I grew up in New York, moved out to California for college, took a year off to live in China, came back to the east coast for med school, took another year off to do some research in New York city and now I’m permanently here and plan to start anesthesia residency at Columbia next July.
Initially the reason why I was attracted to this program was because I was looking for the flexibility of the transitional year. I really wanted a program with a solid reputation for providing great clinical training and I knew I wanted to be in NYC since my family is close by.
It’s been a great year, the learning has been exponential and MSKCC is a world class institution. The attendings here are some of the pioneers and lead experts in their field of cancer research and many of the patients here are involved in clinical studies.
The didactics here are great and there is a conscious effort to try to make sure you get to them. Additionally, there is support for you professionally and personally from the program leadership which makes a huge difference in your well being. Lastly, it’s NYC and the location of Sloan Kettering is the perfect launching pad for exploring all the vibrancy of the city on your time off!