UTMB vs TAMU COM

[SubjectTranquil]

Hey everyone,

I've seen a couple threads on comparing these schools previously, but I wanted to get a new and fresh perspective on this if possible. I am between these two schools at the moment and I'm not sure that I have a "gut feeling" for one or the other yet. So far, I have heard/read that:

UTMB:

• Established facilities and curriculum (P/F) for 2 years
• More research opportunities
• Outstanding STEP scores
• Can live in an established location with certainty for all 4 years
• Galveston: bad weather but can be fun

TAMU:

• New, state of the art facilities
• 18 month preclerkship meaning more clinical exposure for and time to study for STEP
• Distributed areas to study in (but no certainty that you will live at the place of your choice)
• Slight emphasis on rural medicine/primary care
• Climbing STEP Scores

Can anyone confirm/deny any of these points? I'd love to get some perspective from those who attend/have attended these schools as well. Thank you!

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[Hzreio]

I am in the same boat as you. Leaning towards TAMU though because of possibility to rotate in Dallas/Houston, which exposes you to so much pathology. With STEP being p/f I'm not sure how much STEP averages impact my decision. Not sure about the fact that UTMB has more research opportunities. Also, I have been told by two Texas attendings that there are some minor cons to consider with UTMB. An ophthalmologist told me that Galveston seemed lacking in pathology (but that just may be a bias from a ophthalmic standpoint). I have also heard that TAMU's program is more established too. Idk if this is true or not but I've heard that UTMB faculty has a relatively high turnover rate due to undesirability living in that area. But I guess a pro of UTMB would be it's true P/f grading. Would love to hear input from other people though.

 

[Deltasidearm]

I have been accepted to both schools and will choose TAMU over UTMB.

Yes, A&M has the downside of being split between clinical and preclinical years in terms of location. However, that is only an issue in the inconvenience of moving. Having access to in-house rotations in Houston, Dallas, and BCS (regardless of wherever you are stationed) is a huge plus and helps for being considered for residencies at all of those sites. Additionally, having the name of A&M behind you could potentially help with connections and opportunities in the future (especially out of state, where A&M is more likely to be known).

Also, don't sleep on A&M's research opportunities. The hospitals in Dallas and Houston do a lot of research and BCS has access to the other colleges of A&M. For research and STEP in general, it's way more of an individual basis than a school basis anyway. If you are motivated then you will forge your own success at either school.

 

[illmaatic]

Hey everyone,

I've seen a couple threads on comparing these schools previously, but I wanted to get a new and fresh perspective on this if possible. I am between these two schools at the moment and I'm not sure that I have a "gut feeling" for one or the other yet. So far, I have heard/read that:

UTMB:

• Established facilities and curriculum (P/F) for 2 years
• More research opportunities
• Outstanding STEP scores
• Can live in an established location with certainty for all 4 years
• Galveston: bad weather but can be fun

TAMU:

• New, state of the art facilities
• 18 month preclerkship meaning more clinical exposure for and time to study for STEP
• Distributed areas to study in (but no certainty that you will live at the place of your choice)
• Slight emphasis on rural medicine/primary care
• Climbing STEP Scores

Can anyone confirm/deny any of these points? I'd love to get some perspective from those who attend/have attended these schools as well. Thank you!

By bad weather are you talking about hurricanes? Or something more

 

[wysdoc]

I am in the same boat as you. Leaning towards TAMU though because of possibility to rotate in Dallas/Houston, which exposes you to so much pathology. With STEP being p/f I'm not sure how much STEP averages impact my decision. Not sure about the fact that UTMB has more research opportunities. Also, I have been told by two Texas attendings that there are some minor cons to consider with UTMB. An ophthalmologist told me that Galveston seemed lacking in pathology (but that just may be a bias from a ophthalmic standpoint). I have also heard that TAMU's program is more established too. Idk if this is true or not but I've heard that UTMB faculty has a relatively high turnover rate due to undesirability living in that area. But I guess a pro of UTMB would be it's true P/f grading. Would love to hear input from other people though.

Med school choice is a personal one and I won't tell y'all which one to choose.
I must correct the "most established program" part though, because UTMB was the FIRST med school in Texas.
I haven't seen high faculty turnover at UTMB.
Yes hurricanes are a weather factor not only in Galveston but in Houston.

 

[Deltasidearm]

Med school choice is a personal one and I won't tell y'all which one to choose.

I can't agree more with this. Ultimately, you should choose the school which best fits with you and your priorities and preferences. Any medical school will train you to be a successful doctor so choose where you will be happiest studying, whatever that means to you.

 

[SolidDoc]

Im conflicted with choosing between the two as well. Regardless, they are both very good schools. I'm leaning towards UTMB just because of their Board Exam averages & its more established (something I value). Also, living on the island could be a breath of fresh air for me. But, like everyone said its really a personal choice cause no matter what you will get a great medical education. I also like the more "chill" vibe I got from UTMB. I am going to (safely) travel to all the campuses I interviewed at and see if I could see myself living there or just you know... like it? Anyways, goodluck on your choice! both are phenomenal schools!

