Bronx

Guide to AUC: Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs that make up New York City. In the Bronx, AUC students rotate at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (BLHC), which has several different locations within the Bronx. AUC students are able to do all five core rotations here (psychiatry, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ob/gyn) as well as family medicine and many other electives. Bronx-Lebanon is one of the few AUC-affiliated hospitals where you may directly schedule your electives through the school.

Hospital Sites

Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (BLHC) is a large, non-profit hospital that serves the underserved areas of South and Central Bronx, with 972 beds at 2 major hospital division.  BLHC ranks #1 in the New York metropolitan area (and 9th in the nation) among hospitals for quality of care, affordability, efficiency, and patient satisfaction. BLHC is also affiliated with Albert Einstein School of Medicine as well as Ross University School of Medicine.

Students doing rotations at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center may be placed at any one of BLHC’s different clinical locations:

  • Bronx-Lebanon Grand Concourse — This site is located on Grand Concourse, one of the major roads that run through the Bronx. Students doing internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, family medicine inpatient, and several other rotations will rotate here. It is located on 1650 Grand Concourse, Bronx NY. To get here, take the B or D metrorail line and get off at 174-175th St. Station. Get out on the 174th St. side of the station. The hospital is just a few steps south from the station along Grand Concourse.
  • Bronx-Lebanon Fulton — This hospital site is located on Fulton Rd, and students doing psychiatry and family medicine outpatient will often come here for rotations. Many family med students come here for outpatient shifts at the Fulton Family Practice Center (3rd floor) and the Wellness Center (1st floor), both located inside the hospital. The Fulton site is located on 1276 Fulton Ave, Bronx NY. There is no subway station that takes you to Fulton, but there are buses that take you directly there, like the Bx35 bus, which drops you off directly in front of the hospital.
  • Ogden Center — This is another site where some students go for family medicine outpatient. It is located on 1067 Ogden Ave, Bronx, NY.
  • MBD Family Practice Center — This is another site where some students go for family medicine outpatient. It is located on 1690 Bryant Ave, Bronx, NY.


View Bronx in a larger map

Places to Live

While the Bronx is often a very affordable choice among places to live in New York, many students choose to live in Manhattan or Queens because they are perceived as safer and nicer. I know students at Bronx-Lebanon who live and commute from Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Greenwich Village, or Forest Hills (in Queens). Long commutes are the norm here and it’s common for students to commute up to an hour to get to the hospital. I lived in Hamilton Heights and commute by walking/subway takes about half hour.

New York City is an expensive place to live, no doubt.  An apartment in a nice part of Manhattan can easily cost $2000 or more a month. If you’re looking for something more affordable, like around $1000/month or less, you can find housing in either the Bronx or northern Manhattan, like in Harlem, Hamilton Heights, or Manhattanville. However, you get what you paid for, and housing here are typically not as nice.

If you are scheduled to rotate at several hospitals around New York, and not just the Bronx, then you can consider living in a more central location between the hospitals where you’ll be rotating at.

Here are some sites that people have used to find places to live:

  • Airbnb.com — this is probably my favorite site, because you can read reviews by different hosts, see how reliable they are, and see their calendar of availability. The site acts as a medium for communication as well as payment.
  • Sublet.com — this site is bare minimum, and although it shows you which hosts are trustworthy, you can’t read reviews and ratings by other guests. There is no calendar that tells you the dates in which the hosts are available, and the site does not provide a medium for payment.
  • Craigslist NYC — like sublet.com, this site is also very bare minimum, but a lot of hosts use it to advertise.
  • New York Habitat

Getting Around

The most convenient way to get around New York and the Bronx is by public transportation, particularly if you planning to live in the city. Having a car is very expensive in New York City. Parking is expensive and traffic may not always be good. Crossing bridges often require a toll fee, which is around $15 each way.  The subways and buses, on the other hand, cover an extensive area and is reliable, and is the most popular way to get around. The Bronx is very well connected to the rest of New York by public transportation. Rides are normally $2.25 per ride including transfers, however, I’d recommend getting a Metrocard that allows you to get unlimited rides. You can either buy one that lasts a month for $104, or one week for $29. With the amount you’ll be traveling, an Unlimited Metrocard is worth getting. The cards work on both buses and subways throughout all five boroughs.

If you want to go between Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Grand Concourse and Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Fulton, there is also a free hospital van that shuttles between the two sites every 30 minutes. However, to avoid waiting and an overcrowding van (which happens often), I’d recommend just taking public transportation between the two hospitals. To go from the Grand Concourse site to the Fulton site, just take the B/D train from 174/175th St. Station to 167th St. station (2 stations south), then hop on the Bx35 bus right outside the station, ride 10 minutes, and get off right in front of the hospital. To go from Fulton to Grand Concourse, just do the opposite. The B/D train comes every 10 minutes during the early mornings. The Bx35 bus comes every 5 minutes or so.

NYC Subway Map

Things to Do

  • Explore the city — New York City is BIG and home to people of every color, creed, and tongue. There’s tons of neighborhoods to explore, from ethnic neighborhoods like Chinatown (Chinese), Koreatown (Koreans), Arthur Avenue (Italians), Borough Park (Chassidic Jews), Bay Ridge (Muslims), and Washington Heights (Dominican), to chic and hip areas like Greenwich Village, St. Mark’s Place, or Fifth Avenue.
  • Stroll in the Park — The city has some great parks, each with its own character, and there’s often some event, market, or celebration going on somewhere. Union Square has a Green Market every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8am-6pm, year round, with local farmers coming into the city selling fresh organic vegetables, produce, and baked goods. Washington Square Park has a lot of young hipsters and artistic NYU students who enjoy playing music in the park, not for money, but just because it’s fun. Bryant Park is a really beautiful park near Times Square and the NYC public library, and they sometimes have yoga gatherings there. And of course, the most famous park of all, is Central Park, complete with a lake, places to play sports, and in general a great place to relax and enjoy a little bit of nature in the middle of the city.
  • Bronx Zoo — This is a very large, popular zoo in the Bronx. You can see animals from all over the world here. My favorite is their gorilla exhibition.
  • On and Off Broadway Theater — New York is a city of culture, and one of the centers of the world for the theatrical arts. There’s tons of great shows you can watch, either on or off Broadway. When I was in New York, I got to see the Voca People, Avenue Q, War Horse, Stomp, and Spiderman the musical. They were all very good. Shows that are off Broadway are typically less expensive than the ones on Broadway. I’d recommend getting tickets from TKTS Discount Booth, located under the red steps in Times Square (on 47th St… you’ll know when you see it!). TKTS sells same-day tickets for shows that still have seating available, for up to 50% off! You can get great deals (and often great seats too) for great shows. At TKTS, there’s a screen that shows you which shows are available and the discounts they offer.
  • High Line — The High Line used to be an elevated railroad track that runs through Manhattan, but it was abandoned many decades before. Rather than demolishing it, the city converted it into a linear, elevated public park. It is free to visit, and runs several miles above lower Manhattan, starting in the Meat Packing District (around 14th St). The park is very well designed, with water features, plants, lawns, places to sit and rest, and food vendors.
  • Museums — New York has some great museums. If you like art, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) or the Metropolitan Museum of Art (“The Met”) are awesome. The Met, especially, is the largest art museum in the United States, and displays art from around the world from ancient times to the modern. The MOMA has really famous works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Monet, and more. If you are into science, the museum of Natural History showcases some awesome dinosaur fossils and ancient wildlife.
  • Touristy Stuff — and of course, there are the “basic” things that are on almost every tourists’ checklist: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and Times Square. Also popular are Brooklyn Bridge and Ground Zero.

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