Q about TCOM Plaza Medical Center, Fort Worth

[bbpippo]

Hi, I'm wondering if there's anyone that has done rotation there or visited the hospital. Can you tell me anything you know about the hospital, the residency program, the people there, the neighborhood, or just Fort Worth in general? Any information will be appreciated. I am from out of state, and have never even been to taxes. =) Thanks!

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[JustPlainBill]

Hi, I'm wondering if there's anyone that has done rotation there or visited the hospital. Can you tell me anything you know about the hospital, the residency program, the people there, the neighborhood, or just Fort Worth in general? Any information will be appreciated. I am from out of state, and have never even been to taxes. =) Thanks!

Number one - It's Texas. So far we don't have a state income tax. Now if you had said Massachusetts.......

Ft. Worth is called Cowtown for a reason. If you want nightlife, go to Dallas. If you want good Chinese food - go to Dallas. If you want decent restaurants -- go to Dallas. Matter of fact---go to Dallas. I'm only in Ft. Worth for as long as I have to be. Then....I'm going to Dallas. When the
major attraction is Billy Bob's and Sundance Square (basically a bunch of
steak restaurants) and the two malls w/in a driveable radius from the
school (TCOM) leave a lot to be desired.....go to Dallas........

Can't comment on the residency or hospital yet......

 

[WRXDoc2B]

Number one - It's Texas. So far we don't have a state income tax. Now if you had said Massachusetts.......

Ft. Worth is called Cowtown for a reason. If you want nightlife, go to Dallas. If you want good Chinese food - go to Dallas. If you want decent restaurants -- go to Dallas. Matter of fact---go to Dallas. I'm only in Ft. Worth for as long as I have to be. Then....I'm going to Dallas. When the
major attraction is Billy Bob's and Sundance Square (basically a bunch of
steak restaurants) and the two malls w/in a driveable radius from the
school (TCOM) leave a lot to be desired.....go to Dallas........

Can't comment on the residency or hospital yet......

Ft. Worth definitely has its own charm and personality. If you want higher crime rates go to Dallas. If you want to say you live in a city with pro sports teams then go to Dallas. If you want to deal with big city traffic then move to Dallas. If you are concerned more with status symbols then go to Dallas.

There are plenty of great places to eat in Ft. Worth and plenty to do, even if you aren't a cowboy. What's really nice about living in Ft. Worth is that you are close to everything in the DFW area without having to live in Dallas.

Sounds like someone is still upset they didn't get into Southwestern...

I'm sure the folks of Ft Worth will miss you...

 

[JustPlainBill]

Sounds like someone is still upset they didn't get into Southwestern...

No, actually, someone is just bored to tears in Ft. Worth. Virtually no movie
theaters, 'good' restaurants consist of Chipotle, Dickey's, Luby's and the
McDonald's across the street from the school. Oh, wait, I forgot, The Great Outdoors down the street from the school.

If you want nightlife, go to Dallas. Hmm, let's see, crime rate.....so far this
year I've seen squad cars at 4 separate times with lights on in my neighborhood (near the school) and been awakened by cops banging
on my door once. Never happened in Dallas.....

Again, Your Mileage May Vary....

 

[crazylegs]

I will be doing four weeks of internal medicine at Plaza next month, so I will let you know how that goes. As far as Fort Worth in general.. I have lived here for four years so far, and it's "okay". If you want a life more fitting for a single person, then do a residency in Dallas. The people who tend to like Fort Worth are those with families and those who do not prefer the "big city life". Fort Worth is a pretty good sized city, but you don't have near enough of the big city feel as you would in Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston, for example.

You'll have to come visit to really get your own idea of TCOM/Plaza/Fort Worth - trust me, you'll know within a day whether you'll like it here or not. As for me, I liked Fort Worth for what it was (I came here for grad & med school), but I am definitely anxious to move on elsewhere when I graduate next year. To each his own ...

Hope this helps.. I will update you when I start at Plaza.

 

[froggiepremed]

Ft. Worth is a great city to live in! I went through my under grad there and loved it.

There are enough bars to enjoy yourself, and there are good restaurants!

