What hospital internship programs are available?There are 2 internship programs available to junior-status undergraduates: one in the Cardiology Department, and the second in the Emergency Department.
What are the pre-requisites for EXT-488?The pre-requisites are pretty straightforward- the program is available to students with at least a 2.5 GPA, and who have completed at least 2 years in college (i.e. Juniors and Seniors). It should be noted that this selection criteria is based on years only, NOT credits accumulated, so for instance Sophomores who have "Junior-status" due to credit accumulation can't enroll in EXT-488. Believe me, I tried.
How do I apply and register for EXT-488?Students can only be considered for the program after getting into contact with Anna T Domingo, the supervisor for EXT-488 in the hospital. She can be reached either via e-mail at
adomingo@ic.sunysb.edu, or by phone: (631)-444-8347. She usually tells you what semesters are saturated with applicants, and which semesters are available. Keep in mind that this program only allows for a few students to be enrolled at a time, so don't be surprised if you're wait-listed for a spot next year. Just to give you an idea of the waiting period, I called at the end of the Spring Semester of my Freshman year (May '07), and I was placed on wait-list for an opening in Summer Session II of August '08, when I'd have Junior Status. So the sooner you contact Anna the better, as the program is basically first-come first-serve.
Once you're considered for the program, Anna will send you an e-mail that explains the details of the internship, and you'll be asked to submit a shift schedule of when you'll be able to come in to work. After that, she'll give you a confirmation reply telling you if you've been accepted into the program. If you've been accepted, she'll then give you permission to register for EXT-488 on SOLAR. Also, you can choose to enroll for either 1 credit or 0 credits, and you can repeat EXT-488 up to a maximum of 3 times for credit, as its considered an actual upper-divison credit course.
For the Cardiology internship program, the application process is nearly identical- except the contact for it is Joyce Quick. You can reach her via e-mail at
jquick@notes.cc.sunysb.edu, or call her at (631)-444-8485.
What will this internship require of me?Well, the official name of this program is the "Academic Associate Internship Program," where students will have to work a 4 hour shift once a week in the Emergency Department collecting data on various clinical research studies. Basically, you'll be going around screening patients for eligibility to participate in various clinical studies, and then you'll be interviewing them while noting down their answers. You'll also be asked at times to have patients fill out evaluation forms for ED Residents who treat them. So this job will require a lot of social skills, as it's almost entirely based on building solid patient-relations. If you're a shy or timid person, then this may not be the internship for you. The ED is also a really busy and somewhat chaotic place at times, so you'll also be under a lot of pressure to be quick and efficient in your job, which means you'll also have to develop good relations with nurses and doctors. Other than that, you'll only be there for 4 hours, and there's no work outside of the internship, other than weekly articles that Anna will give to you that you'll have to read and answer questions on.
As for the Cardiology Department, you'll essentially be doing the same exact thing, except you'll be stationed in the "Heart Center" in the University Hospital, and the data that you'll be collecting from patients will be for cardiac-related research, and not for Emergency Medicine.
Oh, and I forgot to mention- like the volunteer jobs, you'll be required to wear a white coat as part of your uniform, and you'll also be required to dress appropriately. The white coat can be purchased at the HSC bookstore, or at any medical uniform store.
Also, before you actually begin your job, you'll have to take a mandatory CITI online training course, which you'll need to pass and bring your proof of completion to your first orientation session to validate yourself as a clinical researcher. The course can be found here:
http://www.citiprogram.org. Anna will give you the log-in instructions and outline the procedure for the course if you're accepted into EXT-488. Once you take care of this, though- you'll be good to go!
Where can I go for more information?Well, being that she's the head of the Emergency Department program, Anna Domingo can basically tell you everything else you'd like to know concerning EXT-488 and the ED internship itself. Again, her contact info is the following:
Anna T Domingo
EXT-488
Department of Emergency Medicine
Stony Brook University Medical Center
Phone: 631-444-8347
adomingo@ic.sunysb.eduAs for the Cardiology Department internship, you can contact Joyce Quick for more information on EXT-488:
Joyce Quick, RPAC
Physician Assistant/ Clinical Research Associate
Cardiology Division
Department of Medicine
Stony Brook Hospital and Medical Center
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8167
Phone: 631-444-8485
FAX: 631-444-2238
