SUNY Downstate and New York City Department of Education Hold College and Career Fair in the STEM Subjects
Feb 11, 2016
Nearly a Thousand Students Learn of Opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Brooklyn, NY – SUNY Downstate Medical Center and the New York City Department of Education’s Brooklyn South Borough Field Support Center recently held one of the largest college and career fairs ever in New York City devoted solely to STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Nearly a thousand New York City students braved wintry weather to meet with representatives from more than 30 institutions of higher learning who discussed with the high school and middle school students the hottest STEM college and career opportunities. Students attended the event from 20 high schools and 10 middle schools in Brooklyn.
Mark Stewart, MD, PhD, dean of the School of Graduate Studies at SUNY Downstate, noted that the STEM event was a success beyond everything he imagined. “The level of engagement by students of all grades at the exhibits by our schools and area colleges and graduate schools was a joy to behold,” he said.
“SUNY Downstate has a history of using graduate students from our multiple colleges to teach STEM programming in area middle schools and high schools, and all five Downstate schools look to recruit students from our borough, but this event showed how much genuine interest in the biomedical sciences exists among our local schools,” he added.
Colleges who presented information at the STEM Fair included several in the statewide SUNY System, including the University at Albany, SUNY Canton, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Poly, SUNY Potsdam, and SUNY Old Westbury, in addition to several programs at SUNY Downstate. The STEM Fair was held on the SUNY Downstate campus.
Faculty and staff from Downstate’s Colleges of Nursing and Health Related Professions and Schools of Graduates Studies and Public Health were among the presenters, providing information about fields of study and careers in the health professions and related sciences. Students also heard from the Brooklyn Health Disparities Center, a partnership between SUNY Downstate, the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President.
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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.
SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.