Good morning, I am Francesca, and I am so thrilled to have you join a few of my colleagues and me this week. We are going to take you behind the scenes of our clinical experiences around the Mount Sinai Health System and give you a little insight into the pulse of the city and things we love to do.
Right now, I am headed to my internal medicine rotation, and I am about to hop on that shuttle bus to one of Mount Sinai’s affiliates in Queens, the Elmhurst Hospital Centre. I will meet you over there.
Clinical Rotation at Elmhurst Hospital Centre
Hello again, and welcome to Queens, one of the most ethnically diverse and culturally rich boroughs in New York City. We are right at the heart of it all. The clinical rotation at Elmhurst is an experience like no other. You are really going to see the patient population that we serve and understand their 360-degree view. From the variety of languages they speak to the religions they practice, whether first-generation immigrants or lifelong residents, you are going to gain invaluable experience in providing care to individuals with unique health needs and perspectives.
While I cannot show you my actual patient interactions, I will tell you that my day usually goes something like this. I chart check my patients and review the labs in the mornings to see if any significant events happened overnight. Then I meet my patients. I usually have a few during the day. Then the team rounds to run through our patient lists and talk about their medical plans throughout the day, and see if we have any potential discharges.
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After hours, I love food, dance, and dessert. You can typically find me enjoying a performance on Broadway or at Lincoln Centre, grabbing a dessert at one of my favourites uptown, and walking around Central Park to get grounded in nature and listen to one of my favourite podcasts. It is so important for me to take time after a long day to connect with myself and find ways to keep my passions and identities alive.
Third Year: A Choose Your Own Adventure
Hi, I am Rachel. Now I am going to let you in on a well-known secret at Sinai. In many ways, the third year can be a choose-your-own-adventure kind of experience, at least that is how my friends and I describe it. You will find that you will be able to use your free time to advance your education as you see fit. For some, that could be research or reading scholarly articles. For me, it is research and scrubbing extra cases with the transplant team.
I have had the pleasure to meet some of the kindest and most welcoming surgeons here at Sinai who have extended open invites to their ORs whenever I have the time, so I take full advantage of that. What excites me about transplant is being involved in patient cases that are both medically and surgically complex, so they require a lot of teamwork. From a surgical standpoint, there will also always be cases that are challenging, so it keeps you on your toes.
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I also surprised myself when I realised that I liked the bigger open cases, and I guess it lines up with the go big or go home mentality that I tend to have. There is also an opportunity to have longer-term relationships with your patients than many other surgical specialties allow, which is particularly important to me. All the patients are incredibly grateful for what you do for them, and that also makes the work easier and the long hours very worth it to me.
The patients are incredibly sick when they first go for a liver transplant, and it is truly magical to see their physical transformation after getting a new organ. The field is also very new, and there are a lot of research opportunities to expand the field and exciting things coming down the pipeline, like xenografts and work on normothermic perfusion.
When I am not suited up for the OR, I am usually suited up for rock climbing at a gym right down the block. Climbing is my go-to form of exercise because it challenges my brain and my body, and it reminds me that I can do hard things, and I love that.
Hands-On Learning in Anesthesiology
Hey, what is up, guys? I am Zach. Now, technically, I am on rotation this week with the internal medicine team, and they focus on diagnosing and treating diseases in adults. For me, what has been really fascinating is to see the teamwork and the communication that goes on within the immediate team and the entire hospital network. The way they collaborate with resources is absolutely unparalleled, and you see exactly how the hospital network all connects to bring the best possible care for our patients.
But honestly, I am a real hands-on kind of guy, and so I want to show you something that really gave me some joy. This is the anesthesia sim lab. This is a great place to practice your skills for anesthesiology, which has been one of my favourites so far. In fact, this is one of the many sim labs that are available to students to practice their skills across all specialties.
When you are on a rotation, in general, you are not just sitting on the sidelines. You are actually in action, and I love that. Anesthesiology is another collaborative aspect of medicine, and I was fortunate to work alongside experienced professionals who guided me through inserting IVs, monitoring patient vitals, and making sure that our patients were comfortable and safe throughout the entire surgical process. This all while having access to cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art equipment, which you will also get to use.
When I am not on rotation, I am in Spanish Harlem playing soccer at the gym. My friends and I try to get a match together at least once a week. Sometimes, being in a big city, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. What I really love about Sinai is that we truly are a part of a community, and meeting up with my friends to play soccer reminds me of that.
