2016-2017 University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Application Thread

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So the waiting game until February to see if my life changes forever? That's not too bad. Just try not to think too much about it. That's only 41 days, 8 hours, 57 minutes, 32 seconds...
 
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alostdoctor said:
So the waiting game until February to see if my life changes forever? That's not too bad. Just try not to think too much about it. That's only 41 days, 8 hours, 57 minutes, 32 seconds...
Click to expand...

At least now it's only 41 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes, and 32 seconds. See time flies by


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alostdoctor said:
So the waiting game until February to see if my life changes forever? That's not too bad. Just try not to think too much about it. That's only 41 days, 8 hours, 57 minutes, 32 seconds...
Click to expand...
Me while you're waiting:
Santas-Beach-Cards-2.jpg
 
TexasSurgeon said:
Interesting because my UTMB app received email was like in September and I interviewed last Friday. I'm ranking this place number 1 but not so sure now if I'll get in


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Click to expand...
I'm only speculating about what it meant. Idk really. I also wouldn't know about the interview schedule. I was invited early August and interviewed like August 10th-ish.
 
cabronjames said:
Anyone else thinking of ranking this school #1?
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I am currently in a dilemma about the ranking. Who knew ranking schools could be so nerve wrecking. I can't seem to decide between UTMB and A&M for no 1... arrrrgghhhh
 
dokitaalabere said:
I am currently in a dilemma about the ranking. Who knew ranking schools could be so nerve wrecking. I can't seem to decide between UTMB and A&M for no 1... arrrrgghhhh
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UTMB all the way. Idk why you you would pick a&m over utmb
 
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dokitaalabere said:
I am currently in a dilemma about the ranking. Who knew ranking schools could be so nerve wrecking. I can't seem to decide between UTMB and A&M for no 1... arrrrgghhhh
Click to expand...
Uhhhh. This seems like a no brainer. Have you researched the schools? UTMB far surpasses. Just one example: A&M avg Step1 is 222. UTMB avg Step1 is 237.4.

UTMB has far more research opportunities and experience. Galveston > Bryan/College Station as a place to live. There's also a lot of students disgruntled by the lack of effort by A&M faculty, so I would be careful to fall for their "5:1 faculty to staff ratio!" and "We are a super caring school" attitude.

Sure you get choices of where to go with A&M in the later years but does that really improve the quality of education? I've also heard this just destroys the unity of the class and all the friends you make the first years.

 
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dokitaalabere said:
I am currently in a dilemma about the ranking. Who knew ranking schools could be so nerve wrecking. I can't seem to decide between UTMB and A&M for no 1... arrrrgghhhh
Click to expand...
Lots to consider, but for me it's the traditional 2 year vs 1.5 that tilts the scale to UTMB
 
wildabeastkoala said:
Lots to consider, but for me it's the traditional 2 year vs 1.5 that tilts the scale to UTMB
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You don't like the new 1.5 year? Seems like a lot of schools are preferring it these days. Personally, Idc but it seems like clinical experience prior to step1 would be helpful

Then again, I just spent nearly 2 years working in a level 1 Trauma ER, so I feel a little clinic'd out right now. Learned a ton. Definitely going to help with academic years and putting things in perspective.
 
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mmm_cats said:
UTMB all the way. Idk why you you would pick a&m over utmb
Click to expand...

KoalaT said:
Uhhhh. This seems like a no brainer. Have you researched the schools? UTMB far surpasses. Just one example: A&M avg Step1 is 222. UTMB avg Step1 is 237.4.

UTMB has far more research opportunities and experience. Galveston > Bryan/College Station as a place to live. There's also a lot of students disgruntled by the lack of effort by A&M faculty, so I would be careful to fall for their "5:1 faculty to staff ratio!" and "We are a super caring school" attitude.

Sure you get choices of where to go with A&M in the later years but does that really improve the quality of education? I've also heard this just destroys the unity of the class and all the friends you make the first years.

Click to expand...

