New York's Medical Schools Add 2,424 Future Doctors to the Pipeline

Public Relations Committee”

AMSNY schools continue to expand their medical school classes, reaffirming their commitment to training more physicians and providing high quality care to all New York State residents.

The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) today reported that 2,424 new medical students enrolled this fall in the state’s 16 medical schools – an enrollment increase of 120 since last year.* Of the incoming class, 47 percent are women and three percent are international students. More than half of matriculating students are New York State residents.

“New York’s health care landscape is changing rapidly due to an aging population, rising costs and policy changes at the State and Federal level. As a result, the demand for physicians has intensified,” said Jo Wiederhorn, President and CEO of AMSNY.

According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies, a University at Albany School of Public Health research center, demand continues to grow for primary care physicians as well as specialists, with demand expected to outpace supply by 2015. The diversity and distribution of physicians are other crucial factors in ensuring an effective health care system in New York.

State-funded programs, such as AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate programs, are helping to diversify the physician population by preparing students from educationally or economically underrepresented backgrounds for medical school through individualized academic enrichment, mentoring and support. Overall, 93 percent of students in AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate programs matriculate into medical school.

“New York’s medical schools continue efforts to produce a highly qualified and diverse physician workforce in addition to developing innovative curricula that will ensure future physicians have the knowledge, empathy and understanding to care for patients of today and tomorrow,” said Ms. Wiederhorn.

To mark their first steps towards becoming physicians, medical students across the state are participating in ‘white coat ceremonies’ at their institutions, donning the physician’s traditional white garb for the first time.

“The white coat ceremony is a rite of passage, an acknowledgement of the students’ achievements thus far, and serves as a symbol of an ongoing commitment to the profession of medicine and the ethical and moral obligations students are expected to uphold,” said Ms. Wiederhorn.

Highlights from this year’s new class of medical students include:

  • Albany Medical College welcomed 143 medical students, with 74 men and 69 women. Drawn from nearly 9,000 applicants, this year’s students come from 27 states, including 43 students from New York, and 60 different undergraduate schools. This year’s class ranges in age from 20 to 35. Three students are from AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program. Thirty-eight of the new students graduated from one of Albany Medical College’s joint degree programs at Siena College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College. Thirty-nine are entering with master’s degrees, and while the majority holds undergraduate degrees in biology, some majors include anthropology, art and music.
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University welcomed 183 students to its Class of 2017. Forty percent of the class is from New York State. Two students from AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program are among the new students. Twenty-one play at least one instrument, 26 are trained EMTs and one is an Eagle Scout. What’s more, students have volunteered with organizations such as Back on My Feet, Domestic Abuse Project, Open Door Shelter, the American Cancer Society, Animal Haven Shelter, AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, the Peace Corps, Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Hospice, and more.
  • Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons entering class has 168 students, representing 32 states and five countries. More than 7,800 applications were submitted. Six students are graduates of Columbia’s Summer Medical and Dental Education Program, Summer Public Health Scholars Program, or Strategic Testing Application Techniques (STAT) Program, which help underrepresented students pursue careers in medicine. The first four students in the school’s new three-year MD program, which is for students who have a PhD in biomedical sciences, started with the Class of 2017.
  • Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine welcomed 80 students, including 37 women and 43 men. All hailing from the U.S., the Class of 2017 has a diverse educational background. A student from AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program is among the incoming class. Students have degrees in biology, English, anthropology, human development, religion, neuroscience, psychology, biomedical engineering, astronomy, physics, chemistry, economics and sociology. Nearly half of the class is from New York State.
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai enrolled 140 students out of more than 5,000 applicants this year. The class is comprised of 71 men and 69 women, from 70 different undergraduate schools.
  • New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine welcomed 315 students to the Class of 2017. The school received 6,200 applicants this year, which was the largest number of applicants in the school’s 36-year history. Seventy percent of the students are New York State residents. Other states of origin include: CT, IL, CA, CO, MI, KS, OH, and MI. Among the new students is a former principal cellist of the Boston Youth Symphony.
  • New York Medical College welcomed 200 new students, with 94 women and 106 men, to the incoming class, which also included six of AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate students. There were 12,077 applications to the medical school this year. The enrolled students come from 28 different states and represent 95 undergraduate schools across the country.
  • NYU School of Medicine’s incoming class is comprised of 75 women and 87 men for a total of 162 students. They hail from 25 states, plus Canada, and represent 75 undergraduate schools. Sixteen students are participants of the new three-year medical degree program. Student backgrounds range from an investment banker, a freelance film maker, an open water diver, a competitive figure skater, a paper airplane throwing competitor, and a U.S. Navy fighter jet pilot.
  • University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry welcomed a new class of 102 medical students. The class includes five students that entered under Rochester’s Early Medical Scholars Program, seven from the Bryn Mawr post-baccalaureate program, seven of Rochester’s Early Assurance Program, and nine MD/PhD students in the Medical Scientist Training Program. Seven students have Masters degrees in diverse fields. Of special interest, three students train and/or are skilled horseback riders, one student ran in the Umstead 100 mile ultra-marathon, and another student spent a month on a submarine.
  • Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education enrolled 74 students this year out of a total of 705 applicants. All students enroll directly from high school, so the age range is from 16 to 18 years of age. There are 45 female and 29 male students, all of which are New York State residents. Sixty-six percent of the students are from the five boroughs of New York City. Sophie Davis’ White Coat Ceremony is held at the beginning of the third year at the school.
  • Stony Brook University School of Medicine welcomed 124 new medical students this year, 77 percent of which were New York State residents. The School of Medicine received an all-time high of 5,196 applicants. Five students were accepted via Scholars for Medicine, which is a combined bachelors/medical degree program, and five matriculate from AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program. Six are MD/PhD students and twelve students have advanced degrees.
  • The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York (SUNY), welcomed a new class of 144 medical students. The class includes 117 New York State residents, 63 from Western New York. Twenty-one are UB graduates and four successfully completed AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program. Members of the Class of 2017 have traveled to several nations, including Ecuador, Kenya, India and the Philippines, to assist physicians caring for underserved patients.
  • Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine welcomed 135 students from 25 states. Nearly 40 percent of students are from New York State. From an applicant pool of more than 5,000, there are 60 women and 75 men in the Class of 2017.
  • SUNY Downstate Medical Center welcomed 188 new medical students (78 women and 110 men) to their Class of 2017. The age of the students ranged from 21 to 35, and 80 percent of the entering class are New York State residents. Three students are joining the class from AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program. Thirty-five students are coming from local Brooklyn neighborhoods and, collectively, Downstate’s new class of students speaks 40 different languages, in addition to English.
  • SUNY Upstate Medical University enrolled 165 medical students (77 women and 88 men). This year’s incoming class is made up of 90 percent New York State residents with the highest MCAT verbal reasoning score for an incoming class to date. Among the new students, five are pursuing MD/PhD degrees and 27 hold advanced degrees. Six students from AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate program are also joining the class. A total of 77 undergraduate colleges are represented.
  • Weill Cornell Medical College’s class of 101 students hail from 19 U.S. states and attended 58 different undergraduate institutions. The Class of 2017 has significant global ties. They have worked, volunteered, and/or studied abroad in more than 40 countries spanning six continents. Eighty-four of the incoming students speak at least one foreign language; 53 know Spanish. The incoming class can collectively translate 24 languages.

* In the fall of 2012, AMSNY announced 2,230 new medical students enrolled in New York State’s medical schools. This number did not include the 74 students from Sophie Davis, which was unavailable at the time. This year’s number of 2,424 new medical students includes Sophie Davis students.

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The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) is the State’s voice for medical education. Its members are: