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PGY2 Overall Rating: 24-Jul- 2010 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Get to work around 6:30, finish around 5 on non-call days. Cornell has just hired a whole lot of CRNAs, so it makes it easier not to have to do the easy cases or stay late. Teaching The faculty are amazing and very knowledgeable. It's the brightest of the bright here. They are always willing to teach, especially if you ask about an article you've just read or a specific topic you want to discuss. This seems to be true of many top-tier programs. Atmosphere Nearly all of the residents here are amazing. Of course there will always be one or two that stand out from the crowd, but most classmates here are friends and spend a lot of time together. It's a mix between married people and single people, so there's something for everyone. You can definitely have a life outside of work, and being in Manhattan makes it very easy to get out and do whatever suits you. Cornell is in a phenomenal, safe location, so that makes it much easier to get out and hang out at night for dinner or drinks. Conclusion I would definitely choose this program again if I had to. What stands out in this program is the one-of-a-kind faculty, the amazing hospital, and the resources (fellowship/research opportunities, funding, etc). You'll notice when you apply that nearly every anesthesia residency has a weak regional program - here, regional is phenomenal because we have Hospital for Special Surgery, one of the leading Orthopedic hospitals in the world. We also work at Memorial Sloan Kettering, which is one of the top cancer centers in the world (2 months ICU rotation here as an Intern). The hours at Cornell are on par with the hours at Columbia, and both are probably a fraction higher than the hours at NYU/Sinai. We have outstanding cardiac, pain, and neuro experience. Though our peds experience is great (especially with a few weeks of PICU/NICU in intern year), Columbia may be a better program for peds. The culture at Cornell in general is very friendly, and no one every judges you for not knowing something like in other programs. Cornell and Columbia share the joint NYPH system, which has been ranked #6 in the country for around 10 years! Overall, I think this is easily the best anesthesia program in New York City. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

PGY2 Overall Rating: 20-Jan- 2008 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Typical work week is about 65-70hours/week, closer to the latter amount as a CA-2 and then returns to 65ish as a CA-3. Typical day involves setup around 6:45 AM, maybe 7am if in ambulatory. Cardiac and more complex cases, i get in around 6am. Techs are helpful when paged, but you do setup everything (lines, drips, a-line, machine, emergency drugs). Scutwork is minimal except for as a PACU resident where you are frequently asked to start IVs and draw blood. Workload is high, maybe highest in the NYC region except for St. Luke's Roosevelt, and this has taken a toll on overall morale of the residents. You are in rooms that frequently have cases starting beyond 5pm, and are expected to finish your room even if you are not on call if it is busy. Before major holidays, and during busier winter months, the schedules becomes very packed, and the hospital beds become full. This leads to a backup of patients in the PACU that stay for days, and as a consequence, the PACU has hold times greater than 2 hours after completion of a case. You will recover many patients in the OR, all the while knowing that your days has just been extended by 2 hours. Call is frequent, generally about 10 per month with 2-3 overnight calls. CA-2 year you only get 2 weekends off per month. Again, not cush by any means and far busier than other programs in the city. Moonlighting is optional on OB as a 24 hour shift on sundays, but the pay after tax $250-300 is so minimal that no residents volunteer, so now they assign people. CRNAs have increased in number, and thanfully they have started 12 hour shifts for them. This has reduced the number of times we are asked to relieve CRNAs, but it still happens. Thanfully, the relieving of CRNAs at 5pm by non-call residents has been reduced to once in a while, but you can expect to relieve one whose shift ends at 3pm without fail. One thing is nice though, OR anesthesia call is from home, and you can get nice little breaks to sleep/nap in your own bed rather than some gross call room. ICU/OB/PACU call is in-house. Hours in the ICU are rough, you frequently take q3 call, and this is a very ICU heavy program. By the time i am done with my anesthesia residency, I will complete 5 months of ICU, not counting internship months. This is also a very busy OB service, with a large percentage of the population requesting epidurals. Great for learning! Teaching Faculty are overall great. They are highly accomplished, and well-skilled. My favorite attendings to work with are the Pediatric and Pain faculty, as they are very laid back and are extremely excited to teach. Many neuro and regional attendings are equally good. Some of the older, more senior attendings do frequently work in the OR and it has been hit or miss with them. One in particular that does more administration and rarely steps foot in the OR except for Urology cases, has basically sold himself out against the residents--consensus amongs the residents is that he is not well respected. However, our chairman is very nice and approachable, and the education committee faculty are equally nice. We have had a program director change, and while it was sad to see the old one leave, he still works with residents at one of our affiliate hospitals. The new program directors are nice. Formal teaching sessions are every 3 weeks for 4 hours, and these sessions are hit or miss (mainly miss). We have an interactive case presentation every Thursday afternoon which is the best teaching each week, but unfortunately it is not protected time, so we often miss it by being stuck in a room. Grand rounds are on monday AM. Teaching in the OR is great as a first year and on cardiac, less so as you advance in skill and knowledge. Some attendings are gone before the tube is taped. As I am sure