant. It is a very stressful time for you and for us. We attempt to be as fair as we possibly can.
You may be invited for an interview by our residency selection committee. The committee is composed of several representatives of our faculty and resident staff including at least 1 member of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center urology staff. Several current residents are available to answer your questions. A site visit to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is part of the interview process. Interviews are ordinarily held in November and/or December, but special arrangements can be made by contacting me. These special appointments usually involve only one faculty member, not the entire selection committee. Our deadline for applications is October 15.
If you have any questions, please call Mrs. Knight at 718-270-1732. Our fax is 718- 270-3848. By email, contact Mrs. Knight at wynclette.knight@downstate.edu.
