Buffalo VA Medical Center
This 199-bed, 1.4 million-square-foot facility provides medical, surgical, mental health, long-term and outpatient care.
The VA Western New York Healthcare System provides care to more than 44,000 veterans annually. Although patients hail primarily from the westernmost eight counties of Upstate New York, the hospital serves as the inpatient specialty care referral site for all veterans west of Syracuse.
Patients present with a wide range of disease states, encompassing one of the highest case severity indexes within the Veterans Health Affairs system.
The Buffalo VA Medical Center is the main referral center for area veterans seeking cardiac surgery, cardiology care and comprehensive cancer care.
It is one of only 12 VA medical centers nationwide conducting a trial of real-time, Internet-based electronic medical records exchanges with private sector hospitals, including all UB medical school rotation sites.
Training
Our Buffalo VA Medical Center training site exposes you to pulmonary consultation experience with an emphasis on regular and endobronchial ultrasound guided (EBUS) bronchoscopy.
The Buffalo VA Medical Center is one of the places where you will learn advanced bronchoscopic techniques. Our endoscopy suite is equipped with technology including bronchoscopes and an ultrasound machine for EBUS biopsies.
You will also acquire knowledge about outpatient and inpatient evaluation and see patients with comorbidities including heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension and sleep apnea.
As a second- and third- year fellow, you will gain faculty-supported research experience during your rotation months at the Buffalo VA Medical Center. You will develop a project of your own or participate in one of your mentor's existing projects. Our faculty will guide you as you design your study, submit it to the Institutional Review Board, perform research and analyze the results. We prepare you to present your work at national meetings, and we will guide you through the process of publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
During your research module at this site, you will attend a weekly half-day chest/sleep clinic, where you will see approximately three patients per session.
Rotations
Four of your rotations take place at the Buffalo VA Medical Center:
Faculty and Staff
- division chief
- director of intensive care unit
- fellowship program director
- two faculty for pulmonary consult service
- two faculty for outpatient clinics
- one intensivist
Patient Population
- veterans of both genders
- wide range in ages
- drawn from Upstate New York