IM residency programs in Texas

[zokorro]

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Of all the IM residency programs in Texas.... which are the most competitive and hard to get into? Which are less competitive but still pretty good?

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

from what i've heard, baylor, UT houston, UTSW (dallas), UTMB (austin), and UTHSCSA (san antonio) are the best programs in texas for IM. baylor is probably the most competitive of the five.

all i know about the others is that UTMB (galveston) has about 50% IMGs. i haven't heard anything about Texas A&M or the Texas Tech programs.

 

[VCMM414]

from what i've heard, baylor, UT houston, UTSW (dallas), UTMB (austin), and UTHSCSA (san antonio) are the best programs in texas for IM. baylor is probably the most competitive of the five.

all i know about the others is that UTMB (galveston) has about 50% IMGs. i haven't heard anything about Texas A&M or the Texas Tech programs.

UTSW is actually the most competitive and elite of the Texas programs, with Baylor being 2nd. The other programs lag quite a distance behind these two. I'm speaking as an out-of-stater who applied to Texas programs a few years back.

 

[viostorm]

if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them by PM.

I don't think medicine is bad here, you get to see lots of crazy diseases because of the large referral area. There are some really good faculty members here as well.

Good place for a family if you have one.

 

[normansatx]

.

 

[spumoni620]

From a PD at a top 10 non-Southern medical school, UTSW is "head and shoulders" above the other Texas programs; he calls it "the best program in the south" (NB: does not include Duke).

I don't know how competitive UTSW is in relation to others as I'm only applying right now. All I can say is it definitely has that more "elite" status outside of the South...however, from their website they seem to take a lot of their own students and a handful of FMGs as well. Same with Baylor.

My IM chair seemed to think that UT-Houston was better than Baylor...again, not sure how competitive this program is (but have heard ~ 50% FMGs if that is a proxy for competitiveness)

 

[VCMM414]

however, from their website they seem to take a lot of their own students and a handful of FMGs as well. Same with Baylor.

Not all FMGs are created equally. Elite programs occasionally accept top FMGs from overseas. For example, I've heard that Duke has connections with medical institutions in Germany, Taiwan, Singapore, Lebanon (Beirut)...to name a few, and in any given year may match two or three interns from these places. Same with the Harvard hospitals.

Point is, it's difficult to define the quality of a residency program by the number of FMGs among the housestaff.

 

[spumoni620]

oh, i wasn't trying to imply that # FMGs reveal the quality of the program...I thought it might be a proxy for level of competitiveness (i.e. less competitive program if more FMGs granted admission - but as I stated, don't know if that's true or not). From the few FMGs I've known, who have practiced in their home countries, they actually seem better versed in clinical skills than some "home-grown" residents. So I definitely don't think FMG = inferior training by any stretch.

 

[VCMM414]

So I definitely don't think FMG = inferior training by any stretch.

Not trying to beat a dead horse, but I was actually trying to make the point that # of FMGs in a program doesn't necessarily correlate with the reputation/prestige (which WOULD be predictive of the competitiveness) of the program. Again, re: above programs I mentioned. At the same time, there are also top IM programs that match little to no FMGs. Stanford is one that comes quickly to mind, though I'm sure there are others as well.

It seems that each institution's policy toward FMGs is different. I think we would all agree that places like Duke, MGH, and Stanford should have no problems matching 100% American grads if they so desire; yet there is definitely a varying degree of open-mindedness toward FMGs among these programs. Of course, there are also lesser known programs that have difficulty filling their positions, and they too end up with FMGs...

IMO, # of FMGs in a program seems to be a pretty crude surrogate marker for the competitiveness/prestige of the program.

 

[normansatx]

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[retroviridae]

Best programs: UTSW and Baylor

Good training: UTSW, Baylor, UT-San Antonio, UTMB, ?UT-Houston

Best city: Austin, which has a small community program at Breckenridge (now affiliated with UTMB, I think)

Best food: Houston: Baylor, UTMB (well, a short drive away), UT-Houston

Most IMGs: who cares?

