Hofstra Vs. Downstate

[crossover]

Just wanted to get some opinions on Hofstra vs. Downstate.

Instate so both tuitions are approximately the same after Hofstra scholarship. Downstate is an established school that matches well in NYC while Hofstra has an innovative new curriculum. In Downstate, you are 1 of 180, whereas in Hofstra, you are 1 of 40 with no upperclassmen. Thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[anbuitachi]

Downstate is arguably the best state school in NY. Hofstra is nothing right now. And do you really want to do your own notes?! No!! get them from people who already took the classss! As far as I know, Hofstra also has no medical clubs yet and with 40 students right now, there probably wont be many. Why risk going to a new school when theres already an established school known for its great clinical that matches well every year? Getting to know people is extremely important in my opinion, and with a bigger size, DS will benefit you more. Plus, DS starts later so you can have a longer summer vacation this year =)

 

[Direct Laryngoscopy]

Downstate Alumini.

I rotated through LIJ and North shore so I can give you some perspective as far as clinical rotations. NS-LIJ has a lot dough so ancillary services are on point. At the county and Downstate, you do more leg work and is more hands on. If your into trauma or and variants of that (ortho-trauma, ophtho-trauma, EM), you will see a lot and be involved in the care of these patients.

Medicine is also hands on as you are part of the team and are expected to hold your own (as a Sub-i, I carried 4 patients). Speaking to consultants, making sure diagnostic test are completed (You don't transport, at least I didn't) is expected of you. The patients, generally appreciative of the care you render to them.

The other primary site Long Island College Hospital (LICH) is in Brooklyn Heights (Nice area by Brooklyn Bridge). There, the patient population changes (at least in the OR where I'm at). from the East Flatbush section.

1st and 2nd year is standard organ based. pretty standard (podcast and lecture notes). Attendance optional.

Overall, Downstate will give you a standard medical education. Graduates match all over the country. If your looking for inner-city medicine and the social issues that come with it, Downstate may be a good choice for you. I liked it so much, I signed on for another 4 years ;-)

 

[crossover]

Thank you all for the input.

 

[synthase]

I think you could have some advantages at Hofstra. It would be a unique situation and I'm sure the administration will be extremely supportive and receptive to the pioneering class to help you succeed. Good luck.

 

[anbuitachi]

I think you could have some advantages at Hofstra. It would be a unique situation and I'm sure the administration will be extremely supportive and receptive to the pioneering class to help you succeed. Good luck.

That is true but I don't see it making a big difference anywhere but in their own system.

 

[FIREitUP]

new school with hospitals where only rich people go vs. established school where you'll get amongst the best clinical experience possible, is what I'm reading here. That new Cohen Triage room is really nice though, and they even have coffee machines, holy ****.

 

[icepeak]

new school with hospitals where only rich people go vs. established school where you'll get amongst the best clinical experience possible, is what I'm reading here. That new Cohen Triage room is really nice though, and they even have coffee machines, holy ****.

I knew it was only a matter of time before fireitup started bashing hofstra.

op, either way you can't really make a bad decision and you'll end up with an MD. with downstate you'll get great clinical exposure in brooklyn, and with hofstra you'll get, i think, unrivaled/personalized attention in one of the better hospital systems (despite what fireitup might have you believe) in new york state.

i think it might come down to how you learn better - are you going to learn more in a lecture based environment for the first two years, or would you learn in a more hands on/pbl setting?

 

[synthase]

new school with hospitals where only rich people go vs. established school where you'll get amongst the best clinical experience possible, is what I'm reading here. That new Cohen Triage room is really nice though, and they even have coffee machines, holy ****.

Seriously.... don't think these exist. Next you're going to say students at Cornell don't get clinical experience because NYPres Hospital is a nice hospital where only rich people go.... these hospitals, regardless of what you might think about $, treat large and diverse patient populations and cases.

