Damning UT Houston 2018 Scutwork Review

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I will bite. Don’t have any contact nor know anyone from this program. So here it goes with my non opinion. The rating is out of five, originally I thought it was out of 10. Out of 7 reviews, more than half were written more than 10 years ago, two were more than 15 years ago. That’s a whole generation of anesthesiologist who have gone through training without complaining. Lastly, we, as a profession, are pretty bad at giving credits to where it’s due.

Make the best decision you can with the best available information you have, then move on.
 
Too much catastrophizing to tell what's real and what's not. Maybe they need to read a history book or go to a museum to see what concentration camps were actually like.

I don't know what the model is there, but unless the preops and room setups are for attending solo cases, I don't know what they're complaining about. Doing preops and setting up your room is part of residency.

Covering sick residents is also part of residency, as long as there is a defined system in place and they're not just picking and choosing willy-nilly. In one sentence the author said the residents call out sick all the time, and in another says they are great.

Not having didactics and staying late non-call to get the mid-levels are signs of a bad residency program, however.
 
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I would take that with a grain of salt. I went to another medical school in Texas, and the attendings who worked with UT-H residents thought they were very strong clinically. You will work hard at UT-H, but I think that says something if a "rival" institution is impressed with their quality of residents.

At every program you will find residents who are unhappy about one thing or another. If you had an otherwise good impression on interview day, I would weigh that against this isolated review.

Even at my own program (we have very reasonable hours), there are residents who have similar outlooks as this reviewer.
 
Anesthesia residency is work. THere is no two ways about it.
It can be made as palatable as possible but at the end of the day if you are not working, you are not learning.
This specialty is different from others, you have to see it up close and personal to be able to appreciate it. And to see it up close and personal you have to be there. There are a zillion nuances that you have to pick up on. Cant do it if a crna is relieving you.

As for the review. Sounds believable to me. People don't go on wesbites to post a negative review for no reason. There has to be some validity to it. I have no connection to any residency program (disclosure)
 
My understanding is that they worked a lot but were getting paid for the overtime. Many work a lot and don’t have as much time to read, though. But some residents pulled six figures.
 
I really enjoyed my interview day at UT-Houston and I think they put together a very very nice interview day for applicants- if your interview day is coming up, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The faculty that I got to meet seemed to be very passionate about teaching. Got to meet lots of residents, almost 1/4 of their entire program, everyone seemed happy. Their quoted work hour number is 50-55 hours a week but they also said when you are there, you work very very hard. It's a massive trauma center, I expect nothing less.

The thing about a program the size of UT-Houston (>100 residents), there will always be a few loud dissenters who are not happy where they are. The same way my upperclassmen told me medical school is going to be hell, and I found it to be an opposite experience.

There is one thing that the residents mentioned as a weakness of their program is their didactics and they are moving toward a college day system where all residents take 1 day off completely a month to do a full day of lectures, sim lab, case discussions etc.

All in all, I feel like it's a very strong clinical training program, the work may be on the heavier side but I come in with the mentality that anything less than 70ish hours a week is tolerable for me, I only have 3 years to learn everything. Their graduates matched into great fellowships.

After 5pm, every extra hour is $60. Ample moonlighting opportunity at $90-95/hour and many residents moonlight, some even break into the 6-figure range. I would imagine their regular workload must not be that bad if they had that much free time to moonlight.
 
UnoMas said:
I really enjoyed my interview day at UT-Houston and I think they put together a very very nice interview day for applicants- if your interview day is coming up, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The faculty that I got to meet seemed to be very passionate about teaching. Got to meet lots of residents, almost 1/4 of their entire program, everyone seemed happy. Their quoted work hour number is 50-55 hours a week but they also said when you are there, you work very very hard. It's a massive trauma center, I expect nothing less.

The thing about a program the size of UT-Houston (>100 residents), there will always be a few loud dissenters who are not happy where they are. The same way my upperclassmen told me medical school is going to be hell, and I found it to be an opposite experience.

There is one thing that the residents mentioned as a weakness of their program is their didactics and they are moving toward a college day system where all residents take 1 day off completely a month to do a full day of lectures, sim lab, case discussions etc.

All in all, I feel like it's a very strong clinical training program, the work may be on the heavier side but I come in with the mentality that anything less than 70ish hours a week is tolerable for me, I only have 3 years to learn everything. Their graduates matched into great fellowships.

After 5pm, every extra hour is $60. Ample moonlighting opportunity at $90-95/hour and many residents moonlight, some even break into the 6-figure range. I would imagine their regular workload must not be that bad if they had that much free time to moonlight.
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I actually already interviewed and had a similar experience as yours. Just wanted more light on the side beneath the happy interview day appearance before ranking.

