Good News for the Class of 2009:
Mar 31, 2009
Nearly 200 Downstate Students Accepted for Residency Training
Brooklyn, NY - Envelopes torn open, followed by whoops and shouts of joy—these are the unmistakable sights and sounds of Match Day, when graduating medical students across the country find out where they will do their residency training. The excitement was high at SUNY Downstate on March 19, when fourth-year students gathered in Alumni Auditorium to find out where they had matched.
“Our graduates again did very well,” announced Lorraine Terracina, PhD, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. Of the 191 students who applied for residency programs at U.S. teaching hospitals, 47 (25 percent) chose internal medicine, while anesthesiology and emergency medicine were also popular choices.
Ilana Harwayne-Gidansky is one of 16 students who chose pediatrics. Holding her infant son with one hand and her letter of acceptance with the other, she seemed enormously happy—and relieved. She had matched to Mount Sinai Medical Center, one of her top choices. Thirty-three students will be returning to Downstate for their graduate medical education.
Each year the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) tries to match the preferences of graduating medical students with available residency positions, but there are always more applicants than openings. According to the NRMP, the 2009 Match was the largest ever, with close to 30,000 applicants vying for 22,427 first-year residency positions.
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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.
UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.