Try Joe T Garcias for mexican (but bring cash!). There are plenty of museums to enjoy, downtown is rockin in the summers, and the hospitals are great too!

Plus, as above, it beats the pants off the bigger cities

P.S. ( I like the Rave for movies, but the downtown theatres are kind of cool too)

 

[tcomboi07]

I have to say, I mostly agree with JustPlainBill about Fort Worth(less) and can't wait to get the heck out of here! That said, I *do* know people who really like living here. It's just an acquired taste. If you're conservative, white, have a family, and like a slower pace, I think it's a good place for you. If you're none of the above, you will likely find yourself driving to Dallas.

Keep in mind, that cities such as Arlington are in between Dallas and Fort Worth and might be ideal places to live for someone who needs to work in Fort Worth but doesn't want to be too far away from Dallas...

 

[corpsmanUP]

The two topics at hand are seemingly unrelated. First, the question about Plaza Medical Center. Unfortunately I did not like Plaza MC and felt it was a place where resident education was not a major priority. Conferences on the medicine side were a joke, and on the surgical side the attendings were full of themselves and treated the residents like pre-1970's residents. The hospital facilities have been updated some but overall the place just practices way too much handholding. Now for a comparison, just drive a couple miles south and east and go to John Peter Smith hospital. Now that is a fabulous place to learn and be a resident, but it is a little TOO unsupervised for my blood.

Now about Fort Worth. I lived there for 4 years in med school and found it to be quite a charming little city. The downtown is well kept and full of nice little pubs/bars/ and yes restaurants. Any downtown with a PF Changs can't be all that bad! I can count on one hand the number of times I needed to go to Dallas for anything in 4 years. The museum district is a highly affordable and culturally diverse section of the city (around the medical school) and when compared to other national cities this size..it's almost unbeatable. After you live anywhere in Texas and leave Texas, Texas always looks better. The cost of living is just awesome, and no state tax. But, you always deal with more right winged closed minded types in Texas, and the weather is terribly hot/humid.

 

[DeLaughterDO]

Two words:

Movie

Tavern


Where else can you watch a movie, while drinking a beer and eating pizza/wings/burgers/etc?? Best idea EVER!!

jd

 

[corpsmanUP]

Two words:

Movie

Tavern


Where else can you watch a movie, while drinking a beer and eating pizza/wings/burgers/etc?? Best idea EVER!!

jd

No kidding brother!! Nemo, Elmo, or whatever the latest kid flick goes down much easier with a pitcher of cold brew. And they bring the food to your cinema table where you can also prop up your feet!!!

 

[DeLaughterDO]

I've seriously thought about trying to get a group of people together and starting a movie tavern like place up here - only problem is, I don't know exactly what the rules are regarding selling open containers. I suppose we could supply the food and have BYOB like so many of the restaurants around here.

I think it would make a KILLING around here. That and a good mexican food restaurant.

jd

 

[drusso]

Now for a comparison, just drive a couple miles south and east and go to John Peter Smith hospital. Now that is a fabulous place to learn and be a resident, but it is a little TOO unsupervised for my blood.

Man, I miss "...the Peter Smith." That place was like a minature "House of God." What a place to do an internship...

 

[crazylegs]

Just finished my 4 weeks at Plaza for medicine, and I will say that the facilities are quite nice. But that's the only standout positive thing I have to say about the place.

As mentioned by a previous poster, the emphasis really isn't on resident education, and I have overheard a lot of the residents complaining about that. There is one absolutely outstanding attending at Plaza who loves to teach and loves to have students/interns/residents around - but he is leaving in two months to pursue a fellowship elsewhere. Otherwise, you will learn bits and pieces from the other attendings, but it's usually something that you have to twist their arms for -- unless you are an intern who is 24 hours post-call and presenting a case at morning report -- then they are happy to rip into you for missing insignificant items on your H&P .. and that's all the teaching that you get.

I saw much more pathology at JPS and Dallas Methodist (smack dab in the middle of Oak Cliff, and they get whatever spills over from Parkland). PM me if you want to pick my brain some more about Plaza/Fort Worth/etc. This is all I can think of off the top of my head. Best of luck!