Thoughts on TX programs?

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madmonkey28

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I know there have been a few threads in the past years about them but what does everyone think of UTSCSA, UTMB, UT Houston, Baylor, UT Southwestern, A&M, and Texas Tech?
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I am at UTHSCSA and think it would be a very good program to train at. It is solid in all areas and the camaraderie is excellent. New hospital is coming online now. I was impressed by UT Southwestern--all the leadership seemed earnest and very focused on making their program one of the best, but they spend longer hours doing trauma, etc. Actually one of the residents told our group not to come there (she was not happy with the work-hour arrangement), but the program didn't attempt to censure her at all. Parkland II looks like it will be an amazing hospital. A&M (Scott & White) is a really great program with the best lifestyle bar none. Great for private practice and family centric people. I didn't want to live in Houston with their $200/month parking...so I didn't interview there.
 
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NICMAN said:
I am at UTHSCSA and think it would be a very good program to train at. It is solid in all areas and the camaraderie is excellent. New hospital is coming online now. I was impressed by UT Southwestern--all the leadership seemed earnest and very focused on making their program one of the best, but they spend longer hours doing trauma, etc. Actually one of the residents told our group not to come there (she was not happy with the work-hour arrangement), but the program didn't attempt to censure her at all. Parkland II looks like it will be an amazing hospital. A&M (Scott & White) is a really great program with the best lifestyle bar none. Great for private practice and family centric people. I didn't want to live in Houston with their $200/month parking...so I didn't interview there.
Click to expand...

As for parking:
It's $50/month at UTH, not sure what it is at BCM.

OP, I interviewed at all of those programs last year, so I'll give you my impressions of them. I'm just going to list the good stuff because the negatives that you will find will be personal by program.

In OP's order:
UTSCSA - new billion dollar hospital, good family oriented program, chair is a huge resident advocate
UT Houston - Dr. Gumbert is the best thing that could have ever happened to the program by becoming PD. I went to medical school at UTH and there were enough good cases that I was allowed to put in double-lumen tubes as a med student. Just brought the heart failure team over from St. Lukes so doing tons of transplants now. The cardiac case load has gone opposite the national trend and actually increased. I loved Dr. Hagberg and the rest of the faculty. I would have stayed but my wife made me branch out and leave Texas for a while. Moonlighting in house or across the street.
Baylor - No complaints, looked like a great program when I interviewed there. I know residents there now and they are happy. Dr. Suresh and Dr. Harbott seemed like great people to work for. Lots of great hospitals to rotate at, including some overlap with UTH [methodist and MDAnderson]
UT Southwestern - best fellowship bragging rights out of all of the texas programs by far and away. revised didactics with proof of concept in the uptrending ITEs. Dallas was my home for several years [PonyUp...] and is a wonderful place to live.
A&M - couldn't find a single flaw other than my wife not wanting to live in Temple, despite its proximity to Austin. best regional in texas, great cardiothoracic experience

I intend on returning to texas after residency/fellowship and would be blessed to join faculty at any of those places.
IIRC all of the programs listed filled on match day last year. You're going to get good training at all of them.
 
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Did anyone notice the big $$$ disparity between UT Southwestern and say Baylor? $10k is nothing to sneeze at. Why is there such a large difference? I agree about A&M being a great lifestyle program; I also think it would be the top program on many people's list if it was located in a different city. I felt that UTMB also seemed to have happy residents. I remember meeting one resident at UT Southwestern who said she wouldn't pick it again, do you think they get overworked?
 
madmonkey28 said:
Did anyone notice the big $$$ disparity between UT Southwestern and say Baylor? $10k is nothing to sneeze at. Why is there such a large difference? I agree about A&M being a great lifestyle program; I also think it would be the top program on many people's list if it was located in a different city. I felt that UTMB also seemed to have happy residents. I remember meeting one resident at UT Southwestern who said she wouldn't pick it again, do you think they get overworked?
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One of my old med School classmates is one of the chief residents at UT Southwestern and from what I can tell there are a few people who just might not have understood the kind of workload they would have to carry at Southwestern--and now they are a little bitter. I don't necessarily think a heavy workload at Southwestern is a negative aspect--it all depends on what you are looking for in a residency program. Anesthesiology residents still work much fewer hours than Surgery residents when it comes down to it.

What was interesting about those negative residents at UTS was the fact that the program doesn't appear to be stifling their access to applicants. Southwestern, for me, was one of the most transparent programs I interviewed at. I had a strong impression that I would love working with any of the professors I met during my interview, and that's good enough for me. The money at Southwestern also shows that the Chair and PD are serious about resident well-being (and also that their financial problems are largely behind them).

That being said, it's all about what you value. If you want a little more family time in a rural setting then go to A&M. If you want a great balanced program in a very good city--UTHSCSA. If you want to be challenged and are thinking about academic Anesthesiology then I'm sure Baylor or Southwestern would be best. Of those two, I think Southwestern is probably stronger (with the caveat that I am not as familiar with Baylor having canceled my interview).
 
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PonyUp said:
As for parking:
It's $50/month at UTH, not sure what it is at BCM.
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I was told that it is closer to $200/month at BCM. Still, $50/month is still $50/month more than I am willing to pay (especially considering the fact that Houston in general with it's long commute times is really just a big parking lot). That's just my bias.
 
very informational thread.. I would love to go back home to TX. ive had enough of this midwest life.
 
NICMAN said:
One of my old med School classmates is one of the chief residents at UT Southwestern and from what I can tell there are a few people who just might not have understood the kind of workload they would have to carry at Southwestern--and now they are a little bitter. I don't necessarily think a heavy workload at Southwestern is a negative aspect--it all depends on what you are looking for in a residency program. Anesthesiology residents still work much fewer hours than Surgery residents when it comes down to it.

What was interesting about those negative residents at UTS was the fact that the program doesn't appear to be stifling their access to applicants. Southwestern, for me, was one of the most transparent programs I interviewed at. I had a strong impression that I would love working with any of the professors I met during my interview, and that's good enough for me. The money at Southwestern also shows that the Chair and PD are serious about resident well-being (and also that their financial problems are largely behind them).

That being said, it's all about what you value. If you want a little more family time in a rural setting then go to A&M. If you want a great balanced program in a very good city--UTHSCSA. If you want to be challenged and are thinking about academic Anesthesiology then I'm sure Baylor or Southwestern would be best. Of those two, I think Southwestern is probably stronger (with the caveat that I am not as familiar with Baylor having canceled my interview).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the very informative post. Based off my interview impressions, I agree with the last paragraph's summary of what each program provides. Gonna be interesting to think about for the next month or so.
 
someone with info on UT-houston pls share. thanks
 
PonyUp said:
As for parking:
It's $50/month at UTH, not sure what it is at BCM.

OP, I interviewed at all of those programs last year, so I'll give you my impressions of them. I'm just going to list the good stuff because the negatives that you will find will be personal by program.

In OP's order:
UTSCSA - new billion dollar hospital, good family oriented program, chair is a huge resident advocate
UT Houston - Dr. Gumbert is the best thing that could have ever happened to the program by becoming PD. I went to medical school at UTH and there were enough good cases that I was allowed to put in double-lumen tubes as a med student. Just brought the heart failure team over from St. Lukes so doing tons of transplants now. The cardiac case load has gone opposite the national trend and actually increased. I loved Dr. Hagberg and the rest of the faculty. I would have stayed but my wife made me branch out and leave Texas for a while. Moonlighting in house or across the street.
Baylor - No complaints, looked like a great program when I interviewed there. I know residents there now and they are happy. Dr. Suresh and Dr. Harbott seemed like great people to work for. Lots of great hospitals to rotate at, including some overlap with UTH [methodist and MDAnderson]
UT Southwestern - best fellowship bragging rights out of all of the texas programs by far and away. revised didactics with proof of concept in the uptrending ITEs. Dallas was my home for several years [PonyUp...] and is a wonderful place to live.
A&M - couldn't find a single flaw other than my wife not wanting to live in Temple, despite its proximity to Austin. best regional in texas, great cardiothoracic experience

I intend on returning to texas after residency/fellowship and would be blessed to join faculty at any of those places.
IIRC all of the programs listed filled on match day last year. You're going to get good training at all of them.
Click to expand...