 

[tum]

utsw and baylor are the two top in texas. utsw slightly higher ranking, but baylor better fellowships (from looking at the lists i received when i interviewed at both). also according to friends at utsw i've heard it's a bit malignant (ie. potpourri for th intern).

as a resident at baylor currently, i'd have to say it's a pretty open approach to training.. interns don't get called at morning reports at ben taub/the VA unless they volunteer, attendings are generally easy-going. you work hard but there's definitely a positive attitude in the program.

just my two cents

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

how diverse are the texas programs (specifically UT houston and baylor) in terms of number of whites/blacks/asians/latinos/indians?

one of the reasons i'm hesitating to move down to texas is b/c i'm worried that i'll feel out of place (i'm not white).

 

[spumoni620]

how diverse are the texas programs (specifically UT houston and baylor) in terms of number of whites/blacks/asians/latinos/indians?

one of the reasons i'm hesitating to move down to texas is b/c i'm worried that i'll feel out of place (i'm not white).

as a non-white person who was in houston for a while and have tons of friends at baylor i can definitely tell you that houston is super super diverse - in the recent decade there's been a huge increase in immigrant populations in both cities. Not just hispanics/latinos but also asians and africans, notably vietnamese/korean/nigerian/indians etc. i think i read somewhere that 40% of the population in Houston is Hispanic/Latino...it's a huge metropolitan city (4th largest in the U.S.). and besides...you're in the medical profession - you will not be the only non-white person there. Also, if you look at the past rosters of residents at Baylor, I'd say a good chunk of the names appear to be of ethnicities other than Caucasian, (although as Seinfeld taught us that's not always so reliable).


http://www.houston.org/whyHouston/diversity.asp

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

cool, thanks for the info. one more question... how late are the bars open in texas?

 

[normansatx]

Well it depends on where you are and what type of bar. All bars stop serving at 2:00 am, but some late night places stay open pretty late. In general, 2:00 on weekends in the busy parts of Houston, Dallas, San Antonio. Night life is best in Houston and Dallas. The area of Houston that Baylor and UT-H are in is very trendy and you, "Rice Village" and montrose area. One would probably live in those areas. The area that UH and VA are in San Antonio is a newer part of town and most bars are in strip centers. The riverwalk is really cool, but a long cab ride and pretty expensive. Dont know much about the Parkland area of Dallas, but the rest is really fun. Any questions about social life in the three cities just IM me, I lived in two.. Houston and SA, and have been to Dallas a lot.

PS, Austin is only an hour from SA. Austin is hands down the best city in Texas and one of the funnest I have ever been to, and I lived in New Orleans for five years.

 

[DJ LACTULOSE]

awesome, thanks for the info. i'm really only looking into the houston programs b/c one of my best friends from college/med school is in the area. i don't really want to move to a city where i don't know anyone at all (dallas or san antonio).

 

[spumoni620]

a note about dallas for others who are interested...i lived there for a while and it's actually a great city for nightlife (ok, it's not going to be nyc or miami, but there's actually a lot going on). not just yay old sports bars (we have that too) but also neat lounges, jazz bars, salsa dancing, etc. also lots of young people, tons and tons of restaurants from middle eastern to korean to ethiopian and cute cafes, GREAT shopping (really great) and some sweet apartments/lofts downtown. highland park (the area around southern methodist university) is gorgeous, rustic and almost east-coastish with tons of trees and gigantic mansions inhabited by very rich people. this area is also very snobby and posh. the neighborhood immediately around parkland/utsw (about 20 minutes south) is definitely sketchy but it's the kind of city where you cross one street and then it's immediate upscale old-school luxury...

i haven't been to austin as much as i would want, but i absolutely agree that it's the best city in texas. i would put dallas next, but honestly i don't know much about houston (just that it's quite huge and traffic is a pain, and it's diverse )

 

[jefwsmd]

