Texas Tech University (Lubbock)

Positives:
- Very good surgical numbers
- Lots of autonomy at the VA hospital
- Nice faculty for the most part
- Cheap housing
- Scheduling of cases is done for you
- Nice new clinics
- Can use wet lab whenever you want
- Most things are paid for and you get a $1500 allowance for lenses, etc
- Vacation increases by the year, 2, then 3, then 4 weeks.

Negatives:
- VA is located in Big Spring which is 110 miles from Lubbock. You spend 4 months there in your PGY 3 and 4 years. However, you apparently only spend Mon-Thurs there, and come back for teaching on Friday...so you essentially have weekends off and only work 4 days a week while there, and you get good cases and autonomy at the VA. They also said that while there you have alot of time to study (since there's nothing else to do). So it's a give and take situation.
- Lubbock
- Lacking in Pedi, somewhat lacking in glaucoma

Undecided:
- You go away for the Stanford course in your first month

Overall: Tech seems like a pretty solid program. I felt that you could go here and get a very good clinical experience. The downside was Lubbock itself. If you are used to a small town in the middle of nowhere, or if you could tolerate it for a little while, it's a good program.

Just interviewed at this program and loved it-- wanted to give an update here on what I learned.

Surgical Training: No operating in the first year of residency expected. Great cataract numbers, can get well above 200 especially if you are motivated. Also good number of vitrectomies (~40). The PD is retina and allows them to learn a lot of retina surgery especially if they are fellowship inclined.

Clinical Training: no true resident clinic, ambulatory clinic in lubbock is set up so that resident sees the patient and then attending follows to make/finish plan. Nice clinic-- good facilities. More autonomy at VA in Big Spring. They stay in dorms attached to the hospital in Big Spring while they are down there (2 hours away). There for 4 days then come back for lectures on friday in lubbock.

Call: Only one ER in lubbock while on call. Don't cover call in Big Spring. There is a slit lamp in the ER and on the wards for consults. Don't do their own orbital floor fracture repairs but get plenty of globes (PD tries to limit amount of globes residents perform because doesn't want them too overworked on call but wants them to still have the experience). Call is busy from what they say.

Lifestyle Things: Great affordable town to learn, they showed us the massive fitness center on the interview ($25/month for residents). Texas Tech is a big football town so there seems to be more going on than some other smaller towns I have looked at. Weather isn't hot and humid like Houston, seems more temperate. Hiking things to do in New Mexico and west texas

Numbers: 220 phacos, 15 cornea, 15 strab, 7 glaucoma but trending up, 50 retina, 70 plastics, 8 globes

Call: q4 ED call as PGY-2, q4 consults and backup as PGY-3, backup PGY-4

The other big talking points (Lubbock's location, Big Springs rotation) are well represented. I did enjoy the faculty, especially the PD. One thing I do remember hearing from my interview there was that the lone glaucoma faculty isn't exactly the easiest to work with, though this is improving. As a result, residents thought this was the weakest area of the program.