Best program in Texas

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To answer your question, I need to know what you are looking for in a residency. UTSW has the biggest name, but is not the best place for everyone.
 
Stanford? I kid I kid.:laugh:

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Baylor? No clue.

Im not personally a huge fan of the state, although I hear its fairly cool these days.
 
Gene_ said:
To answer your question, I need to know what you are looking for in a residency. UTSW has the biggest name, but is not the best place for everyone.
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Honestly, I'm not sure. Just good exposure to specimens. Good teaching. And most importantly good reputation so I can land a job afterwards.
 
skinknee said:
Honestly, I'm not sure. Just good exposure to specimens. Good teaching. And most importantly good reputation so I can land a job afterwards.
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From my travels, it seems like you can get all the above from nearly any place if you put the work in.

I guess the real question would be "What places will hold you back if you go there?"
 
Napoleon1801 said:
From my travels, it seems like you can get all the above from nearly any place if you put the work in.

I guess the real question would be "What places will hold you back if you go there?"
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Really? You think so? So many people on this forum have recommended to inquire programs about # of specimens seen per year. That's supposedly very important. Also, I've heard the reputation of program will help immensely in your future career. This is what I've heard from others. Being a med student, I, personally, know nothing for sure.

That's why I was wondering if anyone knew what the best place in TX would offer that.
 
skinknee said:
Really? You think so? So many people on this forum have recommended to inquire programs about # of specimens seen per year. That's supposedly very important. Also, I've heard the reputation of program will help immensely in your future career. This is what I've heard from others. Being a med student, I, personally, know nothing for sure.

That's why I was wondering if anyone knew what the best place in TX would offer that.
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I think your question was answered by the first poster. UTSW is probably the biggest name institution. Most all other Texas programs that I am aware of have adequate enough volume that you can learn to be a good general pathologist. There are other criteria to judge a program. It is highly subjective and a personal decision. Do you learn better in larger institutions or smaller, need structure or more autonomy, want more research exposure, want to live in a larger metropolis or smaller location?
 
skinknee said:
Really? You think so? So many people on this forum have recommended to inquire programs about # of specimens seen per year. That's supposedly very important. Also, I've heard the reputation of program will help immensely in your future career. This is what I've heard from others. Being a med student, I, personally, know nothing for sure.

That's why I was wondering if anyone knew what the best place in TX would offer that.
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Maybe it's just my luck, but I haven't interviewed or heard of a place yet that sports an "inadequate volume." Every place seems to be reasonably busy, some more than others, and people who work for it seem to pass boards and more importantly get fellowships even in the most po-dunk of places. Maybe I'm just being horribly lied to, but I don't get the feeling that there's a glut of low volume places. I think more of my picks went into trying to find someplace that would be nice to live more than anything. 😀

I haven't heard anything majorly bad about any of the Texas schools so far.
 
Just because a place has low volume doesn't mean you won't be able to still pass the boards. But your training might lack in many areas. Many low volume places don't see any soft tissue or bone path. A lot of places are losing important specimens like GI biopsies, derm, and outpatient GU biopsies to reference labs. You can make up for stuff like this with electives or a fellowship, but it's nice to not have to so that you can focus on what you really like with your electives and fellowships.

Reputation of program can help with your future career, but it is only part of it. I have no doubt I got my job in large part because of my program, but part of that is regional and part of it is good relationships between faculty. If you perform well at an average program you will likely stand out, and when you look for a job this will be helpful.

On the original topic, I know nothing about texas programs so I won't say anything other than UTSW has the best national reputation (for whatever it's worth).
 
Well, I wrote a huge reply about Methodist in Houston, then stepped away from desk... came back, hit submit, and SDN had kicked me off so I lost it into the ether.

Anyway, I'm at Methodist in Houston and its fantastic. I'd be more than happy to answer any specific questions. I'll post something more substantive later.

