Baylor College of Medicine

I interviewed at Baylor in 2006.

Pros: Some of the highest surgical numbers I saw on the interview trail. They even had 1st years doing cataract surgery. Residents rotate through a VA, Ben Taub (county), and Cullen, all within 3 miles of each other. See the full spectrum of pathological variety at the county. Residents have lots of autonomy and get great fellowships. I remember hearing something about construction to build a new free-standing eye institute in the area. Houston is dirt cheap. Residents worked very hard, but seemed to enjoy it as they were getting a lot out of it. Faculty and chair seemed nice enough.

Cons: Residents work very hard and looked tired. Houston can get very hot in the summer and you have to drive everywhere through terrible traffic. Almost all the faculty were inbred graduates of the Baylor residency program. PD was really young. They only had 1 retina surgeon. Sort of a stuck-up attitude towards the other Texas programs.

bayloreye.org

does anyone in the know have information whether the split between baylor and methodist hospital will affect the ophtho residency program?

4ophtho said:

does anyone in the know have information whether the split between baylor and methodist hospital will affect the ophtho residency program?

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The Baylor Methodist split in ophthalmology occurred 3 years ago. As a resident at Baylor, we stopped staffing/seeing patient's at Methodist a year ago which is actually a great thing because we never learned anything at Methodist. We just staffed the ER which was usually a horrible learning experience since we would get called on dry eyes, thyroid eye disease, chalazion, blepharitis, etc. etc.

We have our own beautiful eye building now which all the faculty have stayed and remained at Baylor. So, the whole methodist thing is all very old news.

From a residency, you'll be hard pressed to find another program taht gives you as much autonomy and as much surgical volume as a resident. We get to do phacos our first year, I did way more pterygiums and lasers that I cared for as a first year. And it just continues to build on that. Our VA and County surgeries are booked out for 3-4 months at least, we have way more surgical cases than we can actually keep up with.

It's a great program if you're willing to work hard and play hard. There are only a handful of programs that I think offers what Baylor offers.

I agree with much of the above

Interview Experience:
-Meet and greet with residents at a bar the night before
-Breakfast and 4 one-on-one interviews in the morning (PD, chair, 2 other faculty)
-Residents seemed busy, very few available to stop by and chat
-Lunch with a handful of residents
-Tour of Ben Taub and freestanding private eye center

Pros:
-Residents seemed happy despite workload. Also seemed very supportive of one another
-Huge diversity in pathology with an enormous clinical and surgical volume
-Autonomy, residents are doing things solo and flourishing
-Jump-start on cataract surgery by end of 1st year
-Faculty are incredibly loyal to program and residents, support them very strongly for fellowship applications
-That said, excellent fellowship match
-Get to work in the incredible place that is the Texas Medical Center
-All hospitals all located in 5-10 minute driving radius
-Houston is a warm city that is relatively cheap

Cons:
-Traditional hierarchy is slightly in place here with faculty-resident relationships, although there is no trace of malignancy
-Faculty cut-and-dry in interviews, not a real warm and fuzzy place if that is what one seeks
-Residents are tired and perhaps overworked with frequent busy calls and clinics
-Faculty are mostly Baylor grads, which is good in the sense that they know what residents go through and bad in the sense that they expect you to do well despite the tough conditions
-VA and Ben Taub facilities are not very nice
-Didactics have been mentioned in past but Saturday didactics are no longer in place, important to note
-$$$? Baylor has been having some monetary issues as mentioned in other threads but this may be moot with potential Rice merger

Overview:

Baylor is a place that grew on me slowly during my interview day. They do not go out of their way like other places in recruiting applicants aggressively by wining and dining them. The faculty can seem a little intimidating and tough in their opinions on resident education. Beneath the surface, however, is a fierce loyalty to resident education that stems all the way from the chair and percolates down the chain. I really got the feeling that faculty would go out of their way to protect their residents and let them be successful.

That said, this is a very independent training environment that demands a lot from its residents. With that responsibility comes great opportunities to excel. Residents are well-regarded nationally in terms of how well-trained they are coming out, and I think it is a positive sign that the residents seemed happy despite the crazy hours they sometimes have to pull.

I ranked Baylor at the top of my list because I felt that even with the long days and calls I would be getting a lot out of my three years of residency and still be relatively happy in a city in which I would be happy to live. Be aware of what you are getting into and then embrace if it appeals to you.

As a current baylor resident, I agree with what Viking Favre says about his assessment of our program. It's a phenomenal program but we do work hard but also get along realy well. 1st year is tough but rewarding. Each year just get progressively better and better. There is tremendous faculty support and loyalty towards resident education but they also expect you to learn alot as well. Even though our faculty are somewhat old school in the sense there is a strong professionalism within our department, they are very personable and you really get to know them well during your training here. As a result, they really look after you when its time to apply for fellowship.

One of the best training programs out there, but you will work for it. That being said, the baylor residents seem very happy even when overworked, so maybe they are just the kind of people that really appreciate the amazing experience even though it's a crazy amount of work. They get a little more experience than UT Southwestern, but they work a lot longer hours because they don't have as many techs as Southwestern and in general don't have much money. Houston is ok, but I think dallas is a little nicer (less humid, less traffic). Anyone would be super lucky to train here.

Very strong program. Faculty were nice but seemed to have the old school "I am attending, you are resident" mentalit. The residents seemed pretty laid back (though they seemed a bit worn out). They definitely see a ton of pathology and get high volumes and you will definitely get a top tier training and fellowship placement when you finish. The chair has been there forever and the program is solid as a rock. Also, they had the best lunch, hands down. Baylor was one of my top choices.

Can anybody comment on any recent faculty exodus following financial problems? I heard among others their big retina faculty leaving.

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sjm5104 said:

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I'm a current resident at Baylor. The "faculty exodus" mentioned in the 2011 post most likely referred to the senior retina attending who left Baylor to start his private practice in Houston and the junior retina attending who left Houston to return to Portland where he did his fellowship training. This was before my time here so I could not comment on how things were in the past compared to now.

Traditionally, Baylor has always been more cornea-focused than retina or glaucoma. However, I think it's definitely changing since our (relatively) new chair is a retina specialist. We currently have a total of 4 retina attendings. All our faculty have all been here for a long time and I don't think anyone is leaving anytime soon. I think the program is solid and there is no reason to worry about faculty leaving.

I really like the Baylor program. I did not get that "old school" attitude (as CaptainWinky mentioned above) from the faculty, but then again, I think I interviewed with only four faculty members. They seemed very supportive of the residents and prioritized resident training. Baylor residents are few of the best clinically-trained residents that I have seen. I have interacted with a few Baylor-trained fellows, and they all have been impressive.

Cons: The coordinator seemed like a difficult person to work with, but otherwise, nothing really.

deleted post.

Does anyone have some recent opinion/comments on this program?

So I think this is a very strong clinical and surgical residency, but can anyone comment on the status of Baylor retina? I'm interested in the field and would hate to limit my options for fellowship.


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