Texas Programs

I heard from the chair of our department that the former PD of the Dallas program quit abruptly last year and is currently involved in legal action against the department...

His advice to me was "stay away..."

UMMS FMD said:

I heard from the chair of our department that the former PD of the Dallas program quit abruptly last year and is currently involved in legal action against the department...

His advice to me was "stay away..."

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William Johnston did quit abruptly, probably fed up with administrative issues. He was not totally innocent and pure in those circumstances, especially leaving mid year and leaving the graduating residents in a lurch with a urologist having to sign their diplomas.

Despite the administrative stuff, you are going to have a tough time finding any program that can match the case diversity and numbers you can see at Southwestern.

A search is underway for a new chairman. Charles Whitten is the acting chairman now.

I am unaware of any kind of legal action being pursued by Johnston against the program. He moved to Scott and White and is now faculty professor in their cardiac division.

Again, come to the program and take a look before you write it off.

Any information about Baylor?

I know I would like Houston as a city but I don't know anything about the program. Also, if anyone knows if they have a dinner the night before that would be great because their dates are limited.

i interviewed at baylor, UT-Houston, and UTMB last year - some of my general thoughts:

UTMB: i got along with the residents best at this program, and if you're into research, this is the program in texas to go to (the have a ton of NIH funding and many active avenues of research). caseload seemed adequate. however, galveston sucks. plus, i was couples matching, and my fiancee was very underwhelmed with their peds program.

UT-houston: i didn't really like the vibe. we only talked to one resident the entire day, and althought she was a complete knockout , it didn't really speak well for the program that only one resident would show up. the night before, we were all invited to a happy hour, and only two residents came. one of them told me flatly that they worked very hard, and he wouldn't come back. i did interview with a few ut-houston students, and they couldn't stop gushing about the program, while simultaneously bashing baylor's program. i guess the competition comes from being on the same campus. overall seemed to me like workhorse program, with some resident dissatisfaction, and constantly trying to prove they were as good as baylor. they do have basically the same affiliations as baylor, might be some differences, it has been awhile.

baylor: i really liked the feel of the program, the residents were fun, spoke highly of the program, and the texas medical center is amazing. doing peds at texas childrens, CV at texas heart, and CCM @ MD anderson are all pretty sweet affiliations. however, there were some rumors about low caseload, residents doubling up in rooms, and the loss of affiliation with methodist, made me push it a little lower on my rank list. it does seem that the affiliation with methodist is back in effect now, which is a huge plus. not really sure this program has many weaknesses. also, the PD was very friendly, easy to get along with, and a big baseball fan. i ranked this program above the other two, i would do it again, and if i were applying this year, i would rank it even higher.

additionally, there was some buzz at both baylor and ut-houston about the two program possibly merging... so the instability there kinda scared me away a little bit.

hope this helped a little. also, try doing a search - there are many posts comparing the texas programs, some are very detailed.

I must say that after interviewing at both places, I liked Baylor the least. I felt the program to be too strict and felt that Baylor residents made it seem as if it was more of a workhorse program than UT Houston. There was also some issues with the chair and such as mentioned in other posts.

As for UT-Houston, I felt as if the program was alot more laid back compared to Baylor. I felt that the PD seemed to be honest and approachable. I did not feel that way about Baylor's PD. She seemed a bit fake to me (a total opinion). UT-Houston rotates through basically all the same hospitals as Baylor and, from what I understand, UT-Houston is the main program associated with MD Anderson.

I agree that there was not many residents during interview day, however, I felt that to be the case at many other respectable programs. That was definitely not a deciding factor when choosing my rank list. Johns Hopkins only had one resident at the pre-interview dinner and one resident show up for touring the next day. Residents are busy. Honestly, I hope to be busy so I can get the most experience I am able to before Im on my own.

All in all, I believe both programs will give you great training. Its just a matter of where you felt most comfortable during your interview.

I interviewed at UT-Southwestern, Scott & White, and UTMB-Galveston last year.

UT-Southwestern: Dallas. This is the best city in Texas, and one of the best cities in the country. The dinner before was at a pretty fun italian place, and the residents as well as fellow interviewees were quite nice, honest (we work HARD), and fun to be around. The hotel the night before was down by love field, and the morning of we arrived at a decent time to the hospital for interviews. There was pretty much no tour, which can be a good thing or bad thing depending on what you want out of an interview; I think the place is so huge that no tour could really do justice. I know that they have had some pretty serious political issues (rumors), but Dr. Charles Witten seemed like a very honest and very cool guy. Didatics seemed to be a bit weakish?, mostly because of the overwhelming caseload. The interviews were pretty laid back. I didn't see many residents the day of the interview at all, and most of the time we were sequestered in a little room off of the main office.

The main tour was via powerpoint. To summarize, UT-SW: Cool residents at dinner, no residents on interviews, lots and lots of work, questionable didactics, great city, unlikely to have time for research due to heavy workload.

Scott & White: Ever see King of the Hill? It's based in Temple, TX, which is where Scott & White resides. Driving down from Dallas on the interstate takes a long time, but it isn't that far from Austin or D-town. The night before they take the interviewees to a resident's house for a BBQ and get together, which is a great time. There is alot of comraderie here. The hotel was pretty good, and the interview started at a decent time. Residents get treated very very very well at this program, both by the hospital and the department. Workload isn't that bad, and didactics are good. Research seemed weak, but the residents loved their jobs, and the attendings were laid back and approachable. Did I mention free food down in the awesome cafeteria? Drawbacks include location (for some), lack of research. Positives are the residents, faculty, free food, nice hospital.