with most programs, it is what you make of it...ask intelligent questions, get intelligent answers. Don't ask anything, and you will be left alone to do your work. It is what you make of it. Teaching at our Memorial-Sloan Kettering and Hospital for Special Surgery rotations is fantastic, and I find these to be the gems of the program. Evaluations by attendings that you work with are positive and constructive. However, i have frequently noticed e-value evaluations that were overly critical and by reading them, easily identifiable as to why and by who they were written, and i must say they are overly critical. Quick to criticize, slow to praise. Atmosphere Camaraderie among peers is great. We have a nice mix of married, single, young, old, male, female residents. Many of us socialize outside of work, and have developed great friendships. We have also learned to cope together, with the busy hours, less than forgiving call schedule, and loss of a few close residents. We do have lives outside of work, unfortunately not a lot, especially as CA-2. Being in NYC helps, we have the world at our fingers. Overall physicial environment is great, modern facilities, no outdated equipment, and easy to obtain new toys. Facilities are awesome at Memorial, ok at HSS. Conclusion This program's strengths are the regional experience, the rotations at MSK and HSS hospitals, the academic reputation, and the plethora of cases. You will become a well trained anesthesiologist, whether you like or not. The drawbacks are the workhours and lack of motivation to work harder (no incentives such as getting out earlier or extra pay/moonlighting). When compared to other programs in NYC, this can be disappointing. Would i choose this program again?--Well, my top priority was to be well trained and have ample job opportunities when i graduate, and for this i feel confident. But when i look at the other choices, i would have to say it wouldn't be as easy of a decision anymore unless this program improves working conditions and morale. We have had times with low morale, with many residents at some point or the other regretting their decision to be here. But, we have weathered through it, and we have learned to deal, cope, and prosper. And in the end, we come out with a confidence that we can just about do anything and it will almost certainly be easier than life as a Cornell resident. And that to me is something worth considering. Residents go on to great private practice jobs and fellowships, and some stay on as faculty.

PGY4 Overall Rating: 08-Apr- 2007 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Set up room around 7am for a basic general case, earlier if you plan on invasive monitoring, drips, or difficult airway. You are responsible for making up all your emergency drugs, IV's, and extra monitors. You will learn to prepare for everything. Typically you are supervised on induction and then given the freedom to run your anesthetic as you like. Your day will end at different times depending on whether or not you are on call. If you are a relief/late hitter call you will likely be in the hospital 7am to 7-10 pm. If you are overnight, you stay until the cases are done and then go home for home call. Teaching The faculty is very nice and will allow you to try most anything as long as it is not contra-indicated. Attendings will teach if you ask. There is a defined lecture series, but it is hit or miss. Atmosphere Most residency classes have a great relationship. We enjoy working and playing together. This is a great city to have fun in. Conclusion If you are interested in regional anesthesia, this is the best place in the country. We rotate at the Hospital for Special Surgery and it doesn't get any better than that. I feel that we are trained to handle anything. You will have no problems finding the job or fellowship you want after residency. Yes, the hours are longer than other programs in the area, but you have more skill and experience when you graduate.

PGY2 Overall Rating: 05-Feb- 2006 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule A typical day starts around 6:30, setting up the room, the anesthesia tech is quite chaotic. Most of the time, there is something missing, so one usually needs to run around and find things herself as the techs are hard to grab in the morning and don't answer pagers promptly. Pharmacy is also quite late opening up as it is usually not open until at least 7:10 am while cases start at 7:30 am. The work load is usually from 7:30 am until whenever cases finish. Anesthsia is about scutwork actually, setting up IV, putting in IV, making sure backup meds are available, etc. The PACU is usually not very good at getting rid of patient, as it is often very frustrating being stuck in the OR for hours waiting for a finished case to go to PACU. In winter months when case load is heavy, it is not uncommon to finish at 7 pm and wait for 2 hours in the OR for the PACU to have a spot open. Then, residents are expected to do pre-op for the following day at the end of the day. The schedule is usually not out until 6 pm, so that even if you are done at 4 pm, you have to go back for pre-op. Teaching The faculty as a whole is not very caring about teaching. "Lectures" have been given by numerous faculty members to residents about how "teaching should no longer be the focus" of a residency program. We are expected to learn by ourselves. There are though a few individual attendings who are approachable and are willing to teach if you ask, but be careful of what you ask as they can through judgement on you if they think your questions are "dumb". The culture of the faculty is clique, and gossip behind the residents and give each resident class and resident a label in the beginning that will stick with you for the rest of your residency, if not your career. It feels like a tabloid newsgroup; nothing stays within the OR. Teaching is usually very poor as didactic sessions are only once every three weeks and half of the time it is cancelled, which means once every 2 months. Even when we have one, the content is something unrelated and poorly prepared. Three same lectures on ethics in the beginning of the PGY-2 year, which did not help at all with the OR work. Thursday afternoon teaching sessions