UT Houston vs. San Antonio

[Ja3ger]

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For those who attend(ed) one or the other and/or interviewed at both and/or just know a lot about the schools...

Which do you prefer and why?

I've done a fair amount of research, but I'd like to know which (dis)advantages at either school actually matter and which pale in comparison to larger factors. This can even extend beyond the school, itself (i.e. is the city of Houston more or less conducive to a good quality of life for med students than San Antonio?).

I think one of the biggest factors I'm currently looking at is the curriculum/day-to-day student life. I get the impression that UTHSCSA is a little more "chill" in that there's more of a focus on individual learning, less lecture time, learning "one thing at a time" (organ-based modules) -- whereas UTH has you taking multiple classes/subjects at once, block scheduling (all midterms at the same time), more lecture time (I think? Do they still have 8-5p classes?).

Disclaimer: Obviously there are personal factors to consider, but here I'd like to know your opinion.

Thanks!

 

[NickNaylor]

Just having access to TMC would be worth it for me. Sorry, but the San Antonio medical center is pretty underwhelming compared to a place like TMC.

 

[Jimsy]

I haven't been to houston but here are some pros/cons from my visit to UTHSCSA:

Pros:
-very relaxed/collaborative atmosphere
-2nd year ends around February which gives students a couple of months to prepare for step 1
-unique, very hands-on clinical opportunities in undeserved areas
-the school is surrounded by a lot of hospitals
-San Antonio Spurs

Cons:
-The main building where most of the lecture rooms are located is very old
-I don't know if it's the same in Houston but the traffic/road system sucks in San Antonio

 

[Jimsy]

Also from what I've heard/experienced, San Antonio has more of a small town feel despite being the 7th largest city in America while Houston is much more hectic. People at UTHSCSA said that the worst part of SA is the humidity but that Houston has much worse humidity.

 

[alpinism]

Small differences in curriculum during the 1st 2 years is pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Focus on the clinical years.

Unless UTH is all mandatory PBL or doesn't record their lectures, your quality of life will be very similar at both schools.

We both know which school will likely have more clinical and research opportunities...

 

[Chillbo Baggins]

-I don't know if it's the same in Houston but the traffic/road system sucks in San Antonio

SA traffic can be bad, but Houston is definitely worse.

 

[Ja3ger]

Small differences in curriculum during the 1st 2 years is pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Focus on the clinical years.

Unless UTH is all mandatory PBL or doesn't record their lectures, your quality of life will be very similar at both schools.

We both know which school will likely have more clinical and research opportunities...

Then at what point does this apparent discrepancy in clinical years actually make a difference? For example, it's easy to point to the TMC as being very large, but in actual practice are UTH students really getting that much more out of the local hospitals than UTHSCSA students? Or is this discrepancy largely minimized by virtue of the fact that we're only med students and not residents/fellows?

Is it possible that something like NIH funding becomes noticeably less important than something else like twice as much Step1 study time, organ-system modules, or even relatively less traffic/humidity?

Does anyone get what I'm trying to say here? The more I peruse this site, the more I have the hunch that "med school is med school" and consequently things like perceived prestige, research funding and X number of (potentially superficial) "clinical opportunities" don't end up mattering nearly as much as you thought as a premed or as much as interview-day pamphlets led you to believe.

My apologies for the long post, but for the veterans who have already been through it (or are almost done), what should *really* matter in deciding between two schools as similar as these?

 

[DokterMom]

Some points that haven't been raised yet:

• Cost of living, particularly housing is substantially cheaper in San Antonio
• San Antonio has the best Mexican food north of Mexico

As to what really matters? I'd suggest 'gut fit' Go where you think you'll be happiest for the next four years.

 

[solitarius]

Seems like UTMB is hidden winner here. More relaxed pre-clinical experience than SA or Houston, higher Step 1 scores, and ability to do clinical rotations at TMC.