I enjoyed everything about the program besides the city, which was meh. Similar level as the city of Columbus and Cleveland IMO.
 
Went to school in Texas and out of the three SE TX programs UTH had the worst reputation of long work hours. I didn't bother interviewing there. However, I did interview at Baylor and knew I did not want to work anywhere as massive as the Texas Medical Center.
Last year I spoke to a CCM attending who did fellowship there and she said their ICU fellowship was very, very, work hour heavy and I would want to quit "every single day". She said eighty hour weeks were the norm.
I said no thanks.
I believe the review, however, pre-oping and setting up rooms are all part of residency and the attendings aren't supposed to set up their own rooms so not sure about those complaints. Unless of course the attendings are clueless about the patient besides what the resident digs up which is bad.
 
Their residents rotated at my fellowship for a time - all of them painted a picture of one of the busiest and overworked training programs I’ve heard of. They looked miserable, and tired as they were starting their CA-3 year.

From people I’ve talked to around the country, it’s at or near the top in terms of hours worked, low morale and burnout. OP link could have definitely been a troll, but trust me all signs point to you getting annihilated during your time there.
 
pgg said:
I would summarily dismiss and ignore any review from a resident who managed to misuse an apostrophe five times in a single paragraph.
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Haha despite all attempts for the poster to discredit him/her self. I have it on good authority that the review was more than fair.

linkin06 said:
My understanding is that they worked a lot but were getting paid for the overtime. Many work a lot and don’t have as much time to read, though. But some residents pulled six figures.
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They pull six figures by working moonlight and not at the program. Huge difference. UT San Antonio also regularly have CA-3s that pull >$130, but they moonlight at a LTAC.

AdmiralChz said:
Their residents rotated at my fellowship for a time - all of them painted a picture of one of the busiest and overworked training programs I’ve heard of. They looked miserable, and tired as they were starting their CA-3 year.

From people I’ve talked to around the country, it’s at or near the top in terms of hours worked, low morale and burnout. OP link could have definitely been a troll, but trust me all signs point to you getting annihilated during your time there.
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Finally a regular comments. Admiral has experience first hand and the UT Houston reputation is pretty well known in Texas. They also fired 3 CA-1s 2 years ago, surprised the reviewer didn't mention that.

The real question is would you rather have the UT Houston malignancy or have the BCM no extubation by yourself???
 
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Glad I work in Australia. I broke 6 figures in internship without any moonlioghting and haven't looked back. (mind you, I worked like an absolute mule).
 
dchz said:
Haha despite all attempts for the poster to discredit him/her self. I have it on good authority that the review was more than fair.



They pull six figures by working moonlight and not at the program. Huge difference. UT San Antonio also regularly have CA-3s that pull >$130, but they moonlight at a LTAC.



Finally a regular comments. Admiral has experience first hand and the UT Houston reputation is pretty well known in Texas. They also fired 3 CA-1s 2 years ago, surprised the reviewer didn't mention that.

The real question is would you rather have the UT Houston malignancy or have the BCM no extubation by yourself???
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I think it's the $90/hr internal moonlighting that residents were utilizing at Houston. That's interesting given that the PD and residents on interview day swore by ~55 hours a week and supportive faculty. Such polarizing and contrasting takes on the program. Could things have been that way 2+ years ago and changed for the better with the new PD taking over?
 
sniderwes said:
I think it's the $90/hr internal moonlighting that residents were utilizing at Houston. That's interesting given that the PD and residents on interview day swore by ~55 hours a week and supportive faculty. Such polarizing and contrasting takes on the program. Could things have been that way 2+ years ago and changed for the better with the new PD taking over?
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Every pd will sing songs of bull**** to you. Once you're in it, you will see the realities of your program and the glaring weaknesses. You will stand by as your chiefs trumpet the good and downplay the bad to the applicants. You will also hear rumors about the other programs from your buddies and their buddies. No one is perfect except maybe stanford.
 
I’m a fourth year who did a 4-week rotation there in October. Honestly I had a great time there and didn’t see any signs of malignancy. Would be happy to match there. The residents I worked with in the general and cardiac ORs were there by 6:30 and out by 4 or 5 if not late call. They started a policy last year that you start earning $55/hr if you stay passed 5pm (which happens when you are the late guy ~once per week). They said they’ve been getting an extra $300 on each paycheck from this new policy. There’s also moonlighting internally in both the ORs and the ICUs. I also rotated in the ICU for a week and will say that you work long hours on those months. But isn’t that the same anywhere?