UTMB-Galveston: Galveston is a pretty nasty place. The hospital was strong on research, the residents were "ok", in that they seemed pretty insular about the area and the program. The hotel before was great (watch out, it's haunted), and the morning of it was a drive yourself to the hospital bit. The complex is a bunch of hospitals very close together. The faculty were hit or miss on the interviews (they all went well, but the personalities were...meh). It seemed like the program, overall, took care of the residents, with great benefits and a decent amount of moonlighting available. Strengths are research, program benefits, moonlighting. Didactics were above average, but nothing too hot. Negatives are location, hospital itself, location, hit or miss resident/faculty personalities, and location.

Overall:

Workload: (Heavy to Light) UT-SW>>>>UTMB-Galveston>Scott & White
Hospital: Scott & White>>>UT-SW>>UTMB-Galveston
Residents: Scott & White>>UT-SW>>>UTMB-Galveston
Didactics: Scott & White>UTMB-Galveston>>>UT-SW
Location: UT-SW>>>Scott & White>>>>>>>>>UTMB-Galveston
Research: UTMB-Galveston>>>>Scott & White>UT-Southwestern
Faculty: UT-SW>Scott & White>>>UTMB-Galveston
Moonlighting Opps: UTMB-Galveston>>Scott & White>>>>UT-SW

Hope that helped.

Prince William Sound, Alaska (Valdez spill) is near an island too.

PropoTAL said:

Wow thanks so much! I had no idea that Galveston would be a bad location. I assume an Island calls for beaches, sun and a great time. Thanks for the info.

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Coastie said:

Scott & White: Ever see King of the Hill? It's based in Temple, TX, which is where Scott & White resides.

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Actually, King of the Hill is loosely based on Garland, TX, a suburb of Dallas. (Arlen=Garland) If I recall correctly, Judge is from the Dallas area. Office Space was filmed in the area, as well. I swear that apartment complex looks familiar, and those houses are probably somewhere near Carrolton.

Either way, you most certainly noticed a resemblance of the characters to people in Temple, as you would find in nearly every other Texas town. I'm not sure most people realize how true to life that show really is.

Trivia- On my copy of First Aid for Step 1 (circa 2004), one of the reviewers was listed as hailing from Arlen, TX. It's not a real town, existing only on TV.

Bertel, I hate to overrule you, but King of The Hill has plenty of references to being a few hours south of Dallas, with a huge hospital in town that is "famous in central texas", and to top it off, on the weather reports by Nancy Gribble, the "texas tornado" that hit Arlen is shown as being directly over the temple, tx area with dallas to the north and austin to the south.

haha...thanks wikipedia.

Bertelman said:

Actually, King of the Hill is loosely based on Garland, TX, a suburb of Dallas. (Arlen=Garland) If I recall correctly, Judge is from the Dallas area. Office Space was filmed in the area, as well. I swear that apartment complex looks familiar, and those houses are probably somewhere near Carrolton.

Either way, you most certainly noticed a resemblance of the characters to people in Temple, as you would find in nearly every other Texas town. I'm not sure most people realize how true to life that show really is.

Trivia- On my copy of First Aid for Step 1 (circa 2004), one of the reviewers was listed as hailing from Arlen, TX. It's not a real town, existing only on TV.

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Is Galveston really such a horrible city? I'm not a Texas girl, I've never been to Galveston, and I never really hear anyone say anything positive about the city. Anyone out there currently in or from Galveston to give their input?

Any of the aforementioned programs DO-friendly?

PropoTAL said:

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons about: UT-Houston, UT-Southwestern (Dallas) or UTMB-Galveston? I really do not know much about the Texas Programs so any help would be appreciated.

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I don't know much about the pros of those programs, but I can tell you a huge CON.

THEY ARE IN TEXAS!

mcrib said:

Any of the aforementioned programs DO-friendly?

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i am a DO, i interviewed at baylor, UTM, UTH, and i also got an interview at UTSW, but didn't go because my fiancee didn't get an interview at their peds program.

Just as a quick follow up to the original post, there is no lawsuit by William Johnston, our former chair, against UTSW or any entity therein.

I would argue that there is time for research as there is a research track available, as long as you are sincerely pursuing a research goal, and not trying to skirt some part of the workload. Not as much time as UTMB, but enough.

Being the only training program in a huge metropolitan area such as the DFW metroplex gives us a huge opportunity to see and do everything.

Coastie said:

Bertel, I hate to overrule you, but King of The Hill has plenty of references to being a few hours south of Dallas, with a huge hospital in town that is "famous in central texas", and to top it off, on the weather reports by Nancy Gribble, the "texas tornado" that hit Arlen is shown as being directly over the temple, tx area with dallas to the north and austin to the south.

haha...thanks wikipedia.

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Let's agree to disagree, or at least agree that we may both be right...(also wikipedia)...

The animated television series King of the Hill was created by former Garland resident Mike Judge, who used elements of Garland as an inspiration for its setting — the fictional (and similar-sounding) town of Arlen, Texas. Garland also may have been the inspiration for the setting of his earlier show, Beavis and Butt-head.

epidural man said:

I don't know much about the pros of those programs, but I can tell you a huge CON.

THEY ARE IN TEXAS!

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A huge PRO.