 

[Ja3ger]

Seems like UTMB is hidden winner here. More relaxed pre-clinical experience than SA or Houston, higher Step 1 scores, and ability to do clinical rotations at TMC.

How is it more relaxed than SA?

And why are average Step1 scores relevant? Has SDN brainwashed me into believing that personal effort and undergrad stats of each incoming class play a much larger role than any nebulous effect from the school, itself?

 

[armybound]

Houston does not have 8-5 lectures. Attendance is optional.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Heres something to consider.

While the TMC is definitely a better medical complex than the South Texas Medical Center, there are two schools competing for those opportunities than one school.
You also have to consider how many students in a given class pursue those opportunities.

I'd venture a guess that students at BCM are more likely to participate in research than students at UTHSCSA where there are more people focusing on clinical opportunities.

Regarding the step 1 scores, I would not put too much stock into it because the new curriculum at UTHSCSA was only implemented two years ago, so the step scores are not representative yet.

 

[armybound]

Heres something to consider.

While the TMC is definitely a better medical complex than the South Texas Medical Center, there are two schools competing for those opportunities than one school.
You also have to consider how many students in a given class pursue those opportunities.

I'd venture a guess that students at BCM are more likely to participate in research than students at UTHSCSA where there are more people focusing on clinical opportunities.

Regarding the step 1 scores, I would not put too much stock into it because the new curriculum at UTHSCSA was only implemented two years ago, so the step scores are not representative yet.

TMC has 15 hospitals, and LBJ isn't even at TMC. BCM and UTH students are not competing for opportunities.

 

[solitarius]

How is it more relaxed than SA?

And why are average Step1 scores relevant? Has SDN brainwashed me into believing that personal effort and undergrad stats of each incoming class play a much larger role than any nebulous effect from the school, itself?

I'd suggest you go the to UTMB school thread as the current students explain much better than I can.

Why are Step 1 scores relevant? Because it means that their pre-clinical curriculum has been finely tuned to prepare those students for Step 1, in spite of being a chill relaxed environment. That's pretty impressive in my book. Each school has its own approach as to how it believes it can best prepare the student for the boards and residency. To say that the curriculum plays no part in producing good results makes no sense to me; it can either help you, have no effect, or hinder you in spite of other factors like effort and ability.

Also UTMB is part of the TMC, and their students can do rotations at the TMC Houston hospitals.

 

[Ja3ger]

I'd suggest you go the to UTMB school thread as the current students explain much better than I can.

Why are Step 1 scores relevant? Because it means that their pre-clinical curriculum has been finely tuned to prepare those students for Step 1, in spite of being a chill relaxed environment. That's pretty impressive in my book. Each school has its own approach as to how it believes it can best prepare the student for the boards and residency. To say that the curriculum plays no part in producing good results makes no sense to me; it can either help you, have no effect, or hinder you in spite of other factors like effort and ability.

Also UTMB is part of the TMC, and their students can do rotations at the TMC Houston hospitals.

I never meant to imply that the curriculum plays no part in this context. I meant to ask why two schools' average Step 1 scores should be relevant *in deciding which one to attend.* That is, I'm under the impression that in many comparisons (including this one) the difference in scores is so small that after taking effort and ability into account it's very difficult to attribute a significant portion of the discrepancy to the school's curriculum.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

TMC has 15 hospitals, and LBJ isn't even at TMC. BCM and UTH students are not competing for opportunities.

How many of those hospitals do students generally do their clinical rotations at?

 

[armybound]

How many of those hospitals do students generally do their clinical rotations at?

UTH students go to LBJ, Memorial Hermann, and sometimes MD Anderson. BCM students go to Ben Taub, Texas Children's, and you'd have to ask a BCM student which other hospitals -- it used to be Methodist, but I'm not sure if they still go there or not. They also go to the VA and St Luke's, I believe. They can have some rotations at MD Anderson, like psychiatry.

So we don't go to the same hospitals. And those hospitals stay very, very busy.