had just begun but if you are in the OR, tough luck. Residents don't have much guidance here. For example, on the first day of PGY-2's orientation, no time/place was given to them about where to go or even whether there was an department orientation. Coordinator does a poor job coordinating: unreachable most of the time, and never keep residents informed til last minute. Residents must relieve CRNAs at 3 pm, as a result, one can be done at 2:30 pm on a good day but had to stay until 6 pm to finish cases started by CRNAs. Atmosphere There is a good deal of cameraderie among peers. But anesthesia as a specialty is quite individual-based. The peer support only comes after work or during social events. Many peers complain about the same things, but because we don't work with each other usually, it is hard to form an alliance. The chairman does not know residents at all. The physical environment is ok for the 3rd floor OR, but the 10th floor ORs are quite old and grey. There are now fewer foreign medical graduates in the program as the specialty is becoming more competitive. Quality of residents are generally good. There are a lot of dissastifaction with the program's effort in teaching but residents don't often voice them for fear of being labeled individually. Life outside of residency is colorful as New York is a city with lots of distractions. There is time to relax and call schedule is not bad. But as the training goes on, one assumes more responsibility and the call schedule can be worse. Conclusion The program does have housing that's just across the street, but at the same time one can also feel that one could never leave work. Often time, residents can be paged to go back in for a case or relieve a CRNA even if you are done for the day. If I had to reapply, I would not even apply here as it is not the most friendly environment towards residents training. Graduates do seem to get the fellowships they want, but there are tons of other programs that have happier residents and get the same if not better results.

Medical Student Overall Rating: 18-Nov- 2005 Teaching: Atmosphere: Research: Schedule Get out of bed at 6:15 AM, walk across the street to be at work at 6:30-6:45 AM, depending on how much you have to set up. You work until 6:30 pm (they tell you get relieved at 5 pm but that almost never happens - you finish when your room finishes). However, should you be lucky to finish early, you get to relieve a CRNA and finish HER room (you heard me, YOU relieve the CRNA, where in other programs, the opposite occurs). This is a BAD thing and it is not going to change during your residency so be forewarned. Plus, if you are even 5 minutes late, she will complain. Generally, you are supposed to have two 15 min breaks and a 30 min break. If you are a CRNA, you will get all your breaks. If you are a resident, you may be asked to take some or perhaps all of your breaks between cases (during changeover). Teaching Faculty are generally all personable and knowledgeable, even though they have lost a lot of good people lately. Like any place, there a few poisonous ones. You get "teaching" in Grand Rounds (Mondays 7 -8am but this has become a bureaucratic meeting to discuss issues such as how to be JCAHO compliant - this will NOT help you on your boards) and every 3rd or so Monday there is a morning of lectures that are given by staff. There is also a Thursday 4 PM conference which is very good but in order to go, your attending has to relieve you for an hour (good luck because it is not likely to happen). Once in the OR, after the first two months, it is your responsibility to get teaching, i.e. ask questions and do it right after intubation, because you may never see your attending again until you have to extubate. Atmosphere Camaraderie among peers is great, within classes and between classes. Attending-resident relationships are ok but in contrast to other programs, we are never on a first name basis. The physical environment is fine. We work in a relatively clean hospital because we've been cited by JCAHO so they even started cleaning the stairs now. I don't think there are any FMGs in the program. Even if there were, as long as they were good, who cares? I've met a lot of bad US grads too. I live in hospital housing. There are four residency halls which pretty much everybody lives in. It's small but reasonably priced for this part of town (Upper East Side). But there's a lot of construction going on literally next door (for the next few years) so it's difficult to sleep post-call (this is a HUGE nuisance) and on the odd weekend. You can find enough time to go out once during the week as well as the occasional weekends. I work about two weekends (Sat or Sun) a month. Conclusion Compared to other program,s you will work A LOT more here (especially during your CA-2 year). The plus is that you can get solid training and be comfortable with all aspects of anesthesia . You rotate through Hospital for Special Surgery (all regional) and Memorial (all sick) which are useful rotations. However, getting out at a reasonable time is a good thing too, which hardly happens here. The biggest complaint about this program is having to relieve CRNAs at 3 and 5 pm. CRNAs usually do the cases you do not want to do (i.e. eye room because the ophthamology guys do the block, not you!) and get relieved by residents when their shift ends. This is in contrast to many programs where the CRNAs relieve the residents. If you come here, you will learn to resent it. Positives: residents, good reputation, attendings, clean work environment Negatives: CRNA relief, no built-in sick days (comes out of your vacation time), arbitrary suspensions that come out of your vacation time (two residents got suspended for a week one for not timing and dating their syringes (!) and the other for leaving a drug kit out on their cart when they went to the bathroom) Most graduates end up getting jobs in private practice all over the country. I have never heard of someone who wanted a fellowship but did not get one. Bottom line: If I were to do this again, I would take a long, hard look at other programs. The place is okay, it's not as malignant as it could be, but there are programs out there that are much more resident friendly.