THEY ARE NOT IN CALIFORNIA.

who wants a nicely roasted house?

A huge pro is that all the programs ARE in Texas. What more can you need outside of Texas (save for a mountain with some snow for skiing).

UT vs. Baylor - don't have most of the same associations, but both will not lack in case # in any sense. UT-Houston is affiliated with Hermann (w/ Hermann Children's), MD Anderson (larger part than Baylor), LBJ (smaller county hospital in Harris county). Baylor is associated loosely with St Lukes (most of the work is with Texas Heart Insitute for the CV), exclusive partnerships with VA-Houston (largest VA in the nation), Texas Childrens (new contract just signed for the next 20 years including the new OB hospital TCH is putting up in cooperation with TWU), and Ben Taub (level 1 trauma center for Harris county, bigger than LBJ, probably smaller than Parkland in Dallas). Baylor has also broken ground on its new Hospital and Outpatient clinic that is set to be completed phase 1 by 2010. This will be Baylor's primary private teaching hospital which is why stronger relationships with Methodist and St Luke's have been forgone. Anyway, these are the specific hospital affiliations that I know of. Enough to say that in the Texas Medical Center with either school you will not lack case #s. Oh and to the rumor of a merger, it had been tossed around but 99.9% of the word is that it "no way, not gonna happen." There will always be some cross-street rivalry b/n the 2, and it is pretty much all in fun.

Galveston - If I had to describe Texas as a person, I would describe Galveston as the anus. Enough said in terms of Galveston in terms of a nice place to live. In terms of program, I have heard nothing but good things. See other peoples' posts for more info and more insight. My viewpoint is moreso on the town itself.

UTSW - I have also been warned to stay away from there as there are rumors of the program being in much upheaval right now.

DrMunkey said:

Galveston - If I had to describe Texas as a person, I would describe Galveston as the anus. . . .

UTSW - I have also been warned to stay away from there as there are rumors of the program being in much upheaval right now.

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The first part made me spit out my coffee all over my computer.

As for UTSW, we need a new chairman and we've lost 6 faculty members over the past year to much higher paying private practice jobs. It's a cycle. What hasn't changed is the case diversity and complexity and the cardiac division, a treasure of truly good people, remains intact minus the loss of one faculty member that was barely involved with the residents in the OR or ICU.

Interview there, talk to the residents, then decide.

Just curious. Will a board score of 204 get me an interview at any of these Texas schools?

DrMunkey said:

There will always be some cross-street rivalry b/n the 2, and it is pretty much all in fun.

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nm

I would vote for UTMB as a pretty good choice if you are looking for a good academic program with excellent teaching, but (most important in my opinion) VERY KIND/SUPPORTIVE attendings/ upper level residents. The schedule is pretty good compared to other programs across the country.

Yes the surrounding area is not the best, but it is warm. That means a lot for someone used to the sub-freezing temp of the northeast on a routine basis.
Also, houston is not that far away/actually a pretty cool town.

Check utmb out....you might be pleasantly surprised...I certainly was.

invitro said:

I would vote for UTMB as a pretty good choice if you are looking for a good academic program with excellent teaching, but (most important in my opinion) VERY KIND/SUPPORTIVE attendings/ upper level residents. The schedule is pretty good compared to other programs across the country.

Yes the surrounding area is not the best, but it is warm. That means a lot for someone used to the sub-freezing temp of the northeast on a routine basis.
Also, houston is not that far away/actually a pretty cool town.

Check utmb out....you might be pleasantly surprised...I certainly was.

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In less than an hour (OK, I know it's traffic dependent) you can get from Galveston to Downtown Houston, where there is plenty to do if that's a major concern. Not too shabby in my opinion.

Now if it's hurricanes you're worried about, sorry, can't help you there

DrMunkey said:

Galveston - If I had to describe Texas as a person, I would describe Galveston as the anus.

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Nice That made me chuckle. I currently live in an armpit, so I think I might understand. Thanks!

trixie said:

...I currently live in an armpit, so I think I might understand...

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Jersey?

I noticed that no one has mentioned the program in San Antonio. From what I understand it is one of the best programs in the state...so check it out.

trixie said:

Nice That made me chuckle. I currently live in an armpit, so I think I might understand. Thanks!

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Yeah, having lived in Waco and done my undergrad there, I'd call that the armpit of Texas. Temple's pretty close to that (Scott & White), but I hear that's a pretty cush program if you want to do private.

Dolly125 said:

I noticed that no one has mentioned the program in San Antonio. From what I understand it is one of the best programs in the state...so check it out.

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Duly noted, I am highly interested in San Antonio as it is a strong program and it's in my hometown. They have 40 people from their school applying to Anesthesia out of 200 students this year, it's ridiculous. My friends there say the department is highly liked by the students. I'm not sure how much they like their own and in turn how hard it is to get in as an outsider. Any input from anyone?

UTSouthwestern said:

The first part made me spit out my coffee all over my computer.

As for UTSW, we need a new chairman and we've lost 6 faculty members over the past year to much higher paying private practice jobs. It's a cycle. What hasn't changed is the case diversity and complexity and the cardiac division, a treasure of truly good people, remains intact minus the loss of one faculty member that was barely involved with the residents in the OR or ICU.

Interview there, talk to the residents, then decide.

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I did apply there regardless of what I was warned as I really want to stay in Texas. I'd love to interview there, now if only I'd get the invite... ;-) *hint hint* j/k.

