Any UTSW love?

[Marqz]

Really considering this program, but opinions seem to be a little all over the place. What are some people's thoughts on it? Especially with the somewhat new leadership and the 2 new hospitals. I'm from TX and debating texas vs the northeast. This would probably be the only texas program that I'd really rank highly.

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[devilzheir]

I think it is a strong program - I didn't expect it to be. Two brand new hospitals, one of them is opening in 2015. Thus, the campus is all over the place and shuttle service is not reliable I heard. So you could be driving from hospital to hospital some days. The chairman - Dr Rofsky brought in new section chiefs from MGH, Hopkins etc. They are promoting research heavily recently, which was evident while talking to the residents. The R1-R2s were discussing about the resident scholar track while seniors were more happy talking about moonlighting and how much money you can make. It is pretty high on my list, mainly due to the scholar track.

 

[Marqz]

Damn, now I'm pissed I didn't get to make it to the dinner. I didn't hear about the track or the moonlighting. Did they give any good specifics?

 

[devilzheir]

The resident scholar track is for residents interested in doing research - They typically would give you half day a week off if you have a project running. I have seen this model being applied at other places too, and I think its better than 4-8 months off at a stretch to do research. If I remember correctly, about 4 residents from current R2s are on this track (no limit to number of residents in this track - as they said).

Moonlighting - nothing specific. Lots of opportunities. Wasn't too interested in that but overheard some people talking about it.

 

[Marqz]

That's great. Thanks! Any other little tidbits that they might have given?

 

[1080cam]

Incoming UTSW resident here.

I ranked this program over several others in the "top 10" on both coasts. Training now consists of rotations at 2 brand new hospitals: the $800 million dollar University Hospital opened in 2014, and the $1.3 billion dollar 800+ bed 17 story Parkland Hospital opening August 2015, as well as the already existing Children's Hospital. UTSW radiology will no longer staff the Dallas VA as of July 1 2015. Shuttles are available between facilities and are pretty fast and reliable (I speak from experience having done an elective here). All of the facilities are close in proximity with each other, and the current Parkland hospital even has an underground passage to Children's. There are no auxiliary training sites across town that you have to drive to during rush hour, unlike other programs.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/U...2!3m1!1s0x864e9c04888547c3:0x4d34d973543250b5

As was mentioned above, Rofsky has poached several faculty from Harvard affiliated hospitals to head the departments at UTSW including Abbara in Chest, Pedrosa in MRI, Kalva in IR as well as Chhabra in MSK from Hopkins. I only worked with Pedrosa in my limited time there on elective, but I was pretty impressed. The program director Morriss is the nicest guy you'll ever meet, and all of the residents that I met are friendly and like to go out together. Resident pay starts at 56K (which affords one a nice lifestyle in Dallas) and there is moonlighting for contrast reactions as a junior resident and real radiology moonlighting as a senior one. You can watch the Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington on the weekends and also the Mavs at the American Airlines center. A couple of fun areas of town that cater to the younger crowd are Lower Greenville, Klyde Warren Park and Uptown.

For me, I plan to practice in Texas eventually, so the combination of new facilities, star faculty, high-volume call, and proximity made the choice easier for me personally. Rank where you think you'd be happy and fit in. Good luck in the match! Feel free to PM me with any questions.

 

[a_free_radical]

i also ranked UTSW above the big coastal programs but mostly on gut feeling. not sure if that was a foolish decision but i got a great vibe from the happy/sociable residents and amazing faculty, and it helps that the program is SWIMMING in money and has two brand new hospitals with shiny new facilities and the latest tech. loved the location too, as Dallas is a pretty cool city with a surprisingly low cost of living compared to how cosmopolitan it is... and i'm super tired of the cold in the Northeast (especially this year, haha). the Uptown area where i think most residents live has lots of young professionals living near a multitude of bars, restaurants, shops, and parks easily accessible on foot.

there was also a lot of buzz about it on the interview trail, and some of the threads on AM last year showed the program in numerous people's top 3 (that forum now appears dead ). it really seems to be on the upswing with impressive leadership/faculty, exponentially growing research, and tons of funding. i'm also leaning IR (but who knows) and i like the fact that there are few fellows to poach my cases. i didn't pay much attention to moonlighting on the trail but i heard great things about UTSW there as well.

overall, i was shocked at how impressed i was since i figured i'd prefer the big guns in the Northeast or Cali (where i did away rotations) based on these lists that float around. it was an agonizing decision but i'm happy to have finalized it... good luck to everyone and their rank lists!

