Last edited:
TFA and State Residency
- Thread starter samuraiR
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,577
- Reaction score
- 2
Texas is easily the best state for in-staters to go to medical school. The worst are probably California and Pennsylvania.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 28,770
- Reaction score
- 53,970
Here's info on qualifying for residency in Texas:
http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/medical/residency.html
http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/medical/residency.html
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2005
- Messages
- 510
- Reaction score
- 221
Yes. I am an example of someone who did what you're talking about, albeit unintentionally-- I chose "Send me where I'm most needed", and ended up in TX. It is pretty phenomenal from a medical school admissions standpoint, and in terms of tuition.
That said, please don't join because you want to change residency. It would be much easier just to move here and work at Starbucks or something while garnering clinical or volunteer experience-- the experience is very difficult, and people who are here for the wrong reasons tend to quit. This is hard on the organization, the districts we work with, and harder on the kids. So if becoming a Texan, or burnishing your application, is the reason you want to join, please leave the slot open for someone with motivations that'll carry them through the two (or more, in many cases) years.
That said, please don't join because you want to change residency. It would be much easier just to move here and work at Starbucks or something while garnering clinical or volunteer experience-- the experience is very difficult, and people who are here for the wrong reasons tend to quit. This is hard on the organization, the districts we work with, and harder on the kids. So if becoming a Texan, or burnishing your application, is the reason you want to join, please leave the slot open for someone with motivations that'll carry them through the two (or more, in many cases) years.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 28,770
- Reaction score
- 53,970
I was a big fan of TFA after having a wonderful medical student who had done it prior to matriculation. However, as time has gone on and I've heard more first hand accounts of the conditions in which one is expected to "teach", the hopelessness of some of the classroom situations, and the philosophy of the program, I am less enthused. In particular, I'd like to know why someone who intends to go to medical school, and who had that intention before TFA, did the TFA program.
Ideally, TFA should be for people who didn't major in "education" to get into classrooms and use their skills in subject areas while gaining teaching credentials. Getting an MA in teaching is a total waste if you plan on 2 years & out.
Ideally, TFA should be for people who didn't major in "education" to get into classrooms and use their skills in subject areas while gaining teaching credentials. Getting an MA in teaching is a total waste if you plan on 2 years & out.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2005
- Messages
- 510
- Reaction score
- 221
Out of curiosity, what do believe the philosophy of the program to be? As someone who is an alum of the program and also a strong advocate for it, I'm always interested in lobbying on its behalf. Just because I would discourage any applicants from joining to resume pad or gain favorable residencies, I would strongly encourage anyone interested in education or social justice generally to look into it.
I could have gotten into medical school straight out of college, but I am glad that I spent three years teaching in an underserved community/school, and definitely think I'll be a better physician for it. I think gaining communication and leadership talent, organizational and motivational skills, and maybe even simply self-confidence and a greater amount of empathy for the situations of one's future patients are compelling reasons to spend a few years in a classroom. Even if you just think science is cool, and that we'd benefit by having more adolescents agree and that you don't feel a strong need to rush into a career-- this is a good reason too. I personally felt that a two-year break gave me time and space to be certain that I wanted to pursue medicine, rather than just thinking so-- I think more people would benefit from gap year(s) generally, and certainly anyone intending on commiting to the medical profession not just as a career but as a lifestyle.
There are definitely hard situations out there, and I know several people who have quit (including one guy who had deferred acceptance at a medical school, and went after one year) because they didn't have the ability to hang in there. I know others who found themselves in situations where I wouldn't have. But I think for most people, it's an experience that changes their life in a positive way, and allows them to impact a lot of others' lives at the same time.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 0
Fellow TFA alum here, currently teaching a 3rd year in the Mississippi Delta. My medical school and TFA story is a little different than most others. I was accepted to medical during my senior year of undergrad before I chose to apply to TFA, but ended up choosing TFA over the acceptances. I do not wish to bore you all an essay on my reasons for joining TFA over medical school (feel free to ask ANY questions about TFA, the Mississippi Delta, etc.) but the main reason I choose education first is two fold.
1. I believe an essential component of all doctors that are able to have a large impact on the communities they serve (I intend to enter public health) is the ability to not just heal their patients but to teach as well. Thus I felt TFA was an opportunity to help a community in need as well as develop professional skills which will allow me to greater impact future patient populations.
2. The inequalities our nation faces in education and health-outcomes are not separate realms. Low-education leads to poor health which leads to another generation of low-education...etc. Thus working in education, and improving the life-opportunities for high-poverty children, will actually result in (ideally) better health outcomes for them and their children. So I felt that although I was delaying medical school, I wasn't leaving the healthcare arena.
With that said, yes TFA has its problems and yes some corp members have terrible horror stories. If someone joins the program to boost their resume, then they will most likely get solely that. For individuals that join for the right ones, then the impact on themselves and the the communities they serve is ineffable.
I don't know if that helps LizzyM, but feel free to probe with questions.
1. I believe an essential component of all doctors that are able to have a large impact on the communities they serve (I intend to enter public health) is the ability to not just heal their patients but to teach as well. Thus I felt TFA was an opportunity to help a community in need as well as develop professional skills which will allow me to greater impact future patient populations.
2. The inequalities our nation faces in education and health-outcomes are not separate realms. Low-education leads to poor health which leads to another generation of low-education...etc. Thus working in education, and improving the life-opportunities for high-poverty children, will actually result in (ideally) better health outcomes for them and their children. So I felt that although I was delaying medical school, I wasn't leaving the healthcare arena.
With that said, yes TFA has its problems and yes some corp members have terrible horror stories. If someone joins the program to boost their resume, then they will most likely get solely that. For individuals that join for the right ones, then the impact on themselves and the the communities they serve is ineffable.
I don't know if that helps LizzyM, but feel free to probe with questions.