As for teaching - yeah there were some attending who wouldn’t do much teaching and you would just see them walking around the hallways on their phones all day. But during the 4 weeks I was there I saw plenty of attendings who enjoyed intraop teaching. They did have to do their own preops on paper, which kinda sucks, but that seems like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things.

I didn’t meet any disgruntled residents (and I got to know probably 20-30). So unless they weren’t telling me the truth, which I kinda doubt. Plus, with how big that hospital system is, you will literally see everything. Probably the best clinical experience of all the places I interviewed at.
 
The applicants and rotators here can believe what they want during 1 interview day (or even 4 weeks) when any program can largely hide behind a veil, and trust me it is controlled who goes to dinners, who is allowed to have rotators with them and what not.

UT Houston has earned its dubious reputation over many years, and anyone here who has trained in Texas probably know that. Could it have changed in 12 months? Maybe, but highly doubtful. Beware.

I graduated from a scut-heavy program myself - everyday after 4 it was preops (at least 20 GIs for the next day to split amongst residents) and get out 5/7/9 PM anesthetists. I worked hard, but did a lot of “clean up” duty for the afternoon board. I respect my program and got great exposure. The stories Id hear from UT-H’s sites around the medical center were much, much worse than anything I had to deal with.
 
AdmiralChz said:
The applicants and rotators here can believe what they want during 1 interview day (or even 4 weeks) when any program can largely hide behind a veil, and trust me it is controlled who goes to dinners, who is allowed to have rotators with them and what not.

UT Houston has earned its dubious reputation over many years, and anyone here who has trained in Texas probably know that. Could it have changed in 12 months? Maybe, but highly doubtful. Beware.

I graduated from a scut-heavy program myself - everyday after 4 it was preops (at least 20 GIs for the next day to split amongst residents) and get out 5/7/9 PM anesthetists. I worked hard, but did a lot of “clean up” duty for the afternoon board. I respect my program and got great exposure. The stories Id hear from UT-H’s sites around the medical center were much, much worse than anything I had to deal with.
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Life lesson time for those about to be residents:

Question motives,critique sources.

What benefit do programs get for putting up a front??? Is it easier to make a program extremely beneficial to the residents or is it easier to just select what people see?? Are there blowbacks to the residents saying anything negative to some rando on interview day/audition rotations?? - all good questions.

What motives (besides altruism) do @AdmiralChz and I have to warn you, some rando on a internet forum??

There has to be a minimum threashold of malignancy for me to even waste my time to comment on a certain program. That threshold is EXTREMELY high.
 
Hrdrock said:
I’m a fourth year who did a 4-week rotation there in October. Honestly I had a great time there and didn’t see any signs of malignancy. Would be happy to match there. The residents I worked with in the general and cardiac ORs were there by 6:30 and out by 4 or 5 if not late call. They started a policy last year that you start earning $55/hr if you stay passed 5pm (which happens when you are the late guy ~once per week). They said they’ve been getting an extra $300 on each paycheck from this new policy. There’s also moonlighting internally in both the ORs and the ICUs. I also rotated in the ICU for a week and will say that you work long hours on those months. But isn’t that the same anywhere?

As for teaching - yeah there were some attending who wouldn’t do much teaching and you would just see them walking around the hallways on their phones all day. But during the 4 weeks I was there I saw plenty of attendings who enjoyed intraop teaching. They did have to do their own preops on paper, which kinda sucks, but that seems like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things.

I didn’t meet any disgruntled residents (and I got to know probably 20-30). So unless they weren’t telling me the truth, which I kinda doubt. Plus, with how big that hospital system is, you will literally see everything. Probably the best clinical experience of all the places I interviewed at.
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Being a medical student is totally different from being a resident.
 
UT Houston is opening another trauma center that needs to be covered by a separate call team. If you think that is gonna be covered by CRNAs, I have some snakeoil to sell.
 
Psai said:
Being a medical student is totally different from being a resident.
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I'd say a 4th year med student doing a month long rotation gets a pretty good idea for the work load and schedule of the residents there if through nothing else but listening to their conversations and complaints.
 
Dummy account from a recent grad. When there's smoke there's fire. 3 residents were fired in one year. Residents work extremely long hours. There is minimal teaching. Residents are the workforce and relieve AAs. Like posters above have said, ask the other programs in Texas (especially Baylor and UTMB since UTH rotates with them). They will tell you how malignant UTH is, how hard the residents work, and the overall unpleasant environment at UTH. They will also tell you that UTH is highly respected throughout Texas for the work ethic and strong skills of the residents.
 
Mman said:
I'd say a 4th year med student doing a month long rotation gets a pretty good idea for the work load and schedule of the residents there if through nothing else but listening to their conversations and complaints.
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I don't share the majority of my conversations and complaints with medical students or attendings. I save them for my fellow residents.
 
