Disclosure: UTSW resident
idoktor gave a nice summary but needs some updating now that ive been through the program
Pros
UTSW affiliated hospitals is an absurdly rich program in terms of staffing, equipment, and patients. Parkland, the crown jewel of the program so to speak, has an army of nurses and technicians who check vision, pressures, pupils, refraction, extraocular movements, visual fields, all imaging for all patients. There's a dedicated surgical scheduler who maintains the surgical schedule and a nurse practitioner who performs H&P's for all preoperative patients. This means residents are able to see a lot of patients and do a minimal amount of scut work. The latest toys at this county hospital include the LensX laser, toric and restore lenses for patients, Lenstar with Holladay IOL consultant, centurion phaco machines, Pascal laser for retina lasers, ultrasound biomicroscopy, multiple spectralis OCT's, wireless LED BIOs in all rooms. Every year, the PD sends out an email to all the residents asking what new toys we want.
JPS, our second county hospital, also has a huge support staff that does all patient workup and brings coffee with your favorite flavorings to your door everyday in addition to a meal card and $500 gas money/month while you're there. This location also has premium lenses for patients, Lenstar, ultrasound biomicroscopy, spectralis OCT, LED bios in addition to the most clinical and surgical autonomy of all locations.
VA Dallas, we are the busiest clinic at the busiest VA in the country. This site is also heavily staffed and equipped including half a dozen optometrists you can send your refractions to
, dedicated NP for all H&P's, as well as unlimited premium lenses / LensX for our vets, ultrasound biomicroscopy, multiple cirrus OCTs (zeiss's top line), infiniti -> centurion phaco machines, and lumira 700's in all OR's, and EyeSi
Children's medical center, our chillest rotation, also has a massive support staff including half a dozen MA's to handle those screaming toddlers as well as multiple orthoptists who do all the strab measurements. The clinic is pristine and finishes around 3-4 pm at the latest every day.
The education office is absolutely AMAZING coordinating multiple conference and meetings throughout the year, call schedules for residents, fellows, and faculty at every location, and stays on top of all required credentialing, paperwork, and training. They write cover letters for our journal submissions, cut in line for us when we need to update our training/credentialing at different institutions, for a huge program of 27 residents and 16 fellows.
Cons
The call is TERRIBLE. Contrary to what idoktor stated, 2 1st year residents each at JPS and VA will cover call Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun, the day prior to and the day of all holidays. The pager does not stop ringing while on call at Parkland (you cover UTSW hospitals as well as the dreaded "20/20" line fielding phone calls from patients of the entire faculty practice).
There is an absurd number of COMMITMENTS in addition to the busy clinical schedule including mandatory lecture every morning at 730am, journal club every month, a weekend conference or 2 every month.
The OKAPS are heavily scrutinized. Rumors abound everybody's OKAP scores are passed around and form the basis of faculty perception of you. Residents who do not make 40 percentile are administered an oral exam in their worst subjects and are on probation if they fail that exam. The chairman used to parade poorly performing residents out front for a public thrashing.
Fit
Overall, a very intense program where you will work hard and become a great surgeon. The program is truly a "sink or swim" kind of place. First years take primary call after 2 weeks of "buddy call." Residents have tons of autonomy, more than any other program at UTSW (residents only need to "staff" procedures and medicare patients). Quite often, we'll read about a new treatment regimen/strategy or surgical technique and just "try it." The corollary to this is that when you screw up (or something bad just happens regardless of fault), you will be thrown to the wolves.