Hm I gotta disagree on some points. I think you should go where you felt most comfortable and felt like you could do your best. While UTMB def has great board scores, if you dislike it (or any school) and don't find that you're happy there, it's going to be hard to get those good scores. My dad actually cowrote an article in which he found that medical students can be some of the most isolated and depressed members of society. Medical school in itself can be very lonely and isolating, regardless of friends/family, so going somewhere purely because of the stats isn't always the best choice. If it came down to Columbia vs TX state school for me, I would probably choose the state school, because I'd rather be close to home for 4 years.

Also: 222 is not accurate I don't think. I remember that A&M had a higher score that Tech, and I think they gave us the score during our interview day (although I don't think it was on the stats sheet).
 
GinnyWeasley said:
Hm I gotta disagree on some points. I think you should go where you felt most comfortable and felt like you could do your best. While UTMB def has great board scores, if you dislike it (or any school) and don't find that you're happy there, it's going to be hard to get those good scores. My dad actually cowrote an article in which he found that medical students can be some of the most isolated and depressed members of society. Medical school in itself can be very lonely and isolating, regardless of friends/family, so going somewhere purely because of the stats isn't always the best choice. If it came down to Columbia vs TX state school for me, I would probably choose the state school, because I'd rather be close to home for 4 years.

Also: 222 is not accurate I don't think. I remember that A&M had a higher score that Tech, and I think they gave us the score during our interview day (although I don't think it was on the stats sheet).
Click to expand...
I looked for the score in my notes from interview day and the statistics they gave us. I don't believe they provided a score. I took these scores/sources from someone else's post, so I can't really attest to their validity.

However, if you've read over the Texas A&M thread on this forum, I don't have a hard time believing this is realistic. There is a lot of students on there complaining about how they're freaking out about their scores. Many students were upset by their score and said many of their classmates were having to delay their tests because their practice tests were failing scores.

However, you're right you need to do what's comfortable to you. Just do all the research. Look over what students have to say about each and make your decision from there. This info is just what I've learned from looking around the site.
 
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KoalaT said:
You don't like the new 1.5 year? Seems like a lot of schools are preferring it these days. Personally, Idc but it seems like clinical experience prior to step1 would be helpful

Then again, I just spent nearly 2 years working in a level 1 Trauma ER, so I feel a little clinic'd out right now. Learned a ton. Definitely going to help with academic years and putting things in perspective.
Click to expand...

1.5 means less vacation time! lol so I prefer 2 years, and I also have over 2 years at a level 1 Trauma ER. What did you do in ER?
 
wildabeastkoala said:
1.5 means less vacation time! lol so I prefer 2 years, and I also have over 2 years at a level 1 Trauma ER. What did you do in ER?
Click to expand...
Medical scribe. It was actually where scribing originated. One of the physicians I worked for is listed as the founder of scribing and PhysAssist on Wikipedia ha. Reason I mention that is because scribing there has really matured into more responsibilities and I did a lot of great stuff that many scribes don't get to do, so it was an awesome experience. Learned A TON. Very wurf.
 
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KoalaT said:
I looked for the score in my notes from interview day and the statistics they gave us. I don't believe they provided a score. I took these scores/sources from someone else's post, so I can't really attest to their validity.

However, if you've read over the Texas A&M thread on this forum, I don't have a hard time believing this is realistic. There is a lot of students on there complaining about how they're freaking out about their scores. Many students were upset by their score and said many of their classmates were having to delay their tests because their practice tests were failing scores.

However, you're right you need to do what's comfortable to you. Just do all the research. Look over what students have to say about each and make your decision from there. This info is just what I've learned from looking around the site.
Click to expand...

Tbh, the posts on A&M that were negative and complaining were all made by accounts created a few days before, and only had a few posts each. Now, it's kind of odd that out of nowhere a handful of people decided to make accounts and post about the negative things on A&M, which were refuted by multiple people that have had long post histories and accounts for years. I would hope that people would take everything said on the SDN as opinion and not fact, and use their own experiences/gut feelings/friends/family as advice as opposed to random people on here haha.

I think any medical school in TX will provide a great education, so it's just up to where we would feel most comfortable/happy :)
 
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KoalaT said:
Medical scribe. It was actually where scribing originated. One of the physicians I worked for is listed as the founder of scribing and PhysAssist on Wikipedia ha. Reason I mention that is because scribing there has really matured into more responsibilities and I did a lot of great stuff that many scribes don't get to do, so it was an awesome experience. Learned A TON. Very wurf.
Click to expand...
What kind of stuff did you do that most scribes don't do?
 