 

[morristhecat]

Currently in practice in a non-primary care field. I was between these exact schools 10 years ago and picked TAMU. At the time, UTMB was 2 years post-Ike and was still a mess. I do not regret my decision at all, the connections and resources TAMU provided has helped me immeasurably. It never held me back and I remember my time there fondly. I think TAMU is hands down the best med school in Texas.

 

[SubjectTranquil]

By bad weather are you talking about hurricanes? Or something more

Yes, that's all!

 

[SubjectTranquil]

I have been accepted to both schools and will choose TAMU over UTMB.

Yes, A&M has the downside of being split between clinical and preclinical years in terms of location. However, that is only an issue in the inconvenience of moving. Having access to in-house rotations in Houston, Dallas, and BCS (regardless of wherever you are stationed) is a huge plus and helps for being considered for residencies at all of those sites. Additionally, having the name of A&M behind you could potentially help with connections and opportunities in the future (especially out of state, where A&M is more likely to be known).

Also, don't sleep on A&M's research opportunities. The hospitals in Dallas and Houston do a lot of research and BCS has access to the other colleges of A&M. For research and STEP in general, it's way more of an individual basis than a school basis anyway. If you are motivated then you will forge your own success at either school.

Thanks for this! What do you think about the 18 month pre-clerkship at TAMU vs 2 years of pre-clerkship at UTMB? I've heard the early clinical exposure can help with Board exams. Would that also mean that the information is more condensed than at UTMB?

 

[SubjectTranquil]

I have been accepted to both schools and will choose TAMU over UTMB.

Yes, A&M has the downside of being split between clinical and preclinical years in terms of location. However, that is only an issue in the inconvenience of moving. Having access to in-house rotations in Houston, Dallas, and BCS (regardless of wherever you are stationed) is a huge plus and helps for being considered for residencies at all of those sites. Additionally, having the name of A&M behind you could potentially help with connections and opportunities in the future (especially out of state, where A&M is more likely to be known).

Also, don't sleep on A&M's research opportunities. The hospitals in Dallas and Houston do a lot of research and BCS has access to the other colleges of A&M. For research and STEP in general, it's way more of an individual basis than a school basis anyway. If you are motivated then you will forge your own success at either school.

I really am excited at the prospect of learning with newer facilities and rotating in Houston (especially at Houston Methodist). I don't think of moving as an inconvenience (more exciting than anything I think). I have heard that TAMU emphasizes rural medicine/primary care but I don't think of that as a restriction on specializing in something else. And yes to the forging your own success! Completely agree

 

[plshelpmeineedhelp]

I really am excited at the prospect of learning with newer facilities and rotating in Houston (especially at Houston Methodist). I don't think of moving as an inconvenience (more exciting than anything I think). I have heard that TAMU emphasizes rural medicine/primary care but I don't think of that as a restriction on specializing in something else. And yes to the forging your own success! Completely agree

From what I've heard from students in the class, the Houston rotation sites are NOT in TMC, unless you are in the enmed program. The non enmed students that are in Houston rotate at Willowbrook Methodist location.

 

[wysdoc]

From what I've heard from students in the class, the Houston rotation sites are NOT in TMC, unless you are in the enmed program. The non enmed students that are in Houston rotate at Willowbrook Methodist location.

This is correct

 

[SunBakedTrash]

Maybe no longer relevant, but Isn’t UTMB pretty much a medical center for Texas prisons? I don’t know about their medical school but I looked into pathology residency programs there around 2009. They were discussing that a lot of its resources and residency programs were distributed to other area hospitals at the time of the hurricane and that they weren’t sure volume, faculty or patients would come back to pre-hurricane levels since Houston’s hospitals were so close and Galveston was already losing population prior to the hurricane. They had even discussed closing it down and diverting funds to other new UT schools. I passed on it, maybe this is old news. Good luck!

 

[wysdoc]

Maybe no longer relevant, but Isn’t UTMB pretty much a medical center for Texas prisons? I don’t know about their medical school but I looked into pathology residency programs there around 2009. They were discussing that a lot of its resources and residency programs were distributed to other area hospitals at the time of the hurricane and that they weren’t sure volume, faculty or patients would come back to pre-hurricane levels since Houston’s hospitals were so close and Galveston was already losing population prior to the hurricane. They had even discussed closing it down and diverting funds to other new UT schools. I passed on it, maybe this is old news. Good luck!

Old news, yo. Students do spend some time seeing patients in the Texas Department of Correction. They are an underserved population, and they are actually pretty grateful to be seen. No missed appointments either!
UTMB is in Galveston to stay and they have a new hospital and new education building since Hurricane Ike, lots of community clinics in satellite locations closeby.

 

[deleted880375]

Is TAMU losing the Temple clinical campus affecting anyone's decisions? I am also trying to decide between TAMU and UTMB.

 

[SubjectTranquil]

Is TAMU losing the Temple clinical campus affecting anyone's decisions? I am also trying to decide between TAMU and UTMB.

If you make up your mind, please share your decision and rationale if you're open to doing that! I'm still in between (very slightly leaning toward UTMB (I think)).

 