 

[shark2000]

To the OP: Tertiary referral centers including UTSW are the places that you should consider top on your list. As mentioned multiple times before these places provide you with great educational opportunities. There is not a significant different between these programs when it comes to education. I am pretty sure that the quality of education that you get at UTSW or any other big academic center is as good as MGH or UCSF or Stanford.

However, among these big academic programs there are two categories: Some have very good local reputation and some have national or even international reputation. I would put MGH, BWH, UCSF and Hopkins in a different level compared to UTSW or NW. UTSW will work very well if you are looking for a private practice job or even academic job in Texas, however if you look outside Texas the story is different. In any part of the country, local solid programs have a priority when it comes to getting a private practice job. Outside local program, only big names matter.

Let's say you want to get a job in California or Colorado. Graduates of local programs with good reputation (like UCSD, USC or university of Colorado) have the first priority because of all the connections. All the other programs to the local groups unless it is Harvard or Hopkins.

So if you have a real name brand in your rank list, I'd recommend you to rank it first. Put MGH, BWH, Hopkins, UCSF, UPenn, Duke and may be Stanford above any other programs. At the end of the day, the Harvard or Hopkins name will stay in your CV the rest of your life. After that, for ranking big academic centers, go based on location. For example, though personally I think UCLA is a better program that UTSW, if you want to stay in Texas choose UTSW first because of all the connections that come with it. On the other hand, even if you want to stay in Texas, choose UCLA over a small community program in Texas.

In other words, groups in Texas will like you because you went to UTSW and it has a good local reputation. However, no group in Florida or California or Denver will be impressed because UTSW has a big hospital or has lots of research money. They will either hire graduates of local programs or a graduate with Hopkins or Harvard name in his CV.

 

[Cali6508]

Hey shark, appreciate your contributions throughout the years as a longtime lurker, in general they are thoughtful and add something to the conversation.

However, here you dont add anything to the conversation. This thread is clearly about UTSW, an institution about which you have no personal experience with or knowledge about as an FMG, and all you say in the post is "it's not Harvard or Hopkins". I think I dont speak for myself when I say that any lay person already realizes this and does not need your post to interpret that.

While your other posts about the private practice lifestyle and market outlook come from personal experience, perhaps it's best if you don't comment on specific programs an OP asks about that you have no idea about (much less interacted with residents from that program or even traveled to that state). Thanks.

 

[bashwell]

I think shark is simply saying when it comes to getting a job after residency/fellowship, especially for PP jobs, programs like Harvard or Hopkins have a national reputation and name recognition which obviously helps in any or at least most markets, whereas if you know you want to end up in a certain locale like Southern California then all things equal it's probably better to go to a program that is better recognized locally than a better program elsewhere (e.g. if you want to stay and live and work in PP in SoCal then probably better to pick UCSD over UTSW even if UTSW is actually the better program overall). At least that's what I think shark is saying but please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[shark2000]

Hey shark, appreciate your contributions throughout the years as a longtime lurker, in general they are thoughtful and add something to the conversation.

However, here you dont add anything to the conversation. This thread is clearly about UTSW, an institution about which you have no personal experience with or knowledge about as an FMG, and all you say in the post is "it's not Harvard or Hopkins". I think I dont speak for myself when I say that any lay person already realizes this and does not need your post to interpret that.

While your other posts about the private practice lifestyle and market outlook come from personal experience, perhaps it's best if you don't comment on specific programs an OP asks about that you have no idea about (much less interacted with residents from that program or even traveled to that state). Thanks.

You can simply ignore my posts. You don't have to read them and if you think they are not helpful, simple don't read them. It is up to you and I don't care. However, I think everybody is entitled to express their opinion on a forum as long as they don't violate the forum rules and don't disrespect others.

You can not discuss any entity by itself. You have to evaluate every situation by also talking about its alternatives. Everything is relative. If you want to talk about UTSW, you have to consider its alternatives. Hopkins, Harvard, UCSF and ... come to discussion because they are the alternatives when it comes to rank list. Just saying UTSW is phenomenal is not going anywhere, unless you talk also about UT Houston, Baylor, Hopkins, UCSF and other programs.

