Ranking McGovern / Long / UT Tyler

[etxaccepted36]

Hi everyone! We're about a month out from submitting TMDSAS rankings, but I wanted to get some early input on the rank list I'll be preparing. I already have about half of my rank list confirmed:
1) Baylor
2) UTSW
3/4/5) McGovern/Tyler/Long
6) UTMB
7) A&M
8)TCOM
9) SHSU

3/4/5 is where I am currently having a hard time putting things together. To guide feedback a bit, my current interests lie with orthopedics, but I also would like to look into cardiology or infectious disease if I realize that my bony dreams are a farce. I'll be shadowing an orthopedic surgeon sometime in the spring to get a better idea on that end. I unfortunately only shadowed in OMF surgery and psychiatry so my experiences were not very diversified.

My ultimate goal as a physician is to be able to bring a source of expertise to the East Texas area and serve as a mentor for other physicians to help develop the region's healthcare. I would be interested in practicing and even working at the medical school (whether it is for medical students or residents) on the side once I have enough experience under my belt. While going to UT Tyler sounds like the obvious rank #1 when looking at my goals, I'll explain my reservations in my pros/cons list shortly.

Personality wise I consider myself very self-motivated and adaptable. I'm competitive by nature but I like to do so in an 'iron-sharpens-iron' fashion, if that makes sense. If someone else succeeds ahead of me, I'll just try to catch up to them. If I don't, no biggie. Wherever I end up, I'll try to make the most of what I'm given and find a way to be happy and enjoy it. Just getting to go to medical school is an amazing opportunity so at this point having options is a luxury. Not sure if that much is relevant to helping me decide schools, but on other threads I have seen that some schools favor particular 'types' of people more than others.

McGovern
Pros

1. Great location for opportunity and mentorship
2. The culture appears to be well-developed and conducive to student success and happiness
3. Ample resources for support
4. Well-established
5. Options for specific career development
6. Strong clinical skills built into the pre-clerkship curriculum

Cons

1. Graded curriculum. This is a soft con for me but I imagine having P/F will be helpful for the more difficult blocks.
2. Large class size; 240 is rather excessive for me.
3. The admissions team was brutally honest about the parking situation being bad, which is really discouraging because I'm currently in Austin and the last thing I want to continue dealing with when I move is terrible parking. I can deal with it, but major pet peeve.

Long
Pros

1. San Antonio is all around great and mostly affordable
2. Awesome culture and campus
3. Lots of STEP resources, they emphasized this more than the other schools I interviewed at
4. Excellent match list

Cons

1. Farthest distance from family
2. Graded curriculum
3. Large class size

UT Tyler
Pros

1. I know the area like the back of my hand
2. Clinical rotations begin in M1
3. Cheap cost of living
4. Small class size
5. The staff seem very receptive to feedback and the dean often meets with students to see how they are doing; everyone seemed to know each other which I enjoyed
6. Many opportunities for mentorship and leadership since the school is new
7. Brand-new facilities that will conveniently be opening as I start the program
8. Students appear very happy and collaborative

Cons

1. No information on STEP performance / match list since I would be in the third entering class
2. Lots of changes in the curriculum are still taking place, so it is likely my class will still be guinea pigs.
3. Not much opportunity for specializing when it comes to in-house residency
4. Instability: I have no doubts that Dr. Cox will be a great dean, but I still have questions about how this may impact the school's direction with a big change early in its life. Additionally, the East Texas area has seen a few different hospital systems come in and take over and it's just been a big mess for a while. I worry that the mentorship I will receive here may not be as good compared to other schools (which, as I mentioned, is a gap I would like to fill in the future)

UT Tyler will obviously be cheaper than the other schools, but I'm more than willing to invest some extra money into my education if it means a significant difference in the quality of training and opportunity I'll have available to me.

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[soapapple]

You planning to serve East Texas area in future in really commendable. One thing you need to think is how important is it for you to attend a medical school in that area to serve in that area in future. Normally, people rank in the following order:

1) Baylor
2) UTSW
3) McGovern
4) Long
5) UTMB
6) A&M
7) UT Tyler
8)TCOM
9) SHSU

Based on how strong you feel the importance of attending a school in that area helps you to serve that area better in future, UT Tyler can make a jump up as higher you want to go.

 

[etxaccepted36]

You planning to serve East Texas area in future in really commendable. One thing you need to think is how important is it for you to attend a medical school in that area to serve in that area in future. Normally, people rank in the following order:

1) Baylor
2) UTSW
3) McGovern
4) Long
5) UTMB
6) A&M
7) UT Tyler
8)TCOM
9) SHSU

Based on how strong you feel the importance of attending a school in that area helps you to serve that area better in future, UT Tyler can make a jump up as higher you want to go.

Thanks for the input! So the general consensus is McGovern > Long > UT Tyler?

Unless my career goals have a significant shift while in medical school I don't imagine the school I attend will have an impact on me practicing in East Texas. The main thing is making sure I am adequately prepared to fulfill those goals, hence why I'm hesitant to put UT Tyler above Long/McGovern. If UT Tyler were more established I'd have no issue with putting it above McGovern / Long, there are still too many question marks around it for me to do so.