GinnyWeasley said:
Tbh, the posts on A&M that were negative and complaining were all made by accounts created a few days before, and only had a few posts each. Now, it's kind of odd that out of nowhere a handful of people decided to make accounts and post about the negative things on A&M, which were refuted by multiple people that have had long post histories and accounts for years. I would hope that people would take everything said on the SDN as opinion and not fact, and use their own experiences/gut feelings/friends/family as advice as opposed to random people on here haha.

I think any medical school in TX will provide a great education, so it's just up to where we would feel most comfortable/happy :)
Click to expand...
I didn't notice that all of the accounts were new. Good eye. That's funny, and also kinda messed up
 
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any out of state been accepted recently?
 
DocEllen said:
What kind of stuff did you do that most scribes don't do?
Click to expand...
From what I understand, many scribes just did HPI, ROS, and PEx. Depending on where you were, you may have done more. Here's what I did so you can just compare.

Of course, HPI/ROS/PEx/Importing Radiology and labs, etc. Where I think we differentiated based on talking to others:
Inputting all orders. This meant actually ordering the labs/radiology (of course the doc had to click the "sign" button after you pended orders. Legally). At first, they actually dictated orders. Then, they would start short-handing it. Like "Cardiac work up" or "Belly labs", which was CBC/BMP/EKG/Troponin/CXR and CBC/CMP/liver/lipase/possibly CT abd. After awhile, you just did the orders yourself based on your experience. Then the doc would look them over when he signed them and would give you tips so you'd improve next time. My biggest mistake was they'd always say "Don't just order to diagnose the patient. You need to treat the patient too" because I'd always forget to put in pain management because I was so deep into the thought of what diagnosis we were looking for. This would get tricky and teach you a lot about the orders. For example, for pulmonary embolisms (pt has SOB and dizziness or history of clots) you would order a D-dimer. However, D-dimer tests when negative are definitely negative but when positive could be a false positive, so you order a CTA head as follow-up. It even taught you to differentiate quadrants of the abdomen or different types of chest pain. Basically, this taught me a huge range of treatment plans for traumas, strokes, cardiac events, abd pain, drug overdose, DKA, etc.

Once orders were in, we had to do differential diagnoses (ddx). For those who don't know, that's basically "what could it be?" So if you had chest pain and ordered the cardiac work-up, I'd usually put things that we ruled out via the orders. CXR ddx were usually pneumonia, bronchitis, cardiomegaly, etc. Troponin ddx were myocardial infarction, which if positive had to be followed by a repeat troponin to see if an incident had actually occurred rather than a constantly elevated troponin. CBC ddx things like dehydration, anemia, electrolyte imbalance, etc. This goes on forever for like any order you could think of. CT head ddx TIA, stroke, aneurysm, concussion, CHI, ICH, etc.

We did a lot of other stuff (all rechecks, procedure stuff, assisting nurses, discharging, admitting, etc), but I think these 2 things above were where I learned a lot and got to ask questions. These examples mentioned only scratch the surface. I got to see so much and was constantly asking questions and the docs were always eager to teach.

For awhile (before the hospital and the scribe corp put an end to it), scribes started to do easy procedures. Applying steri strips, dressing small wounds, etc. I think they quickly realized this was a pretty big liability and not a good idea and pretty much stopped all forms of the scribes touching the patient. Probably for the best ha. However, it was still an emergency room, so if emergencies happened scribes still jumped into the action. Mainly holding assisting the doc during emergency procedures and a lot of lifting patients onto beds from stretchers.

Not sure how different this was from others' scribe experiences, but ever since I switched to this other clinic it's been night and day difference. And apparently all the scribes here said they never did any of this stuff, so I've always thought it was special but who knows. Also, we have little wheelie tables for laptops at my new place, which I hate. I miss typing on my chest while walking and doing "the flamingo" in rooms.
 
KoalaT said:
From what I understand, many scribes just did HPI, ROS, and PEx. Depending on where you were, you may have done more. Here's what I did so you can just compare.

