It was the first time that a hospital and medical school were combined under one roof in the United States. In 1930, the teaching division of the Long Island College Hospital was incorporated independently as the Long Island College of Medicine. Then, in 1950, the trustees of the State University of New York chose this institution as the core for the development of a major health science center in the New York metropolitan area and founded what would later be called the Downstate Medical Center, and today the S.U.N.Y. Health Science Center at Brooklyn. This institution serves the needs of a larger and more diverse urban constituency than any other such center in the country. It upholds a special responsibility to solve some of the difficult problems that are found primarily in urban areas, and to serve those who are by and large underserved.
Several factors contribute to our program's uniqueness.
Our primary mission is therefore one of education and academic advancement. Consequently, we give priority and place an emphasis on giving our undergraduate and postgraduate students a quality pediatric education while they deliver an excellent level of medical care to their patients. In light of this, over 100 of our academic and clinical faculty are present on-campus on a full time basis. They take pride in their didactic responsibilities, and they enjoy an informal, open door, inquisitive atmosphere. Our faculty represent a wide spectrum of disciplines.