DrMunkey said:

Duly noted, I am highly interested in San Antonio as it is a strong program and it's in my hometown. They have 40 people from their school applying to Anesthesia out of 200 students this year, it's ridiculous. My friends there say the department is highly liked by the students. I'm not sure how much they like their own and in turn how hard it is to get in as an outsider. Any input from anyone?



I did apply there regardless of what I was warned as I really want to stay in Texas. I'd love to interview there, now if only I'd get the invite... ;-) *hint hint* j/k.

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San Antonio looks very favorably on their own students, but not exclusively. You still have a chance.

I could call Charles Whitten or Stephanie Byerly, but they would probably think I was smoking crack if I say "You should give Mr. Munkey a chance to swing through Southwestern."

UTSouthwestern said:

San Antonio looks very favorably on their own students, but not exclusively. You still have a chance.

I could call Charles Whitten or Stephanie Byerly, but they would probably think I was smoking crack if I say "You should give Mr. Munkey a chance to swing through Southwestern."

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I would love an interview there myself. I think Whitten or Byerly would be ok with a call of support for Brocsonic, what do you say UT?

UTSouthwestern said:

San Antonio looks very favorably on their own students, but not exclusively. You still have a chance.

I could call Charles Whitten or Stephanie Byerly, but they would probably think I was smoking crack if I say "You should give Mr. Munkey a chance to swing through Southwestern."

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what if it wasn't "mr. munkey" but "Ms. Canrenone's friend's cousins classmate" would they still think you were smoking crack??

/I personally would love an interview at Southwestern.

DrMunkey said:

I am highly interested in San Antonio as it is a strong program and it's in my hometown. They have 40 people from their school applying to Anesthesia out of 200 students this year, it's ridiculous. My friends there say the department is highly liked by the students. I'm not sure how much they like their own and in turn how hard it is to get in as an outsider. Any input from anyone?

.

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UTHSCSA is becoming less inbred. Of the current PGY1s doing their CB year, 4 of 12 are grads of UTHSCSA med school, compared with over 50% in most years past. A lot of that is because of our new chairman, Dr. Jeff Andrews, who has been making an effort to recruit competitive applicants from other medical schools.

I'm a UTMB student. We do have a great department with really cool, friendly attendings, cool residents, great didactics, good cases, good work hours and great perks. The only negative, GALVESTON. I hate this island. It's old and crappy and is in great need of an entire remodeling. It's considered historical, and many outsiders thinks its cool until you actually live here and see the hood that it is. Yes the westside is nice, about 6-15 miles away from hospital, but it costs more to live on this island. Still affordable though by southern standards. Around the hospital, crappy, imho. Many of the single residents reside on the island usually close to the hospital on the east side. Many of the married ones live off the island in Texas city, League city, and even clearlake where you get more for your money housewise. The commute is anywhere from 15-40 minutes, so definetly doable. I would love to stay here because of the great program, and great people but I think I might need a change of location.

Just recently interviewed in San Antonio and it looks like they have a great program, so it's definetly on the top of my list since I LOVE that town. The new chairman just came from UAB and was here at UTMB 12 years ago. He seems great and is trying to really bring up the program and I've heard great things about him from the attendings here.

Good luck.

