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Message from the Chairman

photo of David Wlody

David Wlody, MD
Professor and Chairman

Welcome to our website and thank you for your interest in the Anesthesiology residency at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center. When considering a training program, you should be certain that at the completion of your residency you will be clinically proficient, as well as prepared to successfully complete the board certification progress. The Downstate Anesthesiology residency has been successful in meeting these goals in a setting which values resident well-being.

The core of our educational experience stems from the communities we serve. Our residents gain exposure to a wide variety of patients, often with significant co-morbidities, undergoing a diverse range of procedures. The residents also benefit from being able to work in a number of different hospitals. Each hospital has its own distinctive hospital culture, work flow, patient population, and procedure variety.

The academic preparation we provide to our residents is equally as important as their clinical training. We offer a number of academic activities devoted to broadening the depth of knowledge expected of graduating physician anesthesiologists. These include daily didactics, journal club, grand rounds, case-based discussions, simulation training, an online colloquia database, and Learnly, an online teaching module for CA-1's.

Our extensive academic preparation has yielded outstanding results, consistently demonstrating a first-time pass rate of over 95% on the ABA written exam. We also encourage our residents to participate in our clinical research program, as well as our cardiac and neuroscience basic science research program.

The Department takes very seriously our commitment to care for the medically underserved patients of Brooklyn. We also realize that it is our responsibility as physicians is to provide care to such patients wherever they may be.  The Department therefore encourages our residents to participate in overseas medical missions, and provides financial support for them to do so.  Residents have travelled to the Philippines, Serbia, and Ecuador, and all have found this to be an extremely rewarding experience.

Finally, our residents have a long track record of service in organized anesthesiology, including leadership positions in the resident section of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists. Many of our residents also participate in hospital governance activities, including membership on the Ethics Committee, OR Committee, and Ambulatory Surgery Committee at University Hospital.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. We have so much to offer to the student contemplating a career in anesthesiology, as an academician, a researcher, or a community practitioner. I look forward to meeting you and showing you the unique strengths of our department.

Sincerely,
David Wlody, MD
Professor and Chairman
Department of Anesthesiology
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine