# SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

The SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (formally The State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn) is a public medical school in Brooklyn, New York City. The university includes the College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies and School of Public Health.
It is one of seven medical schools located in New York City and the sole medical school in the borough of Brooklyn, serving its 2.6 million residents.

## History

The SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University was founded in 1860 as the Long Island College of Medicine. The site where the Downstate Medical Center stands was purchased in 1946. In 1950, the state university merged with Long Island College Hospital to form SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. Later, the university was called The State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn and the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine.

## Campus

The College of Medicine is located at 450 Clarkson Avenue in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. Most of the preclinical learning activities take place in the Health Sciences Education Building located at 395 Lenox Road.
Clinical rotations take place at University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB); the main teaching hospital at SUNY Downstate, Kings County Hospital Center, located just across the street from UHB, the Brooklyn Veteran's Administration Hospital, Staten Island University Hospital among other places.

## Academics

SUNY Downstate College of Medicine's Integrated Pathways curriculum addresses several core competencies - Medical Knowledge, Systems Based Practice, Professionalism, Interpersonal & Communications, Practice Based Learning and Improvement and Patient Care. Each of these must be completed to be awarded an M.D.
The college of medicine offers several pathways to graduation including joint degree programs and special tracks including MD/Ph.D., MD/MPH, MD Medical Educators Pathway, MD Clinical Neuroscience Pathway, and MD Global Health Pathway.
In clinical years students rotate at several different hospitals including:
* University Hospital of Brooklyn (in-house)
* Kings County Hospital (in-house)
* Downstate at Bay Ridge (in-house)
* Brooklyn Veterans Administration Hospital
* Lenox Hill Hospital
* North Shore University Hospital
* Staten Island University Hospital
* New York Methodist Hospital
In 2015, SUNY Downstate students matched to almost 18% of all offered EM/IM combined residency positions. 26 additional students matched to emergency medicine programs at institution including UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh.

### College of Medicine admissions

The 2018 entering class averaged an undergraduate GPA of 3.74 and MCAT of 514. In the same cycle 5390 prospective students applied for 203 spots in the first year class.

## Student activities
### The Anne Kastor Brooklyn Free Clinic

The Anne Kastor Brooklyn Free Clinic (BFC) is a student-run free clinic operated primarily by the students of the College of Medicine. The BFC offers care and health maintenance screening to the uninsured populations of Brooklyn. The clinic was renamed The Anne Kastor Brooklyn Free Clinic in memory of Anne Kastor who helped founding faculty member of the clinic and passed from ovarian cancer in 2013. So dedicated to the spirit of student run clinics, Dr. Kastor went on to become the Director of the Weil Cornell Community Clinic at Weil Cornell Medical College.
The clinic hosts an annual conference on health seen through the eyes of medicine, art, technology and community called BFC What's Next. The clinic has won multiple awards for its advertisement campaigns including a gold medal in conjunction with CDMiConnect at the 2014 MMM Awards for their "We Need U" campaign and a bronze medal at the CLIO Healthcare Awards.
The BFC operates several clinical, educational and outreach services including:
* Women's Health Night - One night per month dedicated to issues of women's health
* Work Physical Night - One night per month dedicated providing work clearance and helping increase community productivity
* BFC Community Outreach - Engagement in surrounding neighborhood
* BFC RISE (Routine Intervention through Screening and Education) - HIV/HCV counseling, syringe exchange counseling and harm reduction.
* Emergency Response - Responsible for clinic mobilization in case of emergency (e.g. mobile clinic establishment in Red Hook during Hurricane Sandy)
* Pharmacy Assistance
* Patient Education and Health Promotion

### Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health

In 1992, Arthur Ashe established the Institute in partnership with SUNY Downstate intentionally.

### Downstate Ethics Society

In partnership with the John Conley Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities at the medical center, the society aims to expose students to ethical issues surrounding all aspects of health care.

### Other clubs and organizations

Clubs and societies at SUNY Downstate are not limited to the college of medicine but also involve the other schools at SUNY Downstate including the College of Health Related Professions (CHRP), College of Nursing, School of Graduate Studies and School of Public Health. Clubs are tailored to a diverse range of interests including human rights, music, ethnic dialogues, ethics, specialty interest groups and global health among many other things. Keriann Shalvoy of the class of 2017 currently sits on the Board of Directors for Physicians for a National Health Program - NY Metro.

## Notable physicians and researchers

* Louis Bauer - Credited as "the father of orthapaedic surgery in the United States"
* Henri Begleiter - Former Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. Made important discoveries about alcoholics and their offspring.
* Jeffrey Birnbaum M.D. M.P.H. - Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health. The director of the one of a kind HEAT program offering a wide range of HIV and transgender services to at risk youth in New York City.
* Jeffrey S. Borer, MD - Professor and Physician in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine is a senior editor of The Medical Roundtable
* Howard Choi - Principal editor of the PM&R Handbook and Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mt. Sinai graduated from Downstate College of Medicine
* James E. Cottrell - Dean for Clinical Practice, Distinguished Service Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology. Former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology.
* Raymond Vahan Damadian - Former Professor and inventor of the MR Scanning Machine. First person to perform full body MR scan on a human.
* Clarence Dennis - Chair of the Department of Surgery (1951), inventor of one of the first cardiopulmonary bypass machines. Successfully used his at Downstate in 1955.
* Marian Dunn, Ph.D. - Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Center for Human Sexuality and member of the advisory panel for BetterSex
* Richard D. Feinman - Professor of Biochemistry, medical researcher with focus on human metabolism. Dr. Feinman is an outspoken proponent of the low carbohydrate diet of which he has written several papers and a book.
* Austin Flint - Former Professor of Pathology and Practical Medicine. Founder of Buffalo Medical College (SUNY Buffalo) and identifier or the murmur of severe aortic regurgitation.
* Robert F. Furchgott - Ph.D. - Recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology
* Nieca Goldberg - physician and author. Her specialty is as a cardiologist.
* John Hartung - Professor of Anesthesiology and former Associate Editor of the Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology
* Gerald Imber - plastic surgeon
* Adrian Kantrowitz - Alumni and inventor of the intra-aortic balloon pump and left ventricular assist device. His team performed the first pediatric heart transplant at Maimonides Medical Center
* Samuel L. Kountz - Former Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the department. While at Stanford, he performed the first successful kidney transplant between non-identical humans
* Hans Kraus - Former Associate Professor. Kraus' studies led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower establishing the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He also served as the secret back doctor to President John F. Kennedy.
* Sheldon H. Landesman M.D. - Professor of Medicine and pioneer in the fight against AIDS in Brooklyn
* Julius Lempert - Alumnus and father of modern otology.
* Susan Love - Alumni and prominent advocate of preventive breast cancer research. She is currently Professor of Surgery at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
* Stephen Macknik, PhD - Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Physiology & Pharmacology. Neuromagic founder, Scientific American MIND columnist and co-author of the popular book Sleights of Mind.
* Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD - Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Physiology & Pharmacology. Co-author of the book, Sleights of Mind. Director of the Martinez-Conde Laboratory at Downstate.
* A. L. Mestel - Alumni and pioneer in the field of pediatric surgery. Especially known for the first successful separation of Ischiopagus Tripus conjoined twins
* Alan S. Rabson - pathologist and cancer researcher, deputy director of the National Cancer Institute from 1995 to 2015.
* James B. Ranck, Jr. - Distinguished Professor of Physiology and discoverer of head direction cells.
* Todd C. Sacktor M.D. - Professor of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neurology and pioneer in memory research
* Peter T. Scardino - Professor of Urology and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering
* Arthur Schatzkin, M.D. - nutritional epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute
* Leonard Shengold - psychiatrist known for studies on child abuse and popularizing the term "soul murder"
* Alexander Skene - Completed his medical education at Long Island College Hospital. Gynecologist who described what became known as Skene's glands
* Ralph Snyderman - Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine at Duke University from 1989 to 2004 graduated from Downstate in 1965
* T. K. Sreepada Rao - Former Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of Renal Diseases
* Marc Straus - oncologist, art collector, poet, and writer