Just to chime my thoughts about UTSW program. I am a current CA 1 here and may be my notes might help some people wondering about the TX programs. It seems to me that public does not have a whole lot of respect for this program currently. I absolutely love this program for different reasons of my own. Let me start with the intern year since you dont have to match seperately for the PGY-1 year. Intern year is like a Transtional year here. They take 15 residents in 1st year and 3-4 as CA-1 year. Intern year is a great year. We rotate through Parkland/Childrens/Baylor and Methodist. Medicine months at Methodist are the best. Methodist serves indigent population, you see plenty of IM stuff. Best part is that call is Q5 and only 12hrs call. Two interns are on each team and each covers 12hrs of the shifts. If you are day intern, you go home at 7pm and come back the next day. You literally spend only 4 nights in the hospital per month. 4-5 months of Q5 12hrs call will beat any program. If you get MICU at Methodist, which I did not, NO CALL for the entire month and you go home everyday between 2-4pm after checking out with the senior call resident. And, pt's are really sick in MICU so you get plenty of procedures to do well as well. Baylor rotations include SICU, Pulmonary consult, CCU and Trauma ICU (new from this year, I did Vascular surgery, which was a waste of month). SICU, you stay late 1-2 a week until 5pm and no night call. Consult month is M-F and every weekend off. CCU at Baylor is Q4 call but you get to see the pt. in ICU after cath or stenting is done. Call days, I never admitted more that 2-3 patients and most of the nights were pretty quiet. Post-call you are out by 9am, after the didactics. Some interns get MICU at Methodist instead of CCU. No idea about the Trauma ICU since I did not do it, but not bad per the interns who did it. Vascular surgery was a complete waste so we opted to replace it with something useful. Parkland rotations include a month of OB (not anesthesia), very easy month since no OR or Clinic for anesthesia interns ( I used to be out by 8am after finishing my rounds and notes). You are like an assistant to the OB intern, who is also on the team and help him with the notes and discharges.They need to go to clinics or OR by 8am, you are basically done. On call days in L&D, you stay until 5pm and basically cover the floor calls since L&D is crazy in Parkland (Busiest delievery center in the country) and OB residents are pretty busy. Childrens month is Q4 and can be the most draining month, especially if you do not like to work with kids. A month of ER ( 18 12 hrs shifts, 10days and 8 nights) and a month of general anesthesia at Parkland (easy month since you are paired with a CA2 or CA3 with no call or weekends) completes the intern year.
CA 1 year has been great so far. 5-6 months of general at Parkland, 2mths of GA at University hospital (Zale and St.Paul), PICU, SICU, Pre-op, 2mths of OB, 1mth of acute pain. Q4 call at Parkland seems very malignant, but believe me except for once in a while, I get anywhere from 4-8hrs of sleep at night. This is because we have 2 CRNA's, 2 CA-1's and a CA2 or 3 for chiefing for the night. We run only 2 OR's after 11pm so cases are assigned in order between 4 people. Trauma 1 can make the night busy but it all depends on the case. Other night we did a Ex.Lap for GSW in less than 90mts. My intern year was not bad but I love my CA1 year. I came to this program because it has everything to offer for training during residency. I have already done few Crani's during my call and when the Neuro resident has a day off. Most of the CA1's are already very comfortable with GA for for B&B cases like Lap. Chole's, Ortho, ENT, Ophtho. I love trauma because it has so much to offer for learning in such a short time, and thats the reason I got certified in ATLS on my own. Parkland will give you plenty of hands-on experience on Trauma cases. Yes, few faculty members are getting off the boat to go to private practice and the hunt for the chairman is still going on, but the things which will never change will be the CLINICAL EXPERIENCE here. I believe that learning is 90% individual and 10% external like didactics and good faculty. If you see one, you will learn more and remember for the rest of your career. Visit the website at www.utswanesthesia.com and see how didactics program is being overhauled by Dr.Griffin. Didactics was definately weak before but it has improved significantly and will improve much more in next few months. We get paged everyday "Topic of the day" from the ASA keywords to discuss with the faculty and later posted to the website for review (short 2-5mths read from Miller or Yao). Case of the week is posted every week like AAA reapir etc. Discussion forums are there for each class to discuss any topic among residents. Literature review is starting next month, where every month CA1 will present a short 10mt presentation on an pre-assigned topic to everyone.
I have heard CA2 and CA3 years get better when you do your speciality rotations, but can't comment on it yet. I am really enjoying my residency and I think I made a right choice coming here. I also interviewed at Mayo-Rochester, Birmingham, Gainesville, Michigan, Baylor, Cleveland Clinic, Wake Forest and Iowa but decided to come to this program for my own needs. Every stable program is great if it serves your needs. I have plenty of autonomy here and can already choose my anesthetic plan for the patient. Faculty are good and not so good, but thats universal phenomenon. We deal with sick people here at Parkland, which offers a lot. University hospital gives you the private practice experience during CA1 year, ASA 1 and 2 cases, well pre-oped and worked up.
UTSW is a very strong program with some not very favorable words out there. Its the only program in the Metroplex with strong job market currently. I would highly recommend that you should visit this program to see it yourself and meet the residents. One of the current CA1, who went to school here also considered this program malignant and did spread the same word during his interview trail and warned people to stay away (not because he wanted to match here), now realizes how wrong he was.
They will have a chairman soon, because faculty and search committe meetings are becoming very frequent. I have heard that finaces were the main reason for Dr. Johnston's departure, but dept. is back in the black (from -$5 mil. to +$500K in less than 2 years). Old anchors are here and driving this program in the right direction. If anybody has any questions about UTSW, I will be very happy to give my honest opinion. Thanks and good luck to everyone on the interview trail.

GasMD said:

Just to chime my thoughts about UTSW program. I am a current CA 1 here and may be my notes might help some people wondering about the TX programs. It seems to me that public does not have a whole lot of respect for this program currently. I absolutely love this program for different reasons of my own. Let me start with the intern year since you dont have to match seperately for the PGY-1 year. Intern year is like a Transtional year here. They take 15 residents in 1st year and 3-4 as CA-1 year. Intern year is a great year. We rotate through Parkland/Childrens/Baylor and Methodist. Medicine months at Methodist are the best. Methodist serves indigent population, you see plenty of IM stuff. Best part is that call is Q5 and only 12hrs call. Two interns are on each team and each covers 12hrs of the shifts. If you are day intern, you go home at 7pm and come back the next day. You literally spend only 4 nights in the hospital per month. 4-5 months of Q5 12hrs call will beat any program. If you get MICU at Methodist, which I did not, NO CALL for the entire month and you go home everyday between 2-4pm after checking out with the senior call resident. And, pt's are really sick in MICU so you get plenty of procedures to do well as well. Baylor rotations include SICU, Pulmonary consult, CCU and Trauma ICU (new from this year, I did Vascular surgery, which was a waste of month). SICU, you stay late 1-2 a week until 5pm and no night call. Consult month is M-F and every weekend off. CCU at Baylor is Q4 call but you get to see the pt. in ICU after cath or stenting is done. Call days, I never admitted more that 2-3 patients and most of the nights were pretty quiet. Post-call you are out by 9am, after the didactics. Some interns get MICU at Methodist instead of CCU. No idea about the Trauma ICU since I did not do it, but not bad per the interns who did it. Vascular surgery was a complete waste so we opted to replace it with something useful. Parkland rotations include a month of OB (not anesthesia), very easy month since no OR or Clinic for anesthesia interns ( I used to be out by 8am after finishing my rounds and notes). You are like an assistant to the OB intern, who is also on the team and help him with the notes and discharges.They need to go to clinics or OR by 8am, you are basically done. On call days in L&D, you stay until 5pm and basically cover the floor calls since L&D is crazy in Parkland (Busiest delievery center in the country) and OB residents are pretty busy. Childrens month is Q4 and can be the most draining month, especially if you do not like to work with kids. A month of ER ( 18 12 hrs shifts, 10days and 8 nights) and a month of general anesthesia at Parkland (easy month since you are paired with a CA2 or CA3 with no call or weekends) completes the intern year.
CA 1 year has been great so far. 5-6 months of general at Parkland, 2mths of GA at University hospital (Zale and St.Paul), PICU, SICU, Pre-op, 2mths of OB, 1mth of acute pain. Q4 call at Parkland seems very malignant, but believe me except for once in a while, I get anywhere from 4-8hrs of sleep at night. This is because we have 2 CRNA's, 2 CA-1's and a CA2 or 3 for chiefing for the night. We run only 2 OR's after 11pm so cases are assigned in order between 4 people. Trauma 1 can make the night busy but it all depends on the case. Other night we did a Ex.Lap for GSW in less than 90mts. My intern year was not bad but I love my CA1 year. I came to this program because it has everything to offer for training during residency. I have already done few Crani's during my call and when the Neuro resident has a day off. Most of the CA1's are already very comfortable with GA for for B&B cases like Lap. Chole's, Ortho, ENT, Ophtho. I love trauma because it has so much to offer for learning in such a short time, and thats the reason I got certified in ATLS on my own. Parkland will give you plenty of hands-on experience on Trauma cases. Yes, few faculty members are getting off the boat to go to private practice and the hunt for the chairman is still going on, but the things which will never change will be the CLINICAL EXPERIENCE here. I believe that learning is 90% individual and 10% external like didactics and good faculty. If you see one, you will learn more and remember for the rest of your career. Visit the website at www.utswanesthesia.com and see how didactics program is being overhauled by Dr.Griffin. Didactics was definately weak before but it has improved significantly and will improve much more in next few months. We get paged everyday "Topic of the day" from the ASA keywords to discuss with the faculty and later posted to the website for review (short 2-5mths read from Miller or Yao). Case of the week is posted every week like AAA reapir etc. Discussion forums are there for each class to discuss any topic among residents. Literature review is starting next month, where every month CA1 will present a short 10mt presentation on an pre-assigned topic to everyone.
I have heard CA2 and CA3 years get better when you do your speciality rotations, but can't comment on it yet. I am really enjoying my residency and I think I made a right choice coming here. I also interviewed at Mayo-Rochester, Birmingham, Gainesville, Michigan, Baylor, Cleveland Clinic, Wake Forest and Iowa but decided to come to this program for my own needs. Every stable program is great if it serves your needs. I have plenty of autonomy here and can already choose my anesthetic plan for the patient. Faculty are good and not so good, but thats universal phenomenon. We deal with sick people here at Parkland, which offers a lot. University hospital gives you the private practice experience during CA1 year, ASA 1 and 2 cases, well pre-oped and worked up.
UTSW is a very strong program with some not very favorable words out there. Its the only program in the Metroplex with strong job market currently. I would highly recommend that you should visit this program to see it yourself and meet the residents. One of the current CA1, who went to school here also considered this program malignant and did spread the same word during his interview trail and warned people to stay away (not because he wanted to match here), now realizes how wrong he was.
They will have a chairman soon, because faculty and search committe meetings are becoming very frequent. I have heard that finaces were the main reason for Dr. Johnston's departure, but dept. is back in the black (from -$5 mil. to +$500K in less than 2 years). Old anchors are here and driving this program in the right direction. If anybody has any questions about UTSW, I will be very happy to give my honest opinion. Thanks and good luck to everyone on the interview trail.

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Thanks for the low-down on UTSW's program!

lushmd said:

Jersey?

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Memphis... Though I went to Jersey once, and I thought it was really nice. Then again, it was Morristown, NJ, so maybe that's why!

UTSouthwestern said:

I could call Charles Whitten or Stephanie Byerly, but they would probably think I was smoking crack if I say "You should give Mr. Munkey a chance to swing through Southwestern."

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LOL. That made my day, shame that's not my real last name or I'd just encourage you to make that call, if nothing else for laughs. ;-)

All the same, based on what GasMD said, I'm definitely wanting to give it a look-see if I get the invite-ee

trixie said:

Is Galveston really such a horrible city? I'm not a Texas girl, I've never been to Galveston, and I never really hear anyone say anything positive about the city. Anyone out there currently in or from Galveston to give their input?

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I am currently an MSIII at UTMB. Galveston sucks, but UTMB is worse. There are plenty of great places to go in TX (Baylor, Southwestern, UT-Houston, Scott and White, and heck, even Tech), but don't waste your time at UTMB.

baylorbear said:

I am currently an MSIII at UTMB. Galveston sucks, but UTMB is worse. There are plenty of great places to go in TX (Baylor, Southwestern, UT-Houston, Scott and White, and heck, even Tech), but don't waste your time at UTMB.

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Actually, I disagree. The Anesthesia program is pretty damn good. One of the best in the South, from what I keep hearing. Just happens to be in a crappy location is all. And the school is fine, just in a crappy location too. Don't disregard it just due to location yet till you interview and weigh pros and cons.

