SUNY Downstate Medical Center

In 1860, the nation’s first college-hospital was founded in Brooklyn. Initially called the Long Island College Hospital, Collegiate Division, this innovative institution was the first to bring controversial, cuttingedge methods of teaching to the study of medicine in the United States. Until this time, medical students had been taught exclusively in schools, rarely leaving the lecture hall for first-hand experience. With the belief that medical instruction should be brought to the hospital bedside, the renowned institution that became SUNY Downstate Medical Center was founded, changing the course of medical instruction forever. In 2000, on its 140th anniversary, SUNY Downstate is celebrated for its innovative teaching practices and superior instructors and equipment. Now the largest medical school in New York State, SUNY Downstate prepares about 1,500 students per year for careers in medicine, nursing, and the allied health professions. SUNY Downstate Medical Center is an incredible new volume that includes not only photographs but also announcements, bulletins, degrees, theses, and countless other memories from the last 140 years.