What happened to Dr. Marasigan? I thought he was great.

UTH totally blindsided me last year when I interviewed, I loved the place.
 
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madmonkey28 said:
I know there have been a few threads in the past years about them but what does everyone think of UTSCSA, UTMB, UT Houston, Baylor, UT Southwestern, A&M, and Texas Tech?
Click to expand...

all provide good training, you need to visit the places b/c lots of people have varying opinions....like I would rather shoot myself in the face rather than live in Temple, TX.
 
madmonkey28 said:
I know there have been a few threads in the past years about them but what does everyone think of UTSCSA, UTMB, UT Houston, Baylor, UT Southwestern, A&M, and Texas Tech?
Click to expand...

Here would be my one phrase answer to those. Keep in mind that these are all subjective opinion.

1. UTHCSA- "Well-run"
2. UTMB- "Laid back"
3. UT-Houston- "Work hard"
4 Baylor- "Academic"
5 A&M- "Great leadership"
6 UT Southwester- "UT-H on steroids"
7 Texas Tech- (Don't know much about them.)
 
Yeah - sure , all of them will let you out at 5 pm, give you a lot of money and secure you a position in pp with 500k for sure..
Just serious dude - what do you want to know?
You gonna find here pumpers of their program and also bashers. So exactly - what's your question?
 
2win said:
Yeah - sure , all of them will let you out at 5 pm, give you a lot of money and secure you a position in pp with 500k for sure..
Just serious dude - what do you want to know?
You gonna find here pumpers of their program and also bashers. So exactly - what's your question?
Click to expand...

I understand there's bias everywhere. I was just looking for people's opinions on strengths and weaknesses of these programs. I mean, isn't that what everyone asks on this site? I don't see how my question is much different.
 
2win said:
Yeah - sure , all of them will let you out at 5 pm, give you a lot of money and secure you a position in pp with 500k for sure..
Just serious dude - what do you want to know?
You gonna find here pumpers of their program and also bashers. So exactly - what's your question?
Click to expand...

Pardon for asking, but why are you on this forum if indeed you have as dismissive and arrogant of an attitude as you seem to have in your reply? These are big decisions for these applicants and there is no need for that kind of reply.
 
PonyUp said:
As for parking:
It's $50/month at UTH, not sure what it is at BCM.

OP, I interviewed at all of those programs last year, so I'll give you my impressions of them. I'm just going to list the good stuff because the negatives that you will find will be personal by program.

In OP's order:
UTSCSA - new billion dollar hospital, good family oriented program, chair is a huge resident advocate
UT Houston - Dr. Gumbert is the best thing that could have ever happened to the program by becoming PD. I went to medical school at UTH and there were enough good cases that I was allowed to put in double-lumen tubes as a med student. Just brought the heart failure team over from St. Lukes so doing tons of transplants now. The cardiac case load has gone opposite the national trend and actually increased. I loved Dr. Hagberg and the rest of the faculty. I would have stayed but my wife made me branch out and leave Texas for a while. Moonlighting in house or across the street.
Baylor - No complaints, looked like a great program when I interviewed there. I know residents there now and they are happy. Dr. Suresh and Dr. Harbott seemed like great people to work for. Lots of great hospitals to rotate at, including some overlap with UTH [methodist and MDAnderson]
UT Southwestern - best fellowship bragging rights out of all of the texas programs by far and away. revised didactics with proof of concept in the uptrending ITEs. Dallas was my home for several years [PonyUp...] and is a wonderful place to live.
A&M - couldn't find a single flaw other than my wife not wanting to live in Temple, despite its proximity to Austin. best regional in texas, great cardiothoracic experience

I intend on returning to texas after residency/fellowship and would be blessed to join faculty at any of those places.
IIRC all of the programs listed filled on match day last year. You're going to get good training at all of them.
Click to expand...