Mman said:
I'd say a 4th year med student doing a month long rotation gets a pretty good idea for the work load and schedule of the residents there if through nothing else but listening to their conversations and complaints.
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Psai said:
I don't share the majority of my conversations and complaints with medical students or attendings. I save them for my fellow residents.
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I was out by noon every day during 4th year anesthesia elective. I had no idea how late the residents stayed.
 
nimbus said:
I was out by noon every day during 4th year anesthesia elective. I had no idea how late the residents stayed.
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You never asked?

Man when I was a student I had all sorts of conversations about residency life with the residents I worked with. I find residents to be very open and honest with students.
 
I'm a UT-H alum from a few years back. I still work in Texas and my group recruits heavily from UT-H. We find their residents to be superior with regard to work ethic and clinical knowledge. Also, I've had multiple Baylor residents email regarding a job at my practice and they ask with concern about call frequency on their initial communication - not a good look.

When I went there in the 5-10 year's ago range, it wasn't considered "Malignant" - just a heavier work load than most other Texas programs. But it was something we took pride in.

No UT-H graduate is going to freak out when their obese EGD patient starts obstructing and desats a little. But we've had grads from other Texas residencies come out clinically weak and not able to fly in the private realm.

So, while they may focus more on the clinical side of training, they make great private practice docs. If you aren't ready to fly after CA-3 and need to stay on a few years as faculty, or do a fellowship because you think it looks good even though you don't really want to subspecialize, then maybe Baylor is for you.
 
Mman said:
You never asked?

Man when I was a student I had all sorts of conversations about residency life with the residents I worked with. I find residents to be very open and honest with students.
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No. I was not concerned at all about lifestyle. And I was not particularly interested in my home program.
 
Yeah I will admit I left most days on rotation there between noon and 3 PM, so I never truly saw how late they stayed. But still, I was there for a month and interacted with a lot of the residents and they all seemed happy. Certainly didn’t meet anybody disgruntled. They definitely work more than other places that I’ve seen, but if it was truly “malignant“, I feel like I would have met unhappy residents. Literally every resident I talked to said 55 hours per week on OR months. I doubt they were all conspiring to lie to the rotating students. Anything is possible though, I suppose.
 
SitraAchra said:
So, while they may focus more on the clinical side of training, they make great private practice docs. If you aren't ready to fly after CA-3 and need to stay on a few years as faculty, or do a fellowship because you think it looks good even though you don't really want to subspecialize, then maybe Baylor is for you.
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Spoken like someone who got rejected from Baylor.

Nice try turning this into a Baylor bashing thread. Lets not loose track of the OP- UTH is malignant. This is a well earned and well intrenched reputation UTH has had for many many years. I don't see how working past 6 doing butt puss and appy's because your department doesn't want to hire CRNAs makes for a better experience. Buyer beware!
 
skankhunt42 said:
Spoken like someone who got rejected from Baylor.

Nice try turning this into a Baylor bashing thread. Lets not loose track of the OP- UTH is malignant. This is a well earned and well intrenched reputation UTH has had for many many years. I don't see how working past 6 doing butt puss and appy's because your department doesn't want to hire CRNAs makes for a better experience. Buyer beware!
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Oh snap its going down
 
Agree - this Baylor reject can spell "lose" and "entrenched" - I'm just citing my personal experience. For the record my group hires from Baylor as well and they are fantastic. I'm just making a generalization that UT-Houston produces more hard working residents ready for private practice than their more academic neighbor. Also, I think the title of being "malignant" is more a cultural thing than simply looking at work-hours.

When I was at UT-Houston, we knew we worked harder than most other Texas programs, but we got along well with faculty and the surgeons and each other. Who knows, maybe it's changed in recent years.
 
SitraAchra said:
Agree - this Baylor reject can spell "lose" and "entrenched" - I'm just citing my personal experience. For the record my group hires from Baylor as well and they are fantastic. I'm just making a generalization that UT-Houston produces more hard working residents ready for private practice than their more academic neighbor. Also, I think the title of being "malignant" is more a cultural thing than simply looking at work-hours.

When I was at UT-Houston, we knew we worked harder than most other Texas programs, but we got along well with faculty and the surgeons and each other. Who knows, maybe it's changed in recent years.
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Ahhhhh and they start signing a different tune. I thought you said :

SitraAchra said:
o, while they may focus more on the clinical side of training, they make great private practice docs. If you aren't ready to fly after CA-3 and need to stay on a few years as faculty, or do a fellowship because you think it looks good even though you don't really want to subspecialize, then maybe Baylor is for you.
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Well which is it? Not ready to fly and need an extra year? Or fantastic?
 
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