DBH
 
As annoying as this question will be, can anyone place UTSW in a hierarchy of other programs. Would it be considered a top tier program or just missing the that top tier title or maybe just a solid 2nd tier-program? Would it be above the Cleveland Clinic?
 
skinknee said:
As annoying as this question will be, can anyone place UTSW in a hierarchy of other programs. Would it be considered a top tier program or just missing the that top tier title or maybe just a solid 2nd tier-program? Would it be above the Cleveland Clinic?
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If you're choosing between CCF and UTSW your deciding factor should not be which one is ranked higher on someone's arbitrary and subjective ranking system. You would choose based on 1) which residency program is structured in a way that appeals to you, 2) which program is in an area of the country you would like to live in and are thinking of living after residency, 3) whether they have fellowships you are interested in - they both have some but not all the areas people do.

Which program is "better" probably depends on what area of the country you live in.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this in the post yet. A few years ago Methodist split from Baylor. I interviewed at Baylor & remember liking the program quite a bit. I would've ranked it higher if it was in California. I'm not sure how the split as affected the program.

It seems kind of unusual that Methodist has a affiliation w/ Cornell, which is 1/2 a country away.


----- Antony
 
green mantis said:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this in the post yet. A few years ago Methodist split from Baylor. I interviewed at Baylor & remember liking the program quite a bit. I would've ranked it higher if it was in California. I'm not sure how the split as affected the program.

It seems kind of unusual that Methodist has a affiliation w/ Cornell, which is 1/2 a country away.


----- Antony
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The affiliation is only temporary. Methodist needs it for its accreditation and academic standing. Once Methodist completes it's research institute (currently being constructed), I am willing to wager this silly alliance will come to an end.
 
yaah said:
Cornell is weird though. They have a campus in Dubai or something.
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Cornell, the Promiscuous Hooker of Medicine? yeah odd to say the least.
 
I had actually addressed the split in my previous post, that disappeared into the ether, but I'll readdress it here, as well as why Methodist was the best program for me.

So, a bit of history: Yes, Methodist Hospital was the private hospital associated with the Baylor College of Medicine. A few (maybe 5-6?) years back, they severed relations - primarily in a dispute over money, from what I've been told. Clinical departments wound up fragmented, and most of the Pathology staff stayed on at Methodist. Most of the dust from this has settled. Baylor is in the process of building its own hospital. Methodist is in the process of building a new Research Institute building, and already has some nice new lab space in one of the professional towers, etc. The chair of Path is actually director of the research institute, as well. Anyway, the Baylor residency stayed at Baylor, but the Methodist faculty were educators who enjoyed teaching residents, so they started a new program at Methodist. This has some benefits I'll get to later.

Moving on to the Cornell thing - I don't know the exact reasons for it, GB's answer sounds good to me. I also heard it helped keep Methodist connected to some multicenter clinical trials, but I don't know. Some people have joint appointments to their faculty. In any case, it doesn't seem to affect my life as a resident. Its not like I commute to NY to signout once a week or anything.