I am a fourth year at UTHSCSA. It is a good program and definitely has its +'s and -'s...
Positives:
- Great clinical diversity, you see some CRAZY stuff. VERY good clinical training, once you get out you can handle pretty much anything in the hospital
- Call schedule is fairly cush q 5 at the University, no overnight EVER, q 5 at VA, overnight only when it falls on the weekend, MICU q 4 with post-post call OFF most of the time
- Great faculty that are approachable and very approachable
- Fellowships in house in almost everything
Neg:
- New PD is clueless
- Salary sucks
- 50% FMGs in last years class... not so high in previous years
- VA is terrible
- UH is a dump
- Poor ancillary services
- Fellowship placement outside SA is questionable
- San Antonio is OK... I guess
- Need to speak spanish at University!!!
- Outpatient experience and facilities suck
I am not even applying there... mostly because San Antonio is not a place I want to stay, otherwise I would'nt care so much. PM me if you have any specific questions, would be happy to answer them.

UTHSCSA is great program. Much better trainting than at UTMB and much less malignant than at UT Houston or UTSW.

New PD is not clueless and not really new. He has actually been there for several years as associate PD and took over full time when the former PD stepped down to take on a more direct role in teaching. The PD is very on top of things. Once a month we have "housestaff issues" where he discusses the latest updates from the ABIM. He keeps us very well informed. Contrary to rumors, the former PD did not step out of pressure, etc but to be more involved in resident teaching. She was a teacher for going into medicine.

UH is not a "dump." It is a county hospital funded by tax dollars, so it is not as nice as a private hospital. It will soon undergo a major multi-million dollar renovation.

VA is the VA.

Ancillary services are very good at both hospitals. Maybe as a med student its different, but as a resident, I have never had trouble getting things done. I put in orders, and they get done.

Salary is low, but the cost of living in SA in very cheap. I am paying a $170K mortgage.

FMGs are from Columbia, where they have to work for a year as MDs before they are allowed to apply, so they are actually on the level of PGY2 as interns.

Spanish is a plus; however, I dont speak a word of Spanish and have gotten by just fine. Translators are always available. Even in Russian at 3:00a.m.

Med student and resident experiences are different; OP facilities/experiences are adequate and meet ABIM guidelines. However, the program is very geared for inpatient care.

Most fellows stay in SA because of heavy internal recruitment. Had one person match to Cleveland Clinic for Cards last year.

If you want to be a hospitalist, you will have your pick of jobs anywhere you want to go.

We are all very happy (isnt that what counts the most) and are all friends with each other.

There are negatives.

UH is extremely busy with high volume. Teams get the max number of "shorts" everyday. Call teams usually cap. I have yet to be on call and not cap.

Pts are very sick with MMP; watchout if you need to consult surgery. The surgery program here is VERY malignant. Residents are very grumpy about being called for consults. I remember an incident calling Gen Surg for an acute abdomen. The resident said I had "two words" to explain what I wanted. He was very rude and there were two words I wanted to use, but instead I said "acute abdomen." BTW, the patient went to OR within 1 hr.

My point is, UTHSCSA is a great program. I did med shcool here and stayed for residency. Experiences are different for med students, not much respect from nurses. As a resident, if I ask for something, they nearly jump out of there seats to get it for me. Of course politeness and courtesy go along way.

If you come to UTHSCA, you will be very well trained and will be able to pick your job.

 

[normansatx]

UTHSCSA is great program. Much better trainting than at UTMB and much less malignant than at UT Houston or UTSW.

New PD is not clueless and not really new. He has actually been there for several years as associate PD and took over full time when the former PD stepped down to take on a more direct role in teaching. The PD is very on top of things. Once a month we have "housestaff issues" where he discusses the latest updates from the ABIM. He keeps us very well informed. Contrary to rumors, the former PD did not step out of pressure, etc but to be more involved in resident teaching. She was a teacher for going into medicine.

UH is not a "dump." It is a county hospital funded by tax dollars, so it is not as nice as a private hospital. It will soon undergo a major multi-million dollar renovation.

VA is the VA.

Ancillary services are very good at both hospitals. Maybe as a med student its different, but as a resident, I have never had trouble getting things done. I put in orders, and they get done.

Salary is low, but the cost of living in SA in very cheap. I am paying a $170K mortgage.

FMGs are from Columbia, where they have to work for a year as MDs before they are allowed to apply, so they are actually on the level of PGY2 as interns.

