Menu

The Downstate Experience

There's no place like Brooklyn. And there's no place like Brooklyn to launch your health care career.

Everything that makes Brooklyn an amazing place to live—population 2.3 million, the entire world within walking distance—also makes SUNY Downstate an ideal place to study and train. Our neighborhood, Flatbush, isn't just a backdrop for the time you'll spend here. From the patients you'll serve to the community organizations you'll work with, Brooklyn will become an integral part of your learning experience.

If each NYC borough were its own city, Brooklyn would be the third largest in the U.S. after Los Angeles and Chicago. It's not just Brooklyn's sheer size that dazzles, though—it's the how-muchness of it all, which few other places can match.

Downstate, Brooklyn's only academic medical center, is dedicated to urban and immigrant health. When you live here, the challenges faced by the people in those groups aren't abstract concepts—you'll experience them daily, as you get to know your neighbors. When you come to understand the communities you serve so intimately, the clinical mission becomes personal. It's a prism most other institutions simply can't duplicate. And you'll learn quickly: at its heart, the Downstate Experience is about identifying with the experience of others.

No Place like Brooklyn

Over 66 neighborhoods in Brooklyn, many of which are home to distinct ethnic populations.

100 Number of different ethnic and racial groups who live here.

38% Share of the population that is foreign-born, or an immigrant.

46% Percentage of the population that speaks a first language other than English.