Its nice you like Downstate, but maybe cool it with all the anti-every-other-school attitude (in reference to several threads). Everyone has their own biases - some with, some without reasons.

Good luck OP.

 

[FIREitUP]

Seriously.... don't think these exist. Next you're going to say students at Cornell don't get clinical experience because NYPres Hospital is a nice hospital where only rich people go.... these hospitals, regardless of what you might think about $, treat large and diverse patient populations and cases.

Its nice you like Downstate, but maybe cool it with all the anti-every-other-school attitude (in reference to several threads). Everyone has their own biases - some with, some without reasons.

Good luck OP.

I can't attest to the population at NYP, however, Weill is an established school with many affiliates (one of them being New York Hospital of Queens, which services a very diverse population). When someone posts an X School vs Y School, it invites people to express their opinions on both schools. In this case, we have a school with zero reputation versus one with a great one. We have a school who is established, versus one who didn't even have their faculty solidified a year ago. If OP wants to be coddled by a new school, that's fine by me. Just offering my opinion, and I think most people would agree with me.

 

[Xadorus]

Toss a coin, this isn't designed to decide for you; but in that one moment when it is in the air, you suddenly know which school you want to goto.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I will admit that I'm defending a fellow classmate, but I feel that Fireitup isn't too far off in his opinions. Hofstra is a brand new school, without an established reputation at this point. No one can predict with certainty the outcome/experience the OP will have at a school that lacks any data. I also think that most physicians will agree that one will get better training when there is a diverse patient pool--both socioeconomically and ethinically. Hofstra's diversity is lower than that of Downstate's, in my opinion, and the OP's clinical training will reflect that in year 3 and 4.

Fireitup didn't say anything that outright "bashed" Hofstra anyway; he was just being blunt about the patient population at one of the hospitals.

The OP needs to see these opinions and make his decision about which school he feels will provide him with the best medical education that is aligned with his goals. Without a little bit of varying opinion, it won't help him much.

 

[Snuke]

Hofstra may be untested, but North Shore has been used for residencies for years, and that's the direct connection.

Hofstra is new, yes, but there is a lot of care and attention going towards it, and a lot of connections.

As a previous poster said, it also depends on how you learn. Hofstra is mostly PBL. Also, they are emphasizing early patient contact, moreso than usual.

Though, of course, Downstate is established. You get an MD either way.

 

[anbuitachi]

The biggest concern in my opinion is that in Hofstra, there's really no one you can easily ask for help except for professors. There will also be no typed up notes from classmates to help. etc

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

The biggest concern in my opinion is that in Hofstra, there's really no one you can easily ask for help except for professors. There will also be no typed up notes from classmates to help. etc

Med school may be different, but I never had help from classmates in undergrad in the way you're describing so I personally take that as a non-issue.

 

[anbuitachi]

Undergrad was easy though...

 

[vanishing1]

Most people would not agree with you. I know of at least 5 New York City MD's who when asked which they would choose Downstate or Hofstra they said Hofstra.

 

[anbuitachi]

To work at or for medical school... i would rather work at Hofstra haha

 

[FIREitUP]

Most people would not agree with you. I know of at least 5 New York City MD's who when asked which they would choose Downstate or Hofstra they said Hofstra.

4 out of 5 dentists recommend...

 

[crazyboy123]

Just wanted to get some opinions on Hofstra vs. Downstate.

Instate so both tuitions are approximately the same after Hofstra scholarship. Downstate is an established school that matches well in NYC while Hofstra has an innovative new curriculum. In Downstate, you are 1 of 180, whereas in Hofstra, you are 1 of 40 with no upperclassmen. Thoughts?

Hofstra scholarship, wow, very nice. Anyway, Crossover, please consider Hofstra. This is a brand new school, brand new class, brand new facility. And small class size, which you will get a lot of attention. Environment wise, much better than downstate area. And you will probably develop a lot of connection at North Shore. Your future is great at North Shore, please go there.