Spanish is a plus; however, I dont speak a word of Spanish and have gotten by just fine. Translators are always available. Even in Russian at 3:00a.m.

Med student and resident experiences are different; OP facilities/experiences are adequate and meet ABIM guidelines. However, the program is very geared for inpatient care.

Most fellows stay in SA because of heavy internal recruitment. Had one person match to Cleveland Clinic for Cards last year.

If you want to be a hospitalist, you will have your pick of jobs anywhere you want to go.

We are all very happy (isnt that what counts the most) and are all friends with each other.

There are negatives.

UH is extremely busy with high volume. Teams get the max number of "shorts" everyday. Call teams usually cap. I have yet to be on call and not cap.

Pts are very sick with MMP; watchout if you need to consult surgery. The surgery program here is VERY malignant. Residents are very grumpy about being called for consults. I remember an incident calling Gen Surg for an acute abdomen. The resident said I had "two words" to explain what I wanted. He was very rude and there were two words I wanted to use, but instead I said "acute abdomen." BTW, the patient went to OR within 1 hr.

My point is, UTHSCSA is a great program. I did med shcool here and stayed for residency. Experiences are different for med students, not much respect from nurses. As a resident, if I ask for something, they nearly jump out of there seats to get it for me. Of course politeness and courtesy go along way.

If you come to UTHSCA, you will be very well trained and will be able to pick your job.

Man, looking back I must have been post-call writing that last post! It really sounds negative. I certainly did not mean to sound like that. I am not applying to any programs in Texas, mainly for spousal reasons. IF I was, UTHSCSA would definitely be my top pick. As the previous poster has said, it really is an excellent program. MY only experiance with the new PD involves advising Medical Students through the application process, and he has been less than helpful. The VA is the VA (great statement). I maintain that UH is kind of crappy, but that is really great they are renovating, I had no idea! Fellowship opportunities are very good, UT has them all internally and they are reputable. If you want to be a hospitalist, I dont think you can ask for a better program. The autonomy is top notch and diversity of pathology is really incredible. I said San Antonio is good "kind of" b/c it depends on who you are. There is hiking, fishing, outdoors, etc. For me, it just doesn't do it. I really cant explain why, I grew up in Houston and lived in New Orleans for years.
I just wanted to write and clear up that negative tone I had to my prior post, I must have been grumpy. I would def recommend UTHSCSA to anyone that wants to come to or stay in Texas!

 

[jefwsmd]

I maintain that UH is kind of crappy

I agree UH is not the best in terms of appearance with somewhat bland decorating, and lack of good call rooms (VA has great call rooms with private bathroom/shower and color TV with cable). However, for a county hospital it is not bad. Also it is one of the few county hospitals in a decent part of town. In other words, you can live less than a mile away in a nice nieghborhood with good schools.

The Sunrise system is painful when learning it. Once you learn how to use it, it is very efficient.

Ultimately, you have to go where you and your spouse will be happy. Intern year is miserable no matter where you go. You will work your tail off and very little home time. So if you are at a program/city you don't like and your spouse is unhappy because no family or friends are nearby, it just compounds your misery.

Anyway, good luck in the application process and I am sure you will end up at a program that is perfect for you.

 

[jdh71]

i haven't heard anything about Texas A&M or the Texas Tech programs.

Anyone have any info on A&M or Tech? You never hear much about them. I'm looking to get back to that part of the country and if anyone knows anything more, I'd love to hear it.

 

[normansatx]

I know nothing about the Texas Tech program.
I interviewed at Tx A&M for med school and have several friends applying to their program. Scott and White, their primary training hospital, is awesome. Its very well run, great facilities, and pretty much everyone there is very friendly and nice. Their VA is also very nice in Temple. Now that being said, Temple TX is not the most entertaining place for young singles. If you are married with a family and looking to settle down and a nice smallish town then Temple is just what you need, but otherwise I hear there is absolutely nothing to do. I dont know about their "reputation", but I know its is a strong clinical program that a lot of very good candidates in my class are applying and interviewing at.
Hope this helps.