So why was Methodist the best residency for me? Well, let me try to break down the pro's and con's in a more organized fashion:
  • Faculty: The faculty is absolutely fantastic. They love teaching residents, they're approachable, they're fantastic about pulling residents into projects and publications. Our interviewees go through a whirlwind of short interviews because so many faculty want to meet the applicants. They really look out for us. Also, we have our share of experts and big names - all of whom are accesible and involved in teaching, not hidden away.
  • Didactics: We have really great didactics, generally twice a day (with free lunch!) and a third conference for half of the year taught at the 18 headed scope by Dr. Ro. Its the absolute best surgpath teaching at the scope that I've ever seen. We have a good mix of straight lectures and interactive conferences, and a good mix of faculty and resident led conference.
  • Service: We have terrific PA support (4, i think, in SP). PAs gross our routine biopsies. Our volume is good but not overwhelming, and we have a float resident to help in the afternoon if necessary. Gross cutoff is 6pm. We alternate days gross/signout, frozen/sign out, a biopsy signout day and a float day. Our call schedule is not bad at all. In autopsy, we have great autopsy techs. So good specimens, good preview time, signout with the faculty. We also do a rotation at MD Anderson and can do an elective at Texas Children's. We have a blood bank and active transfusion med service.
  • Benefits: Our benefits are fantastic. Highest salary in the state for Path last I checked, insurance benefits include free labs/xrays at Methodist and Texas childrens. Its #10 on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For, and you can see why. We get quarterly patient satisfaction bonuses, random giveaways (Astros, Texans and Dynamos tix... Methodist schwag... "I survived Ike" coffee mugs, etc). Heck, we even have a 403b retirement account with 50% matching (up to 4% of your income). They pay for our parking in the med center (huge!), plus also will pay for a bus card if you take the Houston Metro. Vacation is generous as is our meeting support.
  • Research track: They have the absolute best research track of anywhere I interviewed in the country, if you're interested in a research career.
Anyway, this post is too long as it is, so I'll cut it short. Here are the few "cons" or caveats: 1) Our autopsy volume is low (maybe ~2/week avg), so if you want to do a lot of autopsy, you might want to look elsewhere. That having been said, if you're proactive you should have no problem getting your 50. 2) We do have a lot of didactics, so if you're the sorta person who just HATES attending conferences, even good ones, probably not for you. 3) You will get called on in conference, even as a first year, so if that bothers you, maybe not the place for you.

I'll be happy to answer any other questions about specifics. I doubt anyone read this far, but if you did, kudos! 🙂
DBH
 
DBH,

That sounds great! You've caught my attention. How about career opportunities post training? Do you have any info regarding how past grads have fared with getting jobs? Do they get any; do they stay in the area?

Also what fellowships are avail? and do they take their own? Sorry for the barrage of questions. Thanks, again.
 
skinknee said:
That sounds great! You've caught my attention. How about career opportunities post training? Do you have any info regarding how past grads have fared with getting jobs? Do they get any; do they stay in the area?

Also what fellowships are avail? and do they take their own? Sorry for the barrage of questions. Thanks, again.
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We have a lot of in house fellowships (SurgPath [4], Hemepath [2], Cyto [2], NP [1?], Transfusion med [1?], and Opthalmic path [1]), and we definitely take our own. There are a lot of fellowships in the Med Center too (MDA, Baylor, UT-Houston). I know we have one grad in the multicenter molecular fellowship at Baylor, and a PGY4 who's headed to Brigham.

Since the program is "new", there aren't too many grads yet, and they're only now getting to the point of graduating people who did all of their training at Methodist. However, so far as I know, people haven't had any trouble finding jobs/fellowships.
 
green mantis said:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this in the post yet. A few years ago Methodist split from Baylor. I interviewed at Baylor & remember liking the program quite a bit. I would've ranked it higher if it was in California. I'm not sure how the split as affected the program.
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Incidentally, Baylor's president (Dr. Peter Traber) "stepped down" yesterday, after a rocky 5 year tenure. There's an article from the Houston chronicle this past weekend which describes what happened and the aftermath. Baylor COM is currently in talks with Rice University about some sort of affiliation/merger.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6113589.html

