Let me tell you a bit about myself. I was born and raised in Rochester, NY, on the summer solstice (June 21st) of 1976. I attended public school, then went off to college at Brown University in Providence, RI. I subsequently attended Harvard Medical School. Next year, I will remain at Memorial Sloan Kettering for a 4-year residency in radiation oncology.
This is all true.
But it is also true that I took 2 years off during medical school to try and be a rock star. I moved to Brooklyn and did some recording, performing and touring as part of two different music projects as a singer and keyboard player. During my time away, I spent 2 months doing rotations at MSKCC, the first doing an outpatient med-onc elective, and the second doing rad-onc. It is here that I even discovered what the heck rad-onc was! And ever since, I’ve been enamored of that field of medicine AND of MSKCC in general.
Let me tell you why I wanted to come to MSKCC for the TY program and why I am so psyched that I came.
- The hospital is almost totally computerized. This makes life fabulous as an intern.
- The ancillary services here rock!
- The nursing here is top notch (and often saves your hide!).
- The patients here are great, especially if you feel a certain affinity for cancer patients. But even if onc is not your thing, the patients here feel privileged to be getting their care at such a highly-ranked cancer hospital and are more times than not very appreciative of the attention that you provide as their doctor.
- HOUSING. HOUSING. HOUSING. I was originally hesitant about living SO close to work, but it is an AMAZING convenience and a great gift to your wallet.
- Being part of a small internship is great. Your chiefs are like parents, you get as much personal attention as you want/need, you get a lot of small group learning, and you become really tight with a small group of great, fun folks. The TY’s all help one another out whenever possible, be it by covering on call days or by just lending a sympathetic ear.
- The year’s schedule is very nice and doable. You get 4 months of elective, which is a lot.
- You never stay overnight in the hospital EXCEPT for when you’re on night float.
- You get breakfast and lunch everyday when you’re on the medicine months.
- Most/All of the doctors you’ll work with here are super nice.
- It’s great to be in a city like New York when you want to blow of steam.
Please Email me if you have any questions or want to ask me more about my interests, likes/dislikes, childhood memories, etc. My email is [email protected].
Good Luck with the interview process, and have fun!