Ambulatory Care Rotation Experience
Well, hello there. I am Armon, and I am Brett, and we are both on our ambulatory care rotation this week, but at different clinics across the city. Today we are on 23rd Street at Mount Sinai Doctors in Chelsea. Mount Sinai Doctors is an extension of the Mount Sinai Health System, and it provides an easy way for our patients to connect with physicians and specialists without having to travel too far from where they live and work. Think of it as bringing health care to our patients’ front door.
When you are on the ambulatory care rotation, I think the keyword is integration. I am seeing how my classroom knowledge blends with my patient interactions. Now, all the skills that we acquire about humanism and medicine, being an advocate for our patients, all come to light here in ambulatory care. On any given day, you may be providing services from vaccinations, screenings, diagnosing and treating your patients’ acute pain and illnesses. That is when you will really see how the pathways in medicine intersect.
My role on the team is to guide the visit in advance of my patients seeing the doctor. I typically ask them to share what is important for them to discuss during their visit, what I can do to help advocate or clarify for them, and even ask them if there is anything they may be scared about and need me to bring to light. The long and the short of it is this: you will develop your skills in humanistic care and create real connections to your patients, so get ready to be immersed.
Thanks, Brett. Welcome to Mount Sinai Union Square. We are a few blocks away from Brett’s rotation in Chelsea, but this location is part of a recent transformation to expand services and continue providing state-of-the-art care in downtown New York. Union Square is so vibrant, and I love being here. It draws people from multiple neighbourhoods all around the downtown area, from the Lower East Side, the Flatiron District, Chelsea, and more.
When you are on your ambulatory care rotation in this area again, the patient population is just so diverse. From person to person and issue to issue, you can treat a 20-something indie rock artist coming in with a tummy ache to a 70-something pizza parlour owner who is dealing with chronic pains and illness and everything in between. The neighbourhood is distinctive and full of character because of the people. They make it that way.
Since Brett and I are sharing this segment, one thing that we also share is our love for coffee shops. At some point during the day, you will almost always find med students looking on Instagram or TikTok for a coffee shop with a calming ambience, good energy, and, of course, free Wi-Fi. After thirty years of rotation, I have to learn how to balance coffee, work, life, and study.
Night Rotation and Research Opportunities
Come on in and get ready with me for my night rotation. You have seen so much, being on rotation with my colleagues and friends, and yet there is still so much more to explore because most hospital admissions happen overnight. Night shift is a really great opportunity to take the lead on a new patient intake and really practice all the skills you have learned so far in medical school.
Every day, we are exposed to diverse communities, people, and experiences. An unparalleled clinical training. We are mentored alongside experts and trailblazers in their field. We are working with advanced technology, and we are literally in the midst of innovation from AI to transgender surgery and research.
On that note, another amazing part about Sinai is how easy it is to get involved with research as a medical student. In fact, I am actually working on a project right now with the transgender surgery team, and I have classmates doing cutting-edge research in so many different medical fields, which for me was like a really special part of Sinai.
Remember, the school is part of a huge network with hundreds of clinical and academic experiences ready for you to explore in a variety of communities, from Long Island all the way to the Upper East Side in East Harlem, at the main hospital, which is where I am heading now. I hope to see you guys here soon tonight.
FAQ
Q: What is unique about clinical rotations at Mount Sinai?
A: Rotations offer diverse patient populations across multiple boroughs, hands-on experiences, strong mentorship, and opportunities to balance clinical work with personal passions.
Q: What is the Elmhurst Hospital Centre rotation like?
A: It provides exposure to a highly diverse patient population in Queens, including immigrants and patients with varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Q: What opportunities exist for third-year students?
A: Students describe it as a “choose your own adventure” with flexibility for research, extra surgical cases, and personalised learning.
Q: Are there simulation labs available for students?
A: Yes, multiple simulation labs are available across specialties, including the anesthesia sim lab for hands-on practice.
Q: How does Mount Sinai support work-life balance?
A: Students engage in activities like rock climbing, soccer, Broadway shows, Central Park walks, and coffee shop study sessions to maintain balance.
Conclusion
Mount Sinai Health System offers medical students rich, diverse, and hands-on clinical experiences across New York City. From caring for multicultural populations at Elmhurst Hospital to participating in complex transplant surgeries, night rotations, and ambulatory care, students gain invaluable skills while being supported in their personal growth and passions. The environment fosters teamwork, innovation, research, and compassionate care in one of the world’s most dynamic cities.
