Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Big names in their field. The chairman is well known, well published. Their strength is shoulder/elbow. The team doc for the New York Yankees belongs here. Otherwise, they have a few big names around but not necessarily that many great teachers that are willing to really take the time to help the residents learn to operate
Didactics / Teaching
Strong didactics for the most part. There is better out there, but certainly a lot worse too.
Operating Experience
For simple operations, upper level residents can find themselves doing the case. For the glamour operations, esp sports or shoulder /elbow, get prepared to stand behind one or maybe even two attendings, and a fellow. The junior residents get perhaps one of the poorest operative experiences I have seen anywhere around. Even the twos appear largely to function as interns on many services.
Clinic Experience
It is necessarily inefficient, as being in Washington Heights, it is as much an exercise in translation as it is in determining necessary follow up/pre-op planning. Residents also get sent to satellite clinics to the upper Bronx, which is equally painful.
Research Opportunities
Definitely there if you seek them. Most of the depts here know how to publish... often, and in top-notch journals.
Residents
Something about New York City that does not attract the top personalities. Perhaps the least down-to-earth group of residents I've met. Even simple jokes or greetings will often be met with rebukes of some sort and/or explanation of how the universe actually works
Lifestyle
Its Ortho. A few inefficiencies and an older school mentality, not to mention the unionized nature of New York City nurses, make the hours drag out a little longer than they ideally ought to.
Location / Housing
New York city, while not for everyone, can certainly be one of the greatest cities on earth. That being said, the Wash Heights/upper west side area, out of the various Manhattan Ortho programs and even many of the ones in Brooklyn, is by far the least sexy and least happening of any of the various locales. Most residents opt for the longer commute, and live away from the hospital
Limitations
Older facilities, intrinsic language barrier btwn faculty/residents and approx 70% of your patients (although you learn to speak Spanish fairly quickly and be functional, esp if you have any type of background in it), unionized nature of nurses, and old school mentality of attendings which trickles down to residents.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Location is the number one attraction, combined with the Ivy name. Operative experience and residents are the major downside. Overall, too many people rotate here and their selection process to incestuous to recommend the externship to anyone outside an Ivy league med school. I, personally, was attracted to the prospect of an NYC program, but perhaps chose the wrong program to rotate at.