I heard a lot of changes have occured at UT Houston and Baylor that are no good for residents. Houston in general although a big city is probably the least popular compaired to Dallas, SanANtonio, and Galveston. I know very well about the UT H program and can tell you it is a risk going there.
While Dr Gubert and Dr Hagberg are nice people onthe outside, Many of them are just as fake as her plastic surgery.
The last program director was really smart but tough. Since then teaching has decreased, the amount of didactics has decreased. Intraoperative teaching is almost nil and is going the wrong direction. The staff are nice and the other residents great but boy if you screw up even just once they will be gunning to kick you out. But hey now dont worry because the new PD just decreased the Academic Requrements....Thats because they teach so little and so many residents do so POORly on the ITE/AKT that they dont want to deal with it anymore. Since the last PD left.. one of the few faculty who cared; there is no one to take care of residents who cant teach themselves.
Attend Houston UT or Baylor at your own risk.
 
madmonkey28 said:
I know there have been a few threads in the past years about them but what does everyone think of UTSCSA, UTMB, UT Houston, Baylor, UT Southwestern, A&M, and Texas Tech?
Click to expand...

I heard a lot of changes have occured at UT Houston and Baylor that are no good for residents. Houston in general although a big city is probably the least popular compaired to Dallas, SanANtonio, and Galveston. I know very well about the UT H program and can tell you it is a risk going there.
While Dr Gubert and Dr Hagberg are nice people onthe outside, Many of them are just as fake as her plastic surgery.
The last program director was really smart but tough. Since then teaching has decreased, the amount of didactics has decreased. Intraoperative teaching is almost nil and is going the wrong direction. The staff are nice and the other residents great but boy if you screw up even just once they will be gunning to kick you out. But hey now dont worry because the new PD just decreased the Academic Requrements....Thats because they teach so little and so many residents do so POORly on the ITE/AKT that they dont want to deal with it anymore. Since the last PD left.. one of the few faculty who cared; there is no one to take care of residents who cant teach themselves.
 
scudrunner said:
What happened to Dr. Marasigan? I thought he was great.

UTH totally blindsided me last year when I interviewed, I loved the place.
Click to expand...


They couldnt meet his demands for better resident teaching and care for residents so they made him mad enough to leave.
Apparently it took him months just to get residents lunch breaks and morning breaks. The last argument was for dinner breaks as residents every day were not having dinner offers by 8-9pm and being sent home.
 
utcrazycat said:
I heard a lot of changes have occured at UT Houston and Baylor that are no good for residents. Houston in general although a big city is probably the least popular compaired to Dallas, SanANtonio, and Galveston. I know very well about the UT H program and can tell you it is a risk going there.
While Dr Gubert and Dr Hagberg are nice people onthe outside, Many of them are just as fake as her plastic surgery.
The last program director was really smart but tough. Since then teaching has decreased, the amount of didactics has decreased. Intraoperative teaching is almost nil and is going the wrong direction. The staff are nice and the other residents great but boy if you screw up even just once they will be gunning to kick you out. But hey now dont worry because the new PD just decreased the Academic Requrements....Thats because they teach so little and so many residents do so POORly on the ITE/AKT that they dont want to deal with it anymore. Since the last PD left.. one of the few faculty who cared; there is no one to take care of residents who cant teach themselves.
Attend Houston UT or Baylor at your own risk.
Click to expand...

So you joined the forum today, to bump several threads, just to copy/paste the same post 4 out of your 5 total posts, just to **** on UT Houston.

Sounds legit.
 
PonyUp said:
So you joined the forum today, to bump several threads, just to copy/paste the same post 4 out of your 5 total posts, just to **** on UT Houston.