I have to disagree as well. I find it interesting that people use "crappy location" to uniformly put down UTMB/Galveston. Some of the country's best hospitals are surrounded by truly crappy, straight up dangerous neighborhoods. As an example, Johns Hopkins Hospital. It's in the ghetto and you honestly have to be careful when walking off campus.

I've lived in several locations throughout the country, both in large cities and more rural areas as well, so I figured I'd comment. I've spent time in Dallas, Houston, and Galveston and I have to disagree about Galveston being a crappy place. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. If you're interested in a program, you should check it out and make a decision for yourself. Galveston offers the opportunity to take part in a host of water activities, so if you're into fishing, boating, windsurfing or whatever, it might be more closely aligned with your interests. Even the "crappy" areas close to the hospital allow residents to live (and own a home, if you desire) within walking/biking distance-- not a bad option as a resident who generally wakes at the crack of dawn. The downtown area is undergoing a decent amount of renovation, with lofts being constructed in older, historic buildings. There's enough nightlife to get out of the house and find something to do, but if you need endless options it's probably not a good match for you. There are other things here that people probably don't even access. For example, there is a 1894 Grand Opera House, with regular performances by the likes of Wynton Marsalis, James Earl Jones, Clint Black, etc. Bottom line is that you can certainly find things to do if you simply look for them. And I think that goes for a lot of other places that are not defined as a sprawling metropolis. On the flip side of things, it's certainly a slower pace of life here, and that may not suit everyone.

As far as the program goes, I was only able to find a few programs where the residents seemed as happy as they are at UTMB. And only a few others where faculty seemed to actually care about their residents. Again, it all depends on what you're looking for in a program.

Way to look at a glass as half full and not half empty A.Fugax. I definetly need to adopt that attitude, because I honestly do not like this island at all. But they have a damn good anesthesia program. So definetly considering staying here and living off the island a few miles away.

What is the relationship like between the anesthesiologists and surgeons at UTSW? I've heard from some current med students there that it can be quite adversarial. Is this true?

UMMS FMD said:

What is the relationship like between the anesthesiologists and surgeons at UTSW? I've heard from some current med students there that it can be quite adversarial. Is this true?

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Depends on the surgeon(s) and anesthesiologist(s) in question, much like any other place, I imagine. From my experience there, I haven't seen too many problems with the way surgery and anesthesia interact.

I'm currently a CA-1 but I wanted to post a little information about the intern year at Texas Tech. Tech gets a bad wrap from a lot of people on here whom I would venture to guess have never travelled to this part of Texas and whom should not be dishing false statements about a program they know nothing about. Lubbock is not an armpit of a community and in fact, of the more well known Texas programs I interviewed (Baylor,UTHSCSA,S&W) I have not met a more down to earth, friendly and appreciative population of people than those who live in Lubbock. That being said, a little about our program goes like this:

We have a typical transitional year where we rotate through various departments in the school in 1 month increments. The first year for my class was divided as follows:
SICU- 2 months
MICU- 1 month
NICU- 1 month
Pulmonary Consults- 1 month
Cardiology Consults- 1 month
ER- 2 months
ENT-1 month
Elective- 1 month
Medicine Floor- 1 month
Anesthesiology-1 month

The call schedule from month to month differs considerably.

Our SICU is currently run by the surgery department and we typically have several residents (anesthesiology, surgery, and OB) that cover the unit. With so many residents available our call schedule is very nice and we take 24 hour call approximately 3-4 times during each month. Rounding time is variable depending on the surgery attending covering the unit. Typically have pre-rounded by 0800 on everyone. We have 24 SICU beds total which tend to stay full most of the time. We have just recently hired a CCM trained Anesthesiology attending that has taken over SICU duties as well as lecture and O.R. duties. Supposedly we are looking into hiring a few more CCM trained physicians to join the department.
The MICU month is a lot different from the SICU rotations with respect to patient population and responsibilities. I personally enjoyed the MICU rotation more than the SICU primarily because I had a lot more autonomy with ventilators settings, fluid management, procedures, and medical decisions in general. There are approximately 26 MICU beds that are always full of very, very sick people that provide excellent training experience. There are 4 interns (mix of anesthesiology and internal medicine), 1 upper level medicine resident, and 1 attending covering the unit. 24 hour call is split Q4day and call is hit or miss in regards to how busy you'll be.
The NICU month is a fairly easy month. The NICU is capable of holding 40+ neonates and during my month the entire unit was full. As an anesthesia intern your responsibilities are recognized by the NICU attendings as primarily procedural. You are expected to seek out as many procedures as you can including: umbilical lines, intubations and lumbar punctures. A lot of data collection but also a good month for neonatal lectures which are given on a daily basis by VERY qualified neonatologists. I had approximately 7-8 twenty-four hour calls during my month on service. Each call was not bad at all and was actually pretty cool since you are allowed to attend the high risk deliveries and play with babies. We have a few nurse practitioners that are very helpful and informative.
Pulmonary Consult month is very easy. No call. Only work 2 weekends out of the month/2 weekends off. Hours are 9am-5pm. You carry your pager and get called by the floor or ICUs for any patient in need of pulmonary medicine. Often see a lot of ventilator patients and patients who are in respiratory distress and need intubation soon. I was able to get a few intubations during my month on this rotation. There are 3 pulmonary medicine trained attendings that are all very knowledgable and are all resident advocates that love to teach. Learn to read PFTs, CXRs, and CT scans of the chest. Learn a little about ventilator modes and settings which are further taught during the MICU month.
Cardiology Consult month is very easy and much the same as pulmonary consults in respect to no call, hours are 9am-5pm, work 2 weekends out of the month/2 weekends off, carry pager and get paged by floor or ICUs needing cardiology assistance. A little more busy than pulmonary month. Faculty and fellows are extremely nice and very knowledgeable. They love to teach and are good at what they do. You have an opportunity to learn EKGs and Echos (TTE and TEE). Fairly easy overall.
The two ER months are very laid back. We do not have an ER residency program at TTUHSC so UMC (primary teaching hospital) contracts private practice ER attendings. We have the ONLY Level 1 trauma center in the region and we accept patients from West Texas, Eastern New Mexico, and Oklahoma. There is a ton of autonomy during these months but it is a perfect opportunity to see a little how private practice medicine works. The patient population is very diverse and you will see just about everything that you could hope to see. You work 18 shifts total (9 shifts 7am-7pm and 9 shifts 7pm-7am). There are usually multiple interns from different departments (FM, Surgery, IM, and Anesthesiology) rotating together which makes for a nice environment to develop friendships both professionaly and personally.
ENT month is not malignant even though many may think is might be since it is through the department of surgery (there really are no malignant departments at TTUHSC). Q4 call during the month that can be pretty busy but are manageable since we split the work to get things done quickly. Typical hours are 7am-5pm. Get to scrub in on cases and take care of ENT floor patients. Drawback to this month is that when you are on call you cover all subspecialties (ENT, neurosurgery, urology, general surgery floor calls, and traumas). Learn about surgical approaches to various ENT procedures. When not scrubbed in (i.e. T&As) get to watch a little anesthesia being performed and get to talk with the anesthesiology residents.
Elective month (Additional month of ER, Heart station, pediatrics, etc...Basically whatever you want to do that month except anesthesiology).
Medicine Floor month can be busy but usually have another intern on the team to split up the call. Rather than Q4day can split the call to Q8day and decrease your call schedule significantly. Most floor attendings are very relaxed and they like to teach. You will learn alot during this month.
Anesthesiology month- I haven't done this month yet. I will do it in June so I can't say a whole lot about it yet. The department has put every intern in the O.R starting in June to "jump-start" our CA1 year and to get us prepared a little sooner.