DBH
 
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i concur with docbiohazard. hands down, methodist. if i could do it over again, they would be my first choice. the residents there are awesome people, as are the faculty. the residents are treated so well there - it's amazing. and you know what else is amazing - the faculty get along with each other AND they don't yell at/demean residents. the PAs and support staff are smart and friendly. their LIS system works. they are provided parking in the TMC. the hospital is CLEAN. in surg path, the volume and variety are fantastic. cytopath is also excellent and structured. workplace drama is nil. and, being in the TMC you'd have options to rotate at all the other hospitals in the area. the work the residents put in is paralleled by the faculty teaching and guidance. they're so focused on residents learning - very impressive. also, UTH and methodist share lectures, so there's the opportunity to benefit from both institutions. i don't know anything about baylor or utsw. and, uh...do i really need to say it about utmb? they just laid off 50% of the pathology department (techs, etc). faculty lay offs have yet to be announced. however, due to the tdcj affiliation, the autopsy service remains robust. they have not yet said how many positions they'll have open next year and plan to announce this in january. also, the hospital is still closed and galveston is completely trashed. i think that current state of affairs speaks for itself. UTH is also good, and they rotate at several area hospitals. methodist gives priority to their own for fellowships, but if you do a rotation there and express your interest, i'd say your chances are way better for getting in to residency/fellowship. last year's surg path fellowship grads are all employed, most within the TMC as attendings or in private practice. the fellowship directors i know there are VERY supportive. also, not only are they huge-name people, but they're also really really nice people. that makes residency/work SO much easier. also, several of the attendings in surg path and cytopath did their fellowships at methodist, so there are opportunities to be had within the institution.
 
Gut Shot said:
Traber is the easiest person to scapegoat, but the tension between Methodist and Baylor has been evident for decades. Leaders at both institutions (including the Baylor Board of Trustees) hold their share of the blame. Still, with the benefit of hindsight, Traber was not the right man for the job. He was the first "outsider" to ever head BCM, and he clearly did not understand or appreciate the dynamics of the TMC.
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All very true (well, I haven't been around TMC for decades, but its in line with what I've heard)... I didn't mean to imply Traber was solely responsible for what happened, just thought it was a relevant news item since someone had brought up the "split"...

The TMC is what it is due to the strength of its underlying institutions, so I certainly hope this turns the page and is a net positive for BCM.

DBH
 
I've interviewed at all three programs but am unsure of how to rank. Baylor is well known, Methodist seems great, and UT is so nice. I read all the info posted about Methodist but want to know more about UT Houston and Baylor. Help!
 
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Methodist is a good program in Houston.
 
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Gut Shot said:
Yeah, four straight years at The Taub would be a real bitch. Fortunately, there is also the DeBakey VA, Texas Children's, St. Luke's, and subspecialty rotations at Cullen. Oh, and MD Anderson, the Harris County Medical Examiner, and any away rotation you wish to set up. And then there's Methodist. Yes, Baylor residents still rotate at Methodist when they are so inclined.
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No, I was not referring to Ben Taub specifically. I would not want to attend Baylor for four years. Houston traffic sucks.
 
TX515 said:
No, I was not referring to Ben Taub specifically. I would not want to attend Baylor for four years. Houston traffic sucks.
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Then you wouldn't want to be at Methodist or UT Houston either as they are all neighbors.
 
Traffic, of course, it terrible in most of your major metropolitan centers where programs are located (Boston, San Fran, Baltimore, etc...)
 
uh, yeah if your husband works at nasa and you want to be at TMC, if you live outside beltway 8 or in pearland or sugarland or texas city, traffic bites, but there is a park and ride that several residents take. alternatively, there are decent apartment complexes on fannin or other nearby streets that are on the metro line or have a shuttle bus to deliver you to any of the tmc hospitals. two that i can think of are the maroneal and archstone medical center. i don't know about ut or baylor, but methodist gives residents free parking a few blocks away (includes shuttle bus transport - fantastic perk when the weather is foul) or a bus pass.

but, yeah, i'd rather get formalin in my eye than make that drive. it takes about 1 h and 45 min to get from league or texas city to the tmc.
 
abita said:
it takes about 1 h and 45 min to get from league or texas city to the tmc.
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Yeah, that would be too far south, but the Clear Lake area (more or less north of NASA) provides anywhere from a 35 min - 1 hr drive depending on traffic. Its a nice suburb. Just a plug.

DBH
 
Not just the drive to work, I'm talking about traffic in general. But there is no way I'd drive from Clear Lake to the TMC everyday.

Just as an aside, if I had to pick a program in Houston, I can only comment about Baylor and UT-Houston. I find UT-Houston overall to be a much friendlier place, so I'd rather go there. Can't comment on Methodist.
 
LADoc00 said:
Cornell, the Promiscuous Hooker of Medicine? yeah odd to say the least.
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Exactly. From the department chair to the administrators at all levels, the sole goal was to make as much profit as possible. This is in line with the hospital's goal, too. In order to window dress the program as being "academic", it has some quasi-research activities as well. In terms of resident rotation scheduling, there are a lot of problems.
 
isaishere said:
And what would be the best?? in Tx?
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Will have to say Methodist, if you're not into academic career. Next will be UTSW, followed by UT SanAntonio. MDA would have been good, but it's not a real residency program. It does, however, offer great opportunities for elective rotations for other residency programs. UTMB was very good 5 to 10 years ago. But it has lost all its good faculty before and after Hurricane Ike, along with patients and specimens.
 
yaah said:
Cornell is weird though. They have a campus in Dubai or something.
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That doesn't seem weird to me. Cleveland Clinic goes out of its way to attract rich Saudis to its hospitals. In fact, in the hotel connected to the hospital all information is given in English and Arabic.

I find it annoying when the media acts about how pious cleveland clinic and Mayo saying they don't incentivize their physicians by putting them on salary. Why the hell would they be catering to the ultra rich saudis if they didn't care about profit.
 
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pathstudent said:
That doesn't seem weird to me. Cleveland Clinic goes out of its way to attract rich Saudis to its hospitals. In fact, in the hotel connected to the hospital all information is given in English and Arabic.

No matter what anyone says about US healthcare, if you are ultra-rich, it is the best in the world. If you are poor, then it is basically "go fuhck yourself" healthcare.
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I think CCF has something going on in Dubai as well too...I think I read somewhere that CCF will fly you into their hospital for care?
 
here is a list of the fellowship spots funded for the 2010-11 academic year, to the best of my knowledge:

general surgical pathology [1], genitourinary [1], gastrointestinal [2], dermatopathology [2], cytology [2], bone and soft tissue [1], hematopathology [2], microbiology [1], transfusion medicine [1], molecular and genetic [1], and clinical biochemistry [1].

the cuyahoga county coroner's office down the street has 2 forensic spots available per year that it fills independently, though with a demonstrated propensity for interested clinic residents. this is fertile ground for those interested in pursuing the fast track to nancy grace, and ultimately, supplanting of dr. g.

there is also a cardiac pathology fellowship position, although the sensitive and hush-hush nature of the spot leads me to believe that only the excessive achievers will even be considered for this position.

the largest fellowship 'holes' are probably neuro and peds. dedicated renal/med kidney, breast, ent, pulmonary/thoracic fellowships are also not available. however, residents certainly get exposure to these subspecialties and i think graduates of the program attain competence in these fields, and that those choosing further fellowship training in these subspecialties will not be hindered by their choice of residency program.

add: the cleveland clinic has an agreement to help administer, staff and train personnel for a medical facility in development in abu dhabi. to associate with the city state of dubai, aka modern day sodom, is a reflection of a pattern of corruption and hubris that can only be characterized as the mayo way.

i kid! i kid!
 
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docbiohazard said:
Well, I wrote a huge reply about Methodist in Houston, then stepped away from desk... came back, hit submit, and SDN had kicked me off so I lost it into the ether.

Anyway, I'm at Methodist in Houston and its fantastic. I'd be more than happy to answer any specific questions. I'll post something more substantive later.

DBH
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When I intervied I sounded as though Methodist (private hospital) has good volume, however, lost the variety of specimens after the split with Baylor (who has the veterans hospital and Ben Taub (sp?) - Houston's indigent care hospital). What other hospitals do y'all rotate through? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
aw geez, I should probably read the entire forum before I open my mouth. Sorry DB.
 
