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SUNY Downstate Medical Center
The State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn also known as SUNY Downstate Medical Center is one of four such campuses within the 64-unit State University of New York. Located on an urban campus in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the Health Science Center includes the College of Medicine, a School of Graduate Studies, College of Nursing, College of Health Related Professions, a major research center, and the University Hospital of Brooklyn.
The Health Science Center's history spans over 130 years, during which time it has undergone several name changes. In 1856 two physicians established a dispensary in downtown Brooklyn to provide care for poor immigrants. The Long Island College Hospital (LICH) grew out of this dispensary. In 1858 the state granted the hospital's request for a charter to launch a medical school. The school, which opened its doors two years later, revolutionized medical education in the United States. LICH became the first institution in the United States to bring the teaching of medicine to the hospital bedside and physicians were no longer trained exclusively in university classrooms and lecture halls. It was truly a college hospital.
In 1931 the school was re-chartered as the Long Island College of Medicine, with affiliated hospitals throughout Brooklyn. The "Downstate" era began on April 5, 1950 with a special ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where a merger contract was signed between the Long Island College of Medicine and the newly constituted State University of New York. Several years later, the current campus was built in East Flatbush. In April 1953, ground was broken for the current Basic Sciences Building, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the cornerstone in 1954. The complex was expanded in 1966 with the opening of University Hospital of Brooklyn. The School of Graduate Studies, the College of Health Related Professions, and the College of Nursing were also added that year.
Today, the Health Science Center is the focal point of a health-care network that encompasses 18 hospitals and research institutions and more than 40 health-related facilities in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and beyond. It encompasses a campus of 13 acres, with a total student body of 1,500, a faculty of nearly 3,000 (including full-time, part-time and voluntary staff), and support staff of 3,000.
The Health Science Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as the sponsoring institution for 51 integrated accredited residency and fellowship programs offered at over fifteen affiliated hospitals.