Also you have to see what you want to do after residency. You are not doing residency just for fun. You want to plan for your future career. I have expressed my opinion from my experience (which includes the experience of several other radiologists) above.

Not that it matters at this point in my career, but I did my medical school in US. I suppose there were about 40% FMGs in radiology match last year. So labeling people as FMG or IMG is not going anywhere.

 

[tco]

Hey shark, appreciate your contributions throughout the years as a longtime lurker, in general they are thoughtful and add something to the conversation.

However, here you dont add anything to the conversation. This thread is clearly about UTSW, an institution about which you have no personal experience with or knowledge about as an FMG, and all you say in the post is "it's not Harvard or Hopkins". I think I dont speak for myself when I say that any lay person already realizes this and does not need your post to interpret that.

While your other posts about the private practice lifestyle and market outlook come from personal experience, perhaps it's best if you don't comment on specific programs an OP asks about that you have no idea about (much less interacted with residents from that program or even traveled to that state). Thanks.

There wasn't really anything specific for him to comment on. The OP was a statement.

Shark gave an answer to the question from the perspective of an attending in private practice. He basically said that he would take someone who graduated from a large regional program on an equal level to someone from a big name program, but would take the big name over someone from another region. He's telling the OP that if they feel that they're going to stay in Texas that UTSW is just as good as any other program in the country, but if they think they're going to practice out of the state, go to a big name program if they have the option.

In short, go back to lurking.

 

[FranzLO]

Hey shark, appreciate your contributions throughout the years as a longtime lurker, in general they are thoughtful and add something to the conversation.

However, here you dont add anything to the conversation. This thread is clearly about UTSW, an institution about which you have no personal experience with or knowledge about as an FMG, and all you say in the post is "it's not Harvard or Hopkins". I think I dont speak for myself when I say that any lay person already realizes this and does not need your post to interpret that.

While your other posts about the private practice lifestyle and market outlook come from personal experience, perhaps it's best if you don't comment on specific programs an OP asks about that you have no idea about (much less interacted with residents from that program or even traveled to that state). Thanks.

Seriously?

 

[deleted525628]

I liked my interview experience at UTSW and I loved Dallas as a city. For better or worse, it's the most culturally "Texan" out of the major Texas cities. They woo you with promises of a big new hospital, new faculty, and a limo tour of their medical center. I've heard mixed reviews of the quality of their resident education from the attendings at my institution. That being said, I think it is the strongest academic program in Texas. To be candid, I would still rank the top 10 ahead of UTSW. In the end, it comes down to a personal decision and an amalgamation of your gut feeling. Staying in Texas was not a priority for me so I prioritized it less.

 

[Ugen]

I think it deserves to be mentioned in the top 20. If you're from Texas it will probably end up in your top 2 or 3. I loved it and had it ranked 2nd. But I dont think its "a future top 5" program as a lot of people say here. They do a good job of selling themselves at the interview. I can see it being a future top 10, but its pretty close to that already. Definitely interview there if offered and see how you like it. Their dinner was outstanding.

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

Can someone please clarify how the resident/attending read out happens at UTSW? When I interviewed my tour guide said that they never read out with an attending, they read the images, they get sent to the attending, and the attending reads them over and grades the resident on a numeric score based on how well they read the study. It seemed that the residents never read out with the attendings. Can someone please clarify how their readout works?

Thanks

 

[Shifty B]

Can someone please clarify how the resident/attending read out happens at UTSW? When I interviewed my tour guide said that they never read out with an attending, they read the images, they get sent to the attending, and the attending reads them over and grades the resident on a numeric score based on how well they read the study. It seemed that the residents never read out with the attendings. Can someone please clarify how their readout works?
Thanks

The were referring only to call. When you finish call, you go home and there is no post-call readout. Attendings overread your reports and you get electronic feedback. Plus you can easily check your overreads through the EMR.

During the day, it is like almost every other residency. When you are on a service, you preview some studies and then read them out once you have a batch of studies. On some busier services sometimes you may sit down directly with the attending and read them together, after which you would prepare the reports.