Teaching

Every attending that I have encountered thus far has been very knowledgeable in their respective fields. They love to teach and are resident advocates. Teaching sessions are dependent on each individual rotation but in general there are ample lectures and two-sided discussions.

Atmosphere

The environment is absolutely phenomenal. Camaraderie among residents is not lacking in any respect. Everyone looks out for one another and we all split the work to get things done in the most efficient manner. There is currently one foreign medical resident in our Anesthesiology program with the majority coming from schools in Texas (Texas Tech, UT San Antonio, UT Houston, UTMB Galveston). Some of the attendings are from Germany and have extensive training in regional anesthesia. As far as life outside of work I have plenty of time to spend with my family. I have a wife and 16 month old son. We often go to the park and frequently go out to do other things. I've been able to take them to San Antonio and Ruidoso for many days at a time for vacation.

Conclusion

Overall, I love this program and I wouldn't change my decision of ranking TTUHSC first of all the places I interviewed. I have been impressed with the facilities, faculty, staff and my fellow residents. Lubbock truly is a well kept secret that many people are afraid to experience. West Texas is not as bad as people may think. We do have alot of the amenities of a big city. We have Big 12 football and basketball. We have tons of parks with opportunities to do a multitude of outdoor activities such as fishing, boating, mountain biking, ATVing, hiking, etc. However, if you are looking for a prestigious top tier program to train TTUHSC is probably not where you should be. We do have plenty of opportunities for research but we don't have the NIH funding of your UT Southwestern or your Baylor. Most residents end up going into private practice but we do have a large number that decide to do fellowships such as CCM and pain management (the famous TTUHSC pain program is still here). Regardless of whether I decide to do a fellowship or not I believe that I will be well prepared when I'm finished with my training.

trixie said:

Memphis... Though I went to Jersey once, and I thought it was really nice. Then again, it was Morristown, NJ, so maybe that's why!

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Interesting that you would say that (Memphis = armpit). I lived in Memphis for a few months (and my wife lived there for ~5 yrs) and I actually kind of liked it (then again, we lived on the relative oasis of Mud Island).

Coastie said:

Bertel, I hate to overrule you, but King of The Hill has plenty of references to being a few hours south of Dallas, with a huge hospital in town that is "famous in central texas", and to top it off, on the weather reports by Nancy Gribble, the "texas tornado" that hit Arlen is shown as being directly over the temple, tx area with dallas to the north and austin to the south.

haha...thanks wikipedia.

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So I happen to be reading the NYT today, Coastie.

When he was not long out of school, Judge moved to Dallas with his college girlfriend, who’d taken a job there. They lived in the middle-class suburb of Richardson, which provided much of the fodder for “King of the Hill"...

Forget the NYT, there are tons of pics on the show which show the location..and tons of clues..you'll never win this one, Bert! Never!

Bertelman said:

So I happen to be reading the NYT today, Coastie.

When he was not long out of school, Judge moved to Dallas with his college girlfriend, who'd taken a job there. They lived in the middle-class suburb of Richardson, which provided much of the fodder for "King of the Hill"...

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Coastie said:

Forget the NYT, there are tons of pics on the show which show the location..and tons of clues..you'll never win this one, Bert! Never!

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King of the Hill is without a doubt based off Temple Texas.