I am a U.S. senior. Recently I interviewed at UTSW. It seemed like a very good program. However, most of the interview candidates were FMG's. Does UTSW have difficulty attracting U.S. seniors?? If so, why?? This thread is not meant to be a "slam" on FMG's. The reality is that programs popular to U.S. seniors usually don't have many FMG's. So I am only asking why does UTSW not have the drawing power for U.S. seniors.
Not sure. I also met some minority applicants as well there plus FMGs from several different areas (usually you will see all from one particular region). Maybe they are just extremely open and welcoming people. It felt like so. I didn't really see much that wouldn't be attractive about the program. I plan to rank it in the top three of my list. It just felt right there to me and that matters a lot to me along with quality training and getting back to the sun.
A few years ago they lost their chairman and, at least for a while, were kind of adrift. I don't know who eventually took over. When things like that happen, it usually takes a while to get back on track. They may be fine now.
4 of the 5 neurology residents that begin at UTSW in 2006 are FMG's. I interviewed at 10 neurology programs and all had at most only a few FMG's, except for UTSW. Typically the lower tier programs have a majority of FMG's. But I thought UTSW was a "higher" tier program?????
Dr. Michael Racke (one of the MS specialists) was just named the chair of the department of neurology at Ohio State. http://www8.utsouthwestern.edu/UTSW/FacDir/CDA/FindAFaculty/Results/FacDir_FacSearchPro/0,2356,41353,00.html
to add my two cents, i also believe that it may be because neurology seems to be a popular field among FMGs (not sure why that is), so it would make sense that there are FMGs at many neurology programs. personally, i don't feel that it detracts from the program at all; i have found that several of the FMGs that I have met were already physicians in their home country so they obviously know much more than those of us who are just starting out in neurology career.
I'm an older MD/PhD applicant, and a former classmate of mine is on the faculty there. He absolutely loves it, and thinks the residency training is very high quality. I heard that UTSW went through some instability when their former chairman, Dr. Rosenfeld, stepped down about 7 or so years ago (he's now emeritus). I haven't heard what happened to the quality of the residency program during that time but imagine they would have had trouble recruiting residents. The current chair, Steve Cannon, comes from MGH and has been there since 2000. He has done (and I'm sure will continue to do) great things with the department. When I mentioned that I had interviewed at UTSW (loved it!), one of the Partners PDs said he thought Dr. Cannon was doing a great job and it was an up-and-coming dept. If they aren't getting all the best applicants yet (and I'm not sure they aren't-- my interview group was great), I can only imagine it's because their national repuation hasn't caught up to their actual quality.