Was curious how things have changed at methodist over the past few years. ie has the economy affected the program at all? Looks like they only took 4 pgy1 this year instead of the 5-6 they have taken in the past.

Around the TMC UTH/methodist seem to be the stronger program, at least to me that is. Anyone know the competitiveness of each one (step1).

Im planning on staying in houston and like both programs with each having strength/weakness (heard better AP at methodist and CP at UTH). Any info would be appreciated
 
I am from Texas and a PGY-1 this year, but not in Texas! Methodist was the worst interview that I had last year by far. One of the residents flat out told me that she wished that she never went there because it is so stressful. They only took 3 residents last year.

The most important question I think you should ask is about the financial situation of the department.

I say leave Texas! I went to a top name hospital and I think it is a good career choice. I am sure that I will be able to come back to Texas later if I want.

If you must stay in Texas, I think that you should go to UTSW. UTMB also has a good program, but the name is not as good. I would (and I did) stay away from Baylor Houston, San Antonio, and Tech.

Also, CCF is awesome 😉
 
HerrTex said:
Was curious how things have changed at methodist over the past few years. ie has the economy affected the program at all? Looks like they only took 4 pgy1 this year instead of the 5-6 they have taken in the past.

Around the TMC UTH/methodist seem to be the stronger program, at least to me that is. Anyone know the competitiveness of each one (step1).

Im planning on staying in houston and like both programs with each having strength/weakness (heard better AP at methodist and CP at UTH). Any info would be appreciated
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I am currently a fellow at Methodist and did my residency at Methodist. I would, without a doubt, choose this program over again. DBH's previous posts have very nicely spelled out the pros/cons of the program and they are largely unchanged (and I'm fairly confident that he is still as pleased with the program today as he was then). The only significant change that I can think of is that we now pay for our own parking, although you can choose to have a Metro card instead for which the hospital foots the bill.

We did take only 4 this year and the reason was that we had a trainee do a year of fellowship last year (in his 3rd year), prior to finishing residency, and is now back this year to finish. He counts as one spot this year, thus only 4 spots remaining. That person is the 3rd I can think of that has taken a less conventional route in training (i.e. doing a fellowship before finishing residency). In all cases the reasoning was that it was beneficial to the trainee. Our program director is very flexible with these sorts of things, which is great.

Something that has been previously mentioned that I agree with is the fact that you should ask the tough questions about the finances of the program while you're interviewing. With the economy the way it is and GME funding having been cut by 60%, knowing that your program can afford to keep you for 4 years is important. Methodist is making some changes (i.e. we now pay our own parking), but they're financially stable.

As far as the programs in the Houston area go (and I include Galveston in this group), they're all great programs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. I have gotten to work with graduates and trainees from each program and have never met a single one that I didn't think would be a competent pathologist. I think it's worth saying that the UTMB program had some tough years after Hurricane Ike, but they're fully recovered (as per current trainees/faculty). I think the more important thing is that each program has a different "feel" to it, which affects the experience of the resident. I chose Methodist because it was the right fit for me and I fit well with the other residents. That won't be the case for all applicants, so if you want to stay in the Houston area, do your best to spend as much time as possible in the department (i.e. do a rotation, come to a lecture, etc) so you have an idea whether or not it's the right fit for you.

As far as Step I scores go, we have interviewed people over the last few years with scores that run the gamut (200 and below to well above 250). It hasn't seemed to have much bearing on who ultimately gets ranked. The PD and faculty tend to look at the whole person rather than the score. Also, the residents have a say in the ranking considerations, which is also a nice aspect of the program.

To the person with the bad interviewing experience: I'm sorry to hear that. If you would be willing to give some feedback that might help us make the interview day better, you could PM me and I'll pass it along. I hope you were ultimately pleased with your choice of residency and wish you luck in your training.

