Internal Medicine: TAMC VS WBAMC

[SE2013]

Which Internal Medicine residency program is better?

Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, HI
William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, TX

Thanks =)

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[SE2013]

=( Anyone?

 

[Gastrapathy]

No one did two residencies. Programs change dramatically over time. But, seriously, you are asking the group to compare Oahu and El Paso. The only advantages I see to El Paso are cost of living and the opportunity to skip down to Juarez for some tasty tacos.

 

[colbgw02]

Which Internal Medicine residency program is better?

Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, HI
William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, TX

Thanks =)

No one did two residencies. Programs change dramatically over time. But, seriously, you are asking the group to compare Oahu and El Paso. The only advantages I see to El Paso are cost of living and the opportunity to skip down to Juarez for some tasty tacos.

Yeah, I was originally tempted to post, "if you're going to answer your own question..."

There are people who ended up at El Paso who rather would have been at Tripler. The converse is much less likely to be true. Either way, location - and not academics - is the primary reason. It's not like you can't get good training at WBAMC. So, if you've got family in west Texas or if you just have a proclivity for tumbleweeds, then go for it.

 

[armyres]

You could compare the board pass rate and ACGME accreditation status of each program to get a rough idea of the quality of academics.

ABIM Board Pass Rate 2010-2012:
Program Name City and State Number of Examinees Number Passing Percent Passing 95% Confidence Interval
TAMC, Tripler AMC, HI 26 25 96 88 - 100
WBAMC, El Paso, TX 20 14 70 61 - 79
Source: http://www.abim.org/pdf/pass-rates/residency-program-pass-rates.pdf

ACGME Accreditation Info:
TAMC Accreditation And General Information
Original Accreditation Date: February 14, 1949
Accreditation Status: Continued Accreditation
Accreditation Effective Date: January 29, 2009
Accredited Length of Training: 3 years
Program Format: Standard
Last Site Visit Date: October 21, 2008
Self Study Date (Approximate): October 01, 2017

WBAMC Accreditation And General Information
Original Accreditation Date: April 25, 1957
Accreditation Status: Continued Accreditation with Warning
Accreditation Effective Date: May 17, 2013
Accredited Length of Training: 3 years
Program Format: Standard
Last Site Visit Date: February 13, 2013
Self Study Date (Approximate): October 01, 2015

Source: https://www.acgme.org/ads/Public/Programs/Search

But I do agree, programs change drastically over time. Especially so with the high turnover in the military.