Sounds legit.
Click to expand...

lol, yeah, he needs to try to not make it so obvious that hes ranking UT-houston #1 on his list.
 
utcrazycat said:
I heard a lot of changes have occured at UT Houston and Baylor that are no good for residents. Houston in general although a big city is probably the least popular compaired to Dallas, SanANtonio, and Galveston. I know very well about the UT H program and can tell you it is a risk going there.
While Dr Gubert and Dr Hagberg are nice people onthe outside, Many of them are just as fake as her plastic surgery.
The last program director was really smart but tough. Since then teaching has decreased, the amount of didactics has decreased. Intraoperative teaching is almost nil and is going the wrong direction. The staff are nice and the other residents great but boy if you screw up even just once they will be gunning to kick you out. But hey now dont worry because the new PD just decreased the Academic Requrements....Thats because they teach so little and so many residents do so POORly on the ITE/AKT that they dont want to deal with it anymore. Since the last PD left.. one of the few faculty who cared; there is no one to take care of residents who cant teach themselves.
Click to expand...
Boy-That-Escalated-Quickly-Anchorman.gif
 
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utcrazycat said:
I heard a lot of changes have occured at UT Houston and Baylor that are no good for residents. Houston in general although a big city is probably the least popular compaired to Dallas, SanANtonio, and Galveston. I know very well about the UT H program and can tell you it is a risk going there.
While Dr Gubert and Dr Hagberg are nice people onthe outside, Many of them are just as fake as her plastic surgery.
The last program director was really smart but tough. Since then teaching has decreased, the amount of didactics has decreased. Intraoperative teaching is almost nil and is going the wrong direction. The staff are nice and the other residents great but boy if you screw up even just once they will be gunning to kick you out. But hey now dont worry because the new PD just decreased the Academic Requrements....Thats because they teach so little and so many residents do so POORly on the ITE/AKT that they dont want to deal with it anymore. Since the last PD left.. one of the few faculty who cared; there is no one to take care of residents who cant teach themselves.
Click to expand...

The fact that you said Houston is less popular than Galveston city wise let me know to not take this post seriously lol. Most people who've been to both would not put the city of Galveston over the Houston.
 
rishk789 said:
Can't speak on behalf of all the programs in Texas, but I'd be happy to answer specific questions about Baylor Med. :)
Click to expand...

Thinking of doing advanced position ahead of categorical due to family reasons. Do you think will miss much by being the only advanced person coming into the CA-1 class? I know the Baylor intern year is a great balance and overall intern year. Really liked Baylor! But would also love to have another year with family. Thanks!
 
Katheudontas parateroumen said:
Thinking of doing advanced position ahead of categorical due to family reasons. Do you think will miss much by being the only advanced person coming into the CA-1 class? I know the Baylor intern year is a great balance and overall intern year. Really liked Baylor! But would also love to have another year with family. Thanks!
Click to expand...
No personal experience (fellow applicant here) but everyone I've talked to who did advanced while most of their class did categorical said there was a slight challenge getting integrated and getting used to the system, but did it was manageable and were happy with their decision.
 
Aware of old threads, but hoping for more up to date opinions.. UTHSCSA vs. UTH vs. UTMB?
 
abolt18 said:
No personal experience (fellow applicant here) but everyone I've talked to who did advanced while most of their class did categorical said there was a slight challenge getting integrated and getting used to the system, but did it was manageable and were happy with their decision.
Click to expand...

We have roughly six advanced residents joining our categorical residents each year, and in a few months, it's hard to tell the difference! Short of not taking the anesthesia ITE as an intern nor getting a month of anesthesiology as an intern, advanced residents integrate really well into our program. :)
 
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rishk789 said:
We have roughly six advanced residents joining our categorical residents each year, and in a few months, it's hard to tell the difference! Short of not taking the anesthesia ITE as an intern nor getting a month of anesthesiology as an intern, advanced residents integrate really well into our program. :)
Click to expand...

I want to congratulate you on that upcoming Fellowship (actually 2 fellowships) in Boston. While it may be unpopular on SDN to do two of them I completely support your decision and midway through your career you will look back on it as a game changer.
 
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BLADEMDA said:
I want to congratulate you on that upcoming Fellowship (actually 2 fellowships) in Boston. While it may be unpopular on SDN to do two of them I completely support your decision and midway through your career you will look back on it as a game changer.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the kind words, BLADE! :)
 
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