tx schools: houston, galveston, san antonio

[dookbloo]

hi guys, im having a hard time deciding between which of these 3 schools would be my favorite. if any of you go to any of these 3 schools, can you comment on the success of students, amount of class, amount of work, quality of teaching, your student body, social lives, facilities, and anything else you think i might want to know. also, which of the 3 has the best reputation in terms of getting residency. thanks for your help

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[sunkists]

i spent this past summer working at UTMB and for some reason the med students in session there were never in class and were always at the gym. rumor has it that they're in class for only 2-4 hours a day or so... which would explain their problem with students passing the USMLE step1. i don't know. i like the seaside. i like the seafood. but i thought life was too slow in galveston and the city was too rundown... but i guess the most annoying thing about galveston -- the mosquitoes. it was like a black cloud of death, man. disgusting.

 

[dookbloo]

any idea what percentage pass the usmle there?

 

[sunkists]

keep in mind that this is all hearsay so i don't want to be bashing the school without real evidence. someone told me 25% don't pass every year.

 

[sunkists]

oh yeah. UTH was pretty cool. st. luke's is a freaking nice hospital.

 

[TexasRose]

UTMB's most recent class of students didn't have any trouble with the Board exams. They have class half day and have small group sessions in the afternoon. You gotta like PBL to want to go to Galveston. Personally, I think it has a lot of plusses.

Mosquitos suck. but hey, every location has it's drawbacks. Lots of people don't like the concrete jungle in Houston.

Did you interview at these schools? I felt like they all had fairly distinct personalities. UTSA students spent a lot of time talking about where they partied. UTH seemed to have a pretty diverse student population.

For all of them: They had a pretty decent match list for residency. I think it depends a lot on how well you do in class and on the boards. People from those schools get into top programs. You can't count on the school itself to hand you into one, though. (like maybe a top 10 school could do)

Theresa

 

[Megalofyia]

I could be wrong but I think that UTH has the best reputation of the three.

For me if I had the oportunity to chose between the three I'd go to Houston. While in general the weather sucks there and there is too much concrete; they have some awesome hospitals. Herman's is a great children's hospital.

 

[dookbloo]

bump.

 

[thackl]

Originally posted by Megalofyia
I could be wrong but I think that UTH has the best reputation of the three.

For me if I had the oportunity to chose between the three I'd go to Houston. While in general the weather sucks there and there is too much concrete; they have some awesome hospitals. Herman's is a great children's hospital.

Having been to all three schools, I would agree with this.

UTSA is close, but doesn't seem to invest as much into keeping its program up to date and top notch.

 

[sallazar]

Originally posted by thackl
Having been to all three schools, I would agree with this.

UTSA is close, but doesn't seem to invest as much into keeping its program up to date and top notch.

I really liked UTSA when I interviewed there.

Pluses: in the suberb, you can see green hills in the background
High amount of clinical training; start a month early learning just clinical skills the first month. (Of course this could be a disadvantage b/c you lose a month of summer)
Atmosphere: everyone was very friendly, students and faculty, and interviewers; they all seemed like a close knit group.

UT Houston: interviewed there last year; same closeness among students; they have a retreat in March for all new students to get to know each other; vast amt of clinical experiences b/c of so many great hospitals at the TMC.
Minuses: traffic, damage from flood, no parking--alot of students owned scooters just to get to class.