San Antonio or Oklahoma

[phelia]

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I'm interviewing for Peds this year, and have these two IVs scheduled for end of January. Money etc getting tight, so wanted any info people could give on which of these to keep/cancel. I'm from up north, but my husband really wants warmth, and these are my two "hottest" programs.

One other question--I have only rudimentary Spanish. Will I be able to function in SA?

 

[TexasRose]

I'm interviewing for Peds this year, and have these two IVs scheduled for end of January. Money etc getting tight, so wanted any info people could give on which of these to keep/cancel. I'm from up north, but my husband really wants warmth, and these are my two "hottest" programs.

One other question--I have only rudimentary Spanish. Will I be able to function in SA?

Well, I have to vote for Texas for obvious reasons. 😉

You'll see lots of Spanish speaking patients in many locales in the US. That's what interpreters and language lines are for. I'm working on my Spanish, but I don't trust it enough to make important medical decisions based on my language efforts alone.

 

[Soonerep]

Obviously by name I would say OU. I know a lot of people from Oklahoma and Texas that have interviewed around both states and haven't heard as many good things about San Antonio as I have about UTSW, Baylor, and even Austin. Just my opinion for what it's worth. Good luck.

 

[BigRedBeta]

I don't have any means of direct comparison, and there are a lot of factors that go into what I think about programs, but I was not a fan of OU. In the interview impressions thread, I give a much fuller description but I am just one opinion and you might find all the things I didn't like to be positives.

I don't know anything about San Antonio though.

 

[Gradient Echo]

I've been to hospitals in both cities.

San Antonio Peds is literally 70% spanish speaking only. I would never go there unless you are close to fluent.

OKC on the other hand has probably only 25% spanish speaking only.

 

[bpamd]

I went to medical school in San Antonio and would say that while many of the patients' parents were Spanish-speaking, most were bilingual and spoke a fair amount of English -- at least enough to get a decent history. The San Antonio program also has the advantage of covering two hospitals. University Hospital is in the Medical Center and caters to the more indigent population of San Antonio and acts as the 'Safety Net' for Central and South Texas. Santa Rosa Hospital downtown has a higher proportion of patients with better medical coverage and also is where more of the higher-acuity PICU patients end up. Both settings offer unique learning experiences. From my classmates who stayed there for residency, nearly all of them have had a positive experience and have had no regrets staying. Hope this helps, and good luck.

 

[oompaloompa]

Do you want to do community peds or do want to specialize? If you're even thinking about the latter I would choose UTSW or Baylor over San Antonio. These larger programs have stand-alone children's hospitals and full services for every specialty. You will have truly seen everything by the time you finish.

I like San Antonio as a location, but the program didn't even create a blip on my radar when I was interviewing - and I went to med school in Texas. I don't know what you're looking for and where you interviewed though. Good luck with your decision.