And with that, I may officially be longer winded than DBH. 😀
 
Autopsy Sweet said:
I am currently a fellow at Methodist and did my residency at Methodist. I would, without a doubt, choose this program over again. DBH's previous posts have very nicely spelled out the pros/cons of the program and they are largely unchanged (and I'm fairly confident that he is still as pleased with the program today as he was then). The only significant change that I can think of is that we now pay for our own parking, although you can choose to have a Metro card instead for which the hospital foots the bill.

We did take only 4 this year and the reason was that we had a trainee do a year of fellowship last year (in his 3rd year), prior to finishing residency, and is now back this year to finish. He counts as one spot this year, thus only 4 spots remaining. That person is the 3rd I can think of that has taken a less conventional route in training (i.e. doing a fellowship before finishing residency). In all cases the reasoning was that it was beneficial to the trainee. Our program director is very flexible with these sorts of things, which is great.

Something that has been previously mentioned that I agree with is the fact that you should ask the tough questions about the finances of the program while you're interviewing. With the economy the way it is and GME funding having been cut by 60%, knowing that your program can afford to keep you for 4 years is important. Methodist is making some changes (i.e. we now pay our own parking), but they're financially stable.

As far as the programs in the Houston area go (and I include Galveston in this group), they're all great programs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. I have gotten to work with graduates and trainees from each program and have never met a single one that I didn't think would be a competent pathologist. I think it's worth saying that the UTMB program had some tough years after Hurricane Ike, but they're fully recovered (as per current trainees/faculty). I think the more important thing is that each program has a different "feel" to it, which affects the experience of the resident. I chose Methodist because it was the right fit for me and I fit well with the other residents. That won't be the case for all applicants, so if you want to stay in the Houston area, do your best to spend as much time as possible in the department (i.e. do a rotation, come to a lecture, etc) so you have an idea whether or not it's the right fit for you.

As far as Step I scores go, we have interviewed people over the last few years with scores that run the gamut (200 and below to well above 250). It hasn't seemed to have much bearing on who ultimately gets ranked. The PD and faculty tend to look at the whole person rather than the score. Also, the residents have a say in the ranking considerations, which is also a nice aspect of the program.

To the person with the bad interviewing experience: I'm sorry to hear that. If you would be willing to give some feedback that might help us make the interview day better, you could PM me and I'll pass it along. I hope you were ultimately pleased with your choice of residency and wish you luck in your training.

And with that, I may officially be longer winded than DBH. 😀
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Good feedback. Since you are a current fellow, I'd be interested in your opinion on what the job market looks like for current / recently departed fellows from Methodist. Where are they going and are you guys happy with the connections you were able to make while there?
 
rollwithit said:
Good feedback. Since you are a current fellow, I'd be interested in your opinion on what the job market looks like for current / recently departed fellows from Methodist. Where are they going and are you guys happy with the connections you were able to make while there?
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All residents/fellows have been able to pass the boards, find jobs, and/or find fellowships. Many of our residents stay in-house for fellowships (cyto, surgipath, and neuro are the big ones, but we have lots of fellowships), and several in the last few years have been hired at Methodist hospitals in the Houston area. Others have gone to places like Brigham, Emory, UT Houston for Derm (Dr. Rapini), MD Anderson, etc. I can think of one person who had a little trouble finding a job, but it was because he was inflexible with the location. It took him about 6 months after finishing to find his job, but it worked out for him ultimately. A few from the latest graduating class of fellows: cyto fellowship - went home to job in South Texas, cyto and surgipath fellowship - job in Austin, surgipath and molecular fellowship - job in San Antonio, surgipath fellowship - hemepath at Baylor, surgipath and blood banking fellowship - job in north Houston for Baylor, surgipath fellowship - cyto fellowship at MDA.

I've been impressed with the number of people my faculty know, and the number of times people at national meetings say "You're from Methodist? Oh, then you know Dr. ______!" I've met a lot of potential employers, and I certainly think it will help with the job search.

Another bonus is that we rotate at most of the hospitals in the Texas Medical Center and get to know those faculty as well, so the potential connections are huge!
 
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