 

[spumoni620]

Anyone have any info on A&M or Tech? You never hear much about them. I'm looking to get back to that part of the country and if anyone knows anything more, I'd love to hear it.

Got friends in med school there, and actually interviewed for med school there. A few people from my school in past years have matched at Scott & White for very competitive residencies. I would echo everything that normansatx said, with a few other additions:

- Temple is....well, for me, it would be torture to live there as it's TINY and pretty much nothing to do there as far as I could tell. It's a standard TTT (Tiny Texan Town) which is quaint, etc. Main positives are that it's very cheap and there is literally no rush hour traffic which is very positive when you're coming from a huge congested city.
- Austin is ~ 1 hour away. So not so bad.
- Scott & White is reputed enough to be recognized/known in areas far away from Texas (i.e. my current school), so that has to be a good thing. I don't believe that it made my PD's short list of top programs across the country in IM. Take that FWIW....

Don't know anything about Tech...(heard Lubbock has a lot of dust storms and ragweed, that's about all I know)

 

[viostorm]

Don't know anything about Tech...(heard Lubbock has a lot of dust storms and ragweed, that's about all I know)

Here is an example of a good lubbock dust storm, I took these pics. They are 1 day apart.

Here is an example from the 1970's of Lubbock, Texas.

 

[jdh71]

Right on. Thanks guys! We'll see if anyone will chime in on Tech.

I've got a good friend who's brother has CGD and aften ends up in Lubbock at the teaching hospital - his father a GP in Hobbs, NM speaks highly of the hospital, but knew not much about the IM program there.

 

[viostorm]

Right on. Thanks guys! We'll see if anyone will chime in on Tech.

I've got a good friend who's brother has CGD and aften ends up in Lubbock at the teaching hospital - his father a GP in Hobbs, NM speaks highly of the hospital, but knew not much about the IM program there.

If you seriously want to know about Tech, PM me and I can get you in touch with one of my friends who is a recently graduated resident.

I still have not done my medicine rotation so I really can't say anything positive or negative about the program specifically.

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

I was a MS at Texas Tech in Lubbock so I can comment at least superficially on the IM program.

I think the attendings are great, most are generally laid back 'West Texans' with a few from other places sprinkled in. They all pretty much love to teach.

As far a fellowships, I think they had GI many years ago but no longer due to unknown reasons by me. I think the only one they have is cardio.

In my opinon, if I were training in IM, I would PREFER a program with few or no fellowships, that way, you essentially get to 'be the fellow'. The IM SR resident runs the ICU, ID resident runs that service, and etc....no fellow to hover over you.

Their call schedule I believe is heavy just as an intern with generally Q4, however, that was go home by 10ish each 4th night, then the 'night team' would take over.....as I recall.

The residents are generally Tech/West Texan people and some IMG/FMGs. Although, I think the FMGs in the IM program were generally brighter than I have seen in some other departments as they all really speak good english (not bashing FMGs or anything here....).

The hospital is VERY nice compared to many others out there. A few new floors and the rest very updated.

Research is going to be on the low end as Texas Tech is known for producing great freindly doctors, not for making cutting edge research discoveries.

If you want to be a reall good well rounded IM physician, I think Texas Tech would train you well for that. If you want to be a cutting edge research physician, you might consider going elsewhere. As far as fellowships, I know that many of the residents went off to fellowships when they were done so I do not think placement for those are a problem.


As far as Lubbock as a place to live, I think its a great town. The dust storms mentioned above occur maybe 2-3 of them each spring... not a big deal and certainly a new different experience in my book. There is plenty to keep you busy as far as night life (30K college kids here...obviously they do something at night). TONS of restaurants. NO traffic. SUPER cheap living (60K buys a 3 bed 2 bath 2 car garage brick home 5 mins from the hospital)...living far away is a 15 min drive. They have all the large chain stores a person needs, plenty of movie theaters (even a drive in), and an airport that SouthWest flys out of so you can get anywhere reasonable.

 

[BearCat]

I was also a MS at Tech however did my clerkships in El Paso instead of Lubbock. If you are interested, feel free to PM me.