Of course, HPI/ROS/PEx/Importing Radiology and labs, etc. Where I think we differentiated based on talking to others:
Inputting all orders. This meant actually ordering the labs/radiology (of course the doc had to click the "sign" button after you pended orders. Legally). At first, they actually dictated orders. Then, they would start short-handing it. Like "Cardiac work up" or "Belly labs", which was CBC/BMP/EKG/Troponin/CXR and CBC/CMP/liver/lipase/possibly CT abd. After awhile, you just did the orders yourself based on your experience. Then the doc would look them over when he signed them and would give you tips so you'd improve next time. My biggest mistake was they'd always say "Don't just order to diagnose the patient. You need to treat the patient too" because I'd always forget to put in pain management because I was so deep into the thought of what diagnosis we were looking for. This would get tricky and teach you a lot about the orders. For example, for pulmonary embolisms (pt has SOB and dizziness or history of clots) you would order a D-dimer. However, D-dimer tests when negative are definitely negative but when positive could be a false positive, so you order a CTA head as follow-up. It even taught you to differentiate quadrants of the abdomen or different types of chest pain. Basically, this taught me a huge range of treatment plans for traumas, strokes, cardiac events, abd pain, drug overdose, DKA, etc.

Once orders were in, we had to do differential diagnoses (ddx). For those who don't know, that's basically "what could it be?" So if you had chest pain and ordered the cardiac work-up, I'd usually put things that we ruled out via the orders. CXR ddx were usually pneumonia, bronchitis, cardiomegaly, etc. Troponin ddx were myocardial infarction, which if positive had to be followed by a repeat troponin to see if an incident had actually occurred rather than a constantly elevated troponin. CBC ddx things like dehydration, anemia, electrolyte imbalance, etc. This goes on forever for like any order you could think of. CT head ddx TIA, stroke, aneurysm, concussion, CHI, ICH, etc.

We did a lot of other stuff (all rechecks, procedure stuff, assisting nurses, discharging, admitting, etc), but I think these 2 things above were where I learned a lot and got to ask questions. These examples mentioned only scratch the surface. I got to see so much and was constantly asking questions and the docs were always eager to teach.

For awhile (before the hospital and the scribe corp put an end to it), scribes started to do easy procedures. Applying steri strips, dressing small wounds, etc. I think they quickly realized this was a pretty big liability and not a good idea and pretty much stopped all forms of the scribes touching the patient. Probably for the best ha. However, it was still an emergency room, so if emergencies happened scribes still jumped into the action. Mainly holding assisting the doc during emergency procedures and a lot of lifting patients onto beds from stretchers.

Not sure how different this was from others' scribe experiences, but ever since I switched to this other clinic it's been night and day difference. And apparently all the scribes here said they never did any of this stuff, so I've always thought it was special but who knows. Also, we have little wheelie tables for laptops at my new place, which I hate. I miss typing on my chest while walking and doing "the flamingo" in rooms.
Click to expand...

Jeez... might as well be the doctor lol. That's an amazing opportunity to have though. I scribed and all I did was chart.


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KoalaT said:
Uhhhh. This seems like a no brainer. Have you researched the schools? UTMB far surpasses. Just one example: A&M avg Step1 is 222. UTMB avg Step1 is 237.4.

UTMB has far more research opportunities and experience. Galveston > Bryan/College Station as a place to live. There's also a lot of students disgruntled by the lack of effort by A&M faculty, so I would be careful to fall for their "5:1 faculty to staff ratio!" and "We are a super caring school" attitude.

Sure you get choices of where to go with A&M in the later years but does that really improve the quality of education? I've also heard this just destroys the unity of the class and all the friends you make the first years.

Click to expand...

My Step data got used by someone else on SDN ayyy

also guys, what thread are the A&M Bashers posting on?
 
