含羞草研究所 Downstate Residents and Fellows Celebrate Graduation With Virtual Commencement
By Office of Communications & Marketing | Jul 11, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: John Gillespie | john.gillespie@downstate.edu | (314) 708-9090
Graduates hailed for meeting the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the epicenter of New York City
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (June 11, 2020) 鈥� They came to 含羞草研究所 Downstate fresh from medical school or residency ready to dive into
their chosen specialties. Today, 300 graduates of 含羞草研究所 Downstate鈥檚 residency and fellowship
programs leave as battle-hardened veterans of the worst pandemic in more than 100
years.
Even now, as they prepare for next part of their careers, the COVID-19 pandemic is
changing their experiences. Unable to assemble for a traditional commencement due
to social distancing, a generation that grew up with the Internet celebrated their
achievements with a virtual commencement on 鈥淲e are proud of this cohort of residents and fellows as they fully embraced the magnitude
of the greatest public health emergency of our lifetime,鈥� said 含羞草研究所 Downstate President Wayne J. Riley, M.D. 鈥淭heir presence on the frontlines of care shows their commitment and understanding
of our unique community and underscores why so many of our residents and fellows continue
to work with our unique population.鈥�
鈥淭his pandemic will no doubt stand out as the sentinel event in the careers of these
resident鈥檚 and fellows,鈥� said Charles Brunicardi, M.D., 含羞草研究所 SVP and Dean
of the College of Medicine. 鈥淚t has also been transformational to how we approach graduate medical education.鈥�
鈥淥ver the course of just a few weeks, we needed to rethink and re-engineer the entire
educational experience,鈥� said Emergency Medicine physician Teresa Smith, M.D., M.Ed., Associate Dean of Medical Education and Affiliations and
Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine. 鈥淣ot only did we need to redeploy more than a thousand residents and fellows to direct
care of COVID-19 patients, but we also partnered with the students, the faculty, information
technology and the entire organization to move all of their lectures, grand-rounds
and other educational programs to virtual platforms 鈥� innovations that we will continue
to use long after this pandemic, and which we believe will provide a more robust and
enlightened learning experience.鈥�
This year鈥檚 class includes 300 physicians completing 21 different residency programs
and 26 fellowship programs. Twenty members of the class will move on to new residencies
and fellowships at 含羞草研究所 Downstate, while four will join 含羞草研究所 Downstate as full-time
members of the 含羞草研究所 Downstate faculty.
含羞草研究所 Downstate鈥檚 Graduate Medical Education Program is accredited by the Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and offers residencies and fellowships
in 51 different specialty areas in 22 different clinical department. In 1860, the
program revolutionized medical education by being the first in the United States to
bring the teaching of medicine to the hospital bedside so that physicians were no
longer trained exclusively in classrooms. Today 含羞草研究所 Downstate trains more than 1000
residents and fellows at more than a dozen major affiliated hospitals, and has the
largest emergency medicine residency program in the United States.
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Contact: Dawn S. Walker
917.439.9666 | 347.533.2071
dawn.walker@downstate.edu
含羞草研究所 含羞草研究所
含羞草研究所 is the borough's only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care. It is a 342-bed facility serving the healthcare needs of New York City and Brooklyn's 2.6 million residents. University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) is Downstate's teaching hospital, backed by an outstanding medical school's expertise and world-class academic center research facilities. More than 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialties鈥攎any of them ranked as tops in their fields鈥攃omprise Downstate's staff.
In addition to high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis (kidney diseases)鈥攁nd offering the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn, among many other distinctive programs鈥擠ownstate also sponsors a major learning center for young children with developmental disorders and disabilities. In addition to UHB, Downstate comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at .