SUNY Downstate's College of Medicine, Health Related Professions, Nursing and its School of Graduate Studies offer students a broad professional education that will prepare them for practice or careers in any location and community. This education provides exceptional opportunities for those students with a commitment to promoting health in urban communities and addressing the complex challenges of investigating and preventing diseases that confront clinicians, educators, and researchers in such an environment. This special aspect of Downstate's unique mission is reflected in the students it attracts and selects, the vast majority of whom are drawn from the New York City Metropolitan area. Many of these students are members of minority and cultural groups underrepresented in the health professions, and/or come from families of first-generation immigrants or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.