Teaching Activities

Stony Brook has a closed faculty system which has important repercussions on the educational format. One attending is responsible not only for all patient care, but also for all educational experiences for each team. This means that as an inpatient team resident you will only have to contact one attending for any patient care concerns. Also, it enables teaching discussion to flow from pathophysiology directly into management planning.

Patient Diversity
The quality of your residency training will be greatly influenced by the diversity of clinical problems you encounter during this time. The most effective manner to learn clinical medicine is by caring for people with varying medical conditions. The broader the experience, the better will be your education. The University Hospital at Stony Brook in conjunction with the Northport VA Hospital serve a population of over 1.5 million people and consequently have a very diversified clinical population. The University Hospital is the only tertiary care hospital in this area. Many patients also seek their primary care at our facility. Patients are referred here for care from other hospitals, offices and clinics.

We have specialized units including: Level I trauma center, Burn Center, high risk pregnancy center, Cancer Center with bone marrow transplant unit, AIDS Center, Lyme Disease Center, Diabetes Center, Geriatrics Center, Cardiology program including electrophysiology laboratory, and the only open-heart surgery program in Suffolk County. Patients enter the hospital from a very busy emergency room as well as by referral. Hence, as a resident you will care for people with both common and rare disorders involving all organ systems, a wide variety of infectious and immunologic diseases. The very active Northport VA Hospital complements this outstanding University Hospital experience serving the large Veteran population as the only VA hospital on Long Island.

Research
The School of Medicine faculty engaged in biomedical research represents a major asset of the University and contributes significantly to its outstanding productivity. Four chairs hold NIH MERIT awards. According to data provided by the American Association of Medical Colleges, the basic science faculty ranks in the top 10 percent of medical schools in research funding per individual investigator and in articles published in prestigious journals.

Stony Brook is the first public university in New York to be ranked a "Type 1 Research University" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a distinction granted to fewer that two percent of all colleges and universities in the nation.

Primary Care Training
The Stony Brook Residency Program emphasizes primary care training for all three-year residents. All residents experience two different continuity practices by being paired with another resident at the same level of training. Most pairs share ongoing practices both at the DVA and at University Hospital, thus experiencing the benefits that both sites offer for primary care experience. A select group of residents also have begun an exciting experience with continuity sessions with community-based preceptors, allowing them to learn about ambulatory medicine in a practice setting away from the traditional academic setting. This has been an extremely well-received addition to the primary care training experience.

Second-year residents spend a month in a geriatric outpatient rotation, attending geriatrics clinic, visiting nursing homes, and participating in home-based health care and hospice care. In addition, a month of "Primary Care Skills" in the third year allows residents to focus more on the skills used in a primary care practice, such as flexible sigmoidoscopy, ophthalmologic assessment and the evaluation of common acute complaints.

We recognize that understanding the psychological manifestations of disease is essential. Residents have the opportunity to spend a month immersed in the psychiatric aspects of medicine. We have well-developed psychiatric consultation-liaison services at both hospitals, and this rotation gives residents the opportunity to work at the interface of medicine and psychiatry, learning to assess and treat common psychiatric problems seen both in inpatient and outpatient practices. A Block rotation at a combined inpatient and outpatient substance abuse center also enhances residents' abilities to interact effectively with a broad range of patients in both primary and acute care settings. Further training in the psychosocial aspects of care continues with the presence of a "psychosocial preceptor" during continuity clinic at both sites. This preceptor is available to assess difficult patient interactions, recommend intervention, and assist residents in identifying their strengths and difficulties with a broad range of primary care patients.

As educators, we are excited about the new emphasis on primary care and take pride in the fact that we graduate approximately one-half of our residents into primary care. The other half enter into a variety of subspecialties. Many of our graduates opt to join the practice community, while others continue to pursue academic and research careers. We invite you to visit SUNY at Stony Brook and take a close look at our excellent training programs.

Activities Schedule

Morning Report
	8:00 AM - 9:00 AM. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Work Rounds
	9:00 AM - 10:00 AM. Senior residents supervise junior residents' patient care activities without an attending physician present.
Discharge Planning
	9:30 AM - 10:00 AM. All patient care (discharges, physical rehab, long-term care) is planned bt the floor team in conjunction with discharge coodinator, social worker and nurses.
Teaching Rounds
	10:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Residents round with the attending on all patients.
Noon Conferences
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Medicine Grand Rounds
	8:00 PM - 9:00 AM. Every Wednesday alternating at Stony Brook and Northport (teleconferenced to other site).
Morbidity & Mortality Conferences
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM. Alternate Thursdays.
Critical Care Conferences
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM. Alternate Thursdays.
Ethics Conferences
	7:30 AM - 8:30 AM. Third Friday of each month.
Board Review
	5:30 PM - 7:30 PM. Every Wednesday with dinner, Stony Brook Univeristy Hospital
Journal Club
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM. Two sessions per month.
Medicine/ER Conference
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM. Alternating months.