Which one would you pick as your top choice and why? Thx.
UT Southwestern Austin v. Univ Wash
- Thread starter TIAgirl
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It's almost over. Trust your gut!
It's almost over. Trust your gut!
I know...last second anxiety! But still I would like to know which one others would rank higher and why... Thx.
I can't tell you about UTSW Austin because I've never been there, but I did my medicine internship and neurology residency at the UW. It's a great place to train. I saw everything imaginable and felt very comfortable when I started practice from day one. Actually, practice for me in the beginning was a bit anticlimatic because not everybody I saw in real life was airlifted in from one of the neighboring five states in status epilepticus or myasthenic crisis. So, for the first couple months I'd look at my patient and go, "Really? You just have a migraine? Are you sure you didn't dissect a vert somewhere back there?" If you can survive residency (at least at the UW) you can handle all basic neuro cases (I mean that's the whole point of residency, isn't it?)
Residency itself wherever you do it is very much a sink-or-swim experience. When you're on call, you are the neurologist. But back-up from your seniors and attendings are always available at the UW and they want you to call if you feel uncomfortable at anytime. In fact, in certain situations you have to call, like when you need to push t-PA. I can't tell you much about research because I'm in clinical practice, but opportunities for research abound. Seattle is a very laid back place to train. You can actually have a real conversation with the surgeons! A much welcoming change from my East Coast med school. Work load is higher than when you're a med student, but that's anywhere you go. If you end up training at a place where there are more residents than patients, I wouldn't trust you when you're an attending. Think about it. Overall, I couldn't have imagined training anywhere else, and everything I've learned in residency is still paying off in spades everyday in practice. Good luck!
Residency itself wherever you do it is very much a sink-or-swim experience. When you're on call, you are the neurologist. But back-up from your seniors and attendings are always available at the UW and they want you to call if you feel uncomfortable at anytime. In fact, in certain situations you have to call, like when you need to push t-PA. I can't tell you much about research because I'm in clinical practice, but opportunities for research abound. Seattle is a very laid back place to train. You can actually have a real conversation with the surgeons! A much welcoming change from my East Coast med school. Work load is higher than when you're a med student, but that's anywhere you go. If you end up training at a place where there are more residents than patients, I wouldn't trust you when you're an attending. Think about it. Overall, I couldn't have imagined training anywhere else, and everything I've learned in residency is still paying off in spades everyday in practice. Good luck!
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You guys realize that UT-Southwestern is in Dallas, right? The medical school and all the residency programs are there, not Austin.
I am referring to the Austin program. UTSW actually took over Austin based programs last year and have a presence in Austin now in addition to Dallas. What do you think about the Austin programs?
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Ah, I see. I was wrong indeed. So, my wife is a neuro resident at the main UTSW in Dallas and I didn't even know about this program!
So, I am not the best person to answer your questions about it. All of the major academic residency programs for UTSW are in Dallas. There have been rumors about starting a medical school in Austin as far back as I can remember, but I guess they are gradually starting some programs there.
In this case UW is going to offer you opportunities that are much greater than UTSW-Austin. It is a large, well-known academic program. UTSW-Austin is going to be a very small community program. This is not to say you won't get a good education there, because you probably well, but the academic connections will be much less.
On the other hand, Austin is a fun city to live in!
