Senator Martins Supports Winthrop Hospital-Stony Brook School of Medicine Partnership

Senator Jack M. Martins was at Winthrop University Hospital to join the hospital in announcing that Stony Brook University School of Medicine has designated the hospital as a clinical campus. The affiliation will expand educational opportunities available to Stony Brook medical students and further Stony Brook's sharing of its teaching faculty expertise at Winthrop. Having students in patient care settings enhances the academic nature of the enterprise and may add to the medical services provided to Long Island patients.

"This partnership provides opportunities for medical students and will further enhance medical education here on Long Island," Senator Martins said.

The clinical campus designation provides for a formalized medical education program where third and fourth year Stony Brook medical students can complete their clinical rotations at Winthrop University Hospital. Students will work side by side with physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, adding to their basic science and clinical skills knowledge gained from their first two years of study at the Stony Brook University campus. Students will also assist in surgical procedures and participate as part of clinical teams in pediatrics, internal medicine and other specialties traditionally taught in the third and fourth year of medical school.

"The decision to formalize and expand this opportunity with Winthrop helps further clinical training opportunities for Stony Brook medical students, particularly for those who live in Nassau County and closer to New York City," says Latha Chandran, M.D., M.P.H., Vice Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, Stony Brook University School of Medicine. "The number of Stony Brook medical students involved in clerkships over the next few years will increase because Stony Brook School of Medicine class sizes are increasing."

Winthrop has been a teaching affiliate of the Stony Brook University School of Medicine for nearly 30 years, where medical students have completed rotations in various disciplines. The difference in a clinical campus is that now they can complete their entire third and part of their fourth year of medical studies on the campus of Winthrop University Hospital. Students may then elect to continue their training at Winthrop University Hospital or to train at other institutions. On Long Island, Stony Brook medical students also complete clerkships at Stony Brook University Hospital, the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Northport, Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, and Flushing Hospital in Queens.

"We are very excited to partner even more closely with such a well-known institution and provide valuable services to students and the community," said Winthrop University Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Collins. "The academic affiliation, assuring quality health care for patients, continues our tradition of academic excellence and devotion to service."

"There are many rigorous standards that must be met in order to qualify for designation as a clinical campus. This initiative will help to increase the availability of opportunities for medical education to help address a growing shortage of physicians on Long Island and nationwide," said Winthrop University Hospital Chief Academic Officer Dr. John F. Aloia.

To address the need for medical education and research, Winthrop University Hospital plans to build a $65 million 95,000 square foot medical research and education center. The hospital expects to begin the two-year construction project in March 2012