Methodist Hospital-Houston, and new programs in general

[drfunktacular]

Can anyone comment on the IM program at Methodist Hospital in Houston? My understanding is that this is only the second or third year of the program, but the information on their website sounds pretty appealing.

Beyond that, what do you see as the pros & cons of a recently-established residency? I can think of cons like possibly poor fellowship opportunities and a disorganized curriculum. But I would imagine there would also be some positive aspects to training at a place that is trying to innovate and isn't yet bound in by "that's just the way we do things," and where you might get to have a little bit more say in the direction of your training.

Thoughts?

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[NotAProgDirector]

I think you've summarized the situation well, and answered your own question.

 

[txfisher]

.

 

[TexasTwoStep]

Does sound pretty interesting. I'd definitely like to hear more about this program if anyone has any thoughts or experiences.

 

[drfunktacular]

Can anyone comment on the IM program at Methodist Hospital in Houston?

I do think this program sounds like it has a lot to offer. A couple of months of protected research and a sweet call schedule. I heard that Methodist Houston has some kind of affiliation with Cornell and I wonder if that would help with fellowship placement.

Does sound pretty interesting. I'd definitely like to hear more about this program if anyone has any thoughts or experiences.

Nobody?

 

[zao275]

I'm a pathology resident (PGY3) at Methodist. It is a great hospital and the benefits are quite nice for all of the programs. Although our residencies are "new", our hospital and many of our faculty across the board have been training residents for 50+ years under the Baylor name. About 4-5 years ago, some institutional bureaucratic mess caused Baylor and Methodist to "divorce" from one another. Many docs stayed at Methodist and so we started our own programs. That is the gist of the history here.

Anyway, our residents from path regularly attend medicine morning report conferences, and I have found both the IM residents and faculty to be really outstanding. The transitional years also love Methodist, and we get many of them rotating through pathology (our path department is awesome...I'm biased of course but that's how I see it). We have a 1000 bed hospital that is nationally recognized as one of the Top US Hospitals (US News) and also is on the Fortune "100 Best Places to Work" list for the last two years. I am incredibly happy here at least in pathology, but the FP and IM residents seem happy as well.

Houston is a great cheap place to live (I'm from OH and FL), and the Texas Medical Center is an awesome place to be for your training. Hope that helps!

Jerad
PGY-3

 

[hv1]

Is there any place to find out what percentage of the Methodist-Houston trained IM residents pursue fellowships immediately after residency and where they match?

I would imagine that UT-Houston and Baylor would perhaps look upon Methodist-Houston graduates as completing their IM training at an "easier" program and would therefore be less inclined to offer them interviews/positions in their fellowship programs. Thanks.

 

[Danbo1957]

Methodist has had an IM residency for decades, just re-affiliated with Weill several years-ago. Hundreds of Methodist residents, many well respected here in Texas especially, have gone onto every fellowship available.

 

[drfunktacular]

Methodist has had an IM residency for decades, just re-affiliated with Weill several years-ago. Hundreds of Methodist residents, many well respected here in Texas especially, have gone onto every fellowship available.

Hey Danbo,

Not to hijack my own thread here, but I was wondering if you could comment on the IM market in/around Austin now, and how you foresee it in the next few years? I would love to move back there after residency and/or fellowship, but I imagine the climate to be less favorable than where I'm from in W. Texas. In particular, I'm wondering about life & job opportunities as a general internist or hospitalist, as well as for subspecialties like heme/onc and pulm/cc. You can PM me or start a new thread if you don't want to derail this one.

Thanks!

 

[Danbo1957]

Opportunities for general internists and hospitalists could not be better here in Austin. We've opened six new hospitals in the last ten years, with three more coming. From the numbers that I've seen, there is a need for an additional 50 full-time IM attendings (private practice and hospitalists) per year to account for population increase needs and to fill normal doctor attrition. UTMB-Austin will increase IM residency spots at Brackenridge over the next several years.

Also, as you know, West Texas and the South Plains have a major shortage of primary care doctors...

An in-depth article concerning physician numbers:

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/chs/hprc/PCphys.pdf