(Side note - I am getting a little sick of all the thread i see comparing Downstate to blah blah blah school, and it makes me feel like people are mocking Downstate - even unintentionally. I believe the moment one starts comparing X schools with downstate, one already doubt the greatness of downstate. It's okay. I know, it's unranked, and it's neighborhood is being exaggerated as super dangerous. And on PAPER, it's nothing compare to any school one can think of. But it's okay, I am a very typical student, and I am grateful enough that Downstate accepts me, and realizing I will have MD after my name when I graduate)


Crossover, being accepted by two schools, or more, means that you are probably a great student with great potential. If your gut told you that downstate is no good, please go to Hofstra. I believe there are a lot of typical people like me, waiting in the alternate / Hold list, to be the first in the family to go to med school and make their family proud.

Please, no offense. They are all my humble opinion plus totally subjective views. If you pick downstate at the end, I believe all future downstate students here will welcome you with both arms, cuz downstate students are so damn COOL!

 

[crazyboy123]

Seriously.... don't think these exist. Next you're going to say students at Cornell don't get clinical experience because NYPres Hospital is a nice hospital where only rich people go.... these hospitals, regardless of what you might think about $, treat large and diverse patient populations and cases.

Its nice you like Downstate, but maybe cool it with all the anti-every-other-school attitude (in reference to several threads). Everyone has their own biases - some with, some without reasons.

Good luck OP.

Erer... Synthase..., you probably are a great student, and I can see that you are going to become a great doctor one day. But the situation here is that.... many people are more leaning toward ANTI-downstate (subjective view - from friends and online posts).... and all the future DS students here are just trying to use our precious time to objectively point our downstate's pro + a little human side of our subjective view, lol.

 

[Kfire326]

Hey OP,

Downstate alum here. Wow I should prob get used to saying that...

I'll offer my opinion despite my bias. And despite the fact that I know nothing about Hofstra. But seriously, I really do think Downstate is the better choice, and I'll try to explain why.

The basic point has been said already several times by posters with varying reputations, but I'll reiterate and go further, hopefully. It's not so much Downstate's reputation vs. Hofstra's non-reputation, or a renewed curriculum vs. a brand new mostly PBL-curriculum (btw did you know you'd be entering Downstate with a new curriculum? Don't ask me though, I don't know anything about it... I'm outta here), but above all else, it's a matter of education security. I would much rather go to an institution that has been in the business of training physicians for many years (151 as of my class' graduation), rather than one that's just sprouting. Unfortunately, the 'don't practice on me' attitude that a lot of people have towards residents applies here too, except here you're the patient. I would be very uncomfortable putting my medical education - the foundation for my career - in the hands of noobs. Sorry, n00bs. Now I'm sure that individual faculty will have varying degrees of experience teaching X, Y, or Z at other schools (probably extensive in some cases), but this will be their first time working together to synthesize an entire medical curriculum. There is no guarantee that your education will be as good as it should be or as good as it can be, or even that it will be up to par, period. And we won't know for two years until the first class takes Step 1. This, to me, is the most obvious reason their class is only 40. Because they might not know what they're doing in the beginning, and don't want to stretch themselves too thin with too many students.

I just applied for residencies. Going to a university and being in an academic setting with opportunities to become involved in a medical school is very important to me, and was a major inquiry of mine on the residency interview trail. As far as NS/LIJ, Hofstra was a big big big selling point my departments program used, and it was for others too, according to friends of mine. I wasn't buying it though... I'm just not comfortable being the guinea pig. I'd rather go somewhere with a well-established role, reputation and personality that I fit in to, rather than be the one all that is built around. Or on top of.

Lastly, scholarships are EXTREMELY few and far between at the level of medical education, at least in my experience, and are therefore nearly impossible to get. That being the case, you are either the valedictorian of Yale, or a guy from the NYC/Long Island area who Hofstra thinks they can entice with a wad of cash. Whatever you decide, for your own sake, please don't let that be the deciding factor, especially if the end result is equal tuition.