I asked some friends who are currently in A&M. While they said it's not THAT bad, they said it's not entirely untrue. They did say however its a great school and everything you need is there, so any poor results is due to students not doing their part. They said the largest downside is living in college station (not just bashing cause I was a longhorn, they actually said that ha - maybe jokingly. I didn't clarify)
 
While perusing this thread I found that the posted Step 1 average for Texas A&M posted is severely outdated. That Step 1 score (222) was for the class entering in 2008, which was almost a decade ago. A more recent data source, Interviewing Workshop – TAMHSC,UTHSCSA - American Medical ..., shows that the class of 2017 scored an average of 229 on Step 1. Considering that the SD of the Step 1 exam is ~20, all Texas schools fall within a standard deviation of the mean (~230). What does this tell us? All Texas medical schools will prepare you sufficiently for the Step 1 exam, as well as to become an excellent physician.
 
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Lord Kek said:
While perusing this thread I found that the posted Step 1 average for Texas A&M posted is severely outdated. That Step 1 score (222) was for the class entering in 2008, which was almost a decade ago. A more recent data source, Interviewing Workshop – TAMHSC,UTHSCSA - American Medical ..., shows that the class of 2017 scored an average of 229 on Step 1. Considering that the SD of the Step 1 exam is ~20, all Texas schools fall within a standard deviation of the mean (~230). What does this tell us? All Texas medical schools will prepare you sufficiently for the Step 1 exam, as well as to become an excellent physician.
Click to expand...

2008 so doesn't feel like 9 years ago :( I was a sophomore in hs back then


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All I want right now is to know which school I'm gonna go to....
 
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BMS92 said:
Is the next match offer in February
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Yes, match day is Feb 1. But if you are a Texas resident, before Jan 20, go on the TMDSAS site and rank all the Texas schools where you interviewed, in order of preference. You must do this to stay in the match - even if you only interviewed at one place, go on and rank that one #1 :headphone:
 
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wysdoc said:
Yes, match day is Feb 1. But before Jan 20, go on the TMDSAS site and rank all the Texas schools where you interviewed, in order of preference. You must do this to stay in the match. If you are an out-of-state applicant and only interviewed at one Texas school, still do this :headphone:
Click to expand...

OOS applicants don't have a rank list and don't participate in match.
 
wysdoc said:
You are right, OOS applicants are not part of the Feb 1 match process. I will edit my other post.
Click to expand...


I'm an OOS and they told me to wait for February..is there some sort of waitlist for OOS?
 
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FutrDoc22 said:
Texas SDNers, if you only match to your bottom ranked school on March day, are the other schools done with you then or does it become a rolling admissions type deal


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I believe some schools automatically put you on the waitlist, while other schools will inform you if you're on the waitlist or have been rejected.
 
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FutrDoc22 said:
What about the match offer? Do u know if you are under a certain time frame to accept it before it is withdrawn?


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https://www.tmdsas.com/medical/enter_Match_Preference.html
The school where you match should send you an email with the specific information about when they want your verification of accepting the spot. You can accept your match spot even if you are secretly hoping that one of the schools you ranked higher will take you later from their wait list. If you ranked other schools higher than the school you matched with, and they put you on a wait list, you could still be offered a spot at one of them between Feb 2 and April 30.
 
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wysdoc said:
https://www.tmdsas.com/medical/enter_Match_Preference.html
The school where you match should send you an email with the specific information about when they want your verification of accepting the spot. You can accept your match spot even if you are secretly hoping that one of the schools you ranked higher will take you later from their wait list. If you ranked other schools higher than the school you matched with, and they put you on a wait list, you could still be offered a spot at one of them between Feb 2 and April 30.
Click to expand...

I thought they had until June 1 to take people off the waitlist?
 
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Skittsie13 said:
I thought they had until June 1 to take people off the waitlist?
Click to expand...
from TMSDAS: "Applicants may hold multiple offers of acceptance from the TMDSAS medical schools as well as other non-TMDSAS schools such as Baylor College of Medicine. By April 30 of the matriculation year, each applicant who has received an offer of acceptance from more than one school should choose the specific school at which the applicant prefers to enroll and withdraw his or her application from all other schools from which acceptance offers have been received."

You have to make up your mind if you are holding more than one spot by April 30.
A Texas school can offer you a spot off a wait list until June 1 if you are in-state and already have a spot.
If you have no acceptances you can get in off a wait list up until a school's orientation day.

Yep it's so confusing!
 
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If we don't have our last semesters transcript in before rank deadline, will that mess us up? Reason is bc our prof was still grading stuff till last week so it's just been posted


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