I have three main priorities in this decision: 1. Which city will give me more of the things I love about Austin? (Outdoor activities like running trails and dog parks, music, breweries, food, coffee shops that aren't Starbucks) 2. Where will I receive more hands-on clinical experience/Where will prepare me for more competitive residency programs? 3. Where will I find more people that are interested in healthcare policy and advocacy work? (BCM has a healthcare economics and policy track that really speaks to me.)
I feel like the schools are SO similar in curriculum and student profile to the point where they cannot be compared...but I'd love to hear that I'm wrong! Both have a 1.5-year curriculum with a systems-based approach. Baylor has done the 1.5 years for 30 years according to their website while I believe UTSW's curriculum is newer? I could have my facts backward on UTSW, my interview was so long ago.
You are correct about the curriculum, we are on year 2 of it, you would be in year 3. It's going really well, the administration here really listens to feedback so they've improved the new curriculum a lot between year 1 and year 2, and they are taking steps to address our class' comments before the next class gets here. At this point it's more minor changes.
For your #1, there are tons of running/cycling trails in Dallas, my husband and I have been exploring and we love it. Not sure about dog parks, I've seen some while cycling and walking around, but I don't really pay attention to those since I don't have a dog. TONS of dog owners here so I'm assuming there are many dog parks. Music and brewery scene here is great, lots of craft breweries around Dallas and tons of outdoor (and indoor) places to go drink good beer. I've been to a few concerts since I got here, the venues are very fun. The restaurant scene here is great, lots of people's favorites from Austin have opened restaurants in Dallas too. My husband and I go out for dinner once every week or two, and we have not been disappointed yet (actually we have, once... should've read the reviews before going... my bad). Coffee places... I personally loved Halcyon in Austin, and they opened in Dallas just a month ago!! So exciting. There are other non-Starbucks coffee options around Dallas, none super close to campus, but if you're willing to drive 15 minutes you can find some great coffee places for sure. Overall I am very pleasantly surprised by life in Dallas. It's a super active city, and there's always something to do. (I chose UTSW over Dell a year ago, so I compared Dallas and Austin extensively)
For clinical experience, we apparently get lots of hands-on experience here, especially at Parkland. I'm finishing first year so I haven't had the hugest exposure yet besides shadowing, and I'm in the LOOC program so once a week I go see patients at a private internal medicine clinic in South Dallas. We also see some patients through the Colleges system here.
3rd and 4th years talk at length about how much they loved the way UTSW treats med students on the wards. Once we are doing clinicals, we each get 1 to 2 patients, and they are our patient, we are responsible for everything, and an integral part of the team (apparently). We can write notes, place orders, and do pretty much everything (except it's all checked by non-med students of course).
As far as healthcare policy and advocacy work, there is a group of students here that shares your interest. I am more involved in welcoming applicants and new MS1s (August can't come soon enough!!), so I don't know a ton about policy. We have a few students doing some policy work in D.C. this summer though, as part of a program that UTSW sends a few students to every summer, I can put you in touch with one of them if you'd like? We also have an elective on healthcare economics and health policy. And we have some students who are involved in policy and advocacy work in fields they are interested in (for example the reproductive rights group recently went to Austin). Let me know if you want to be put in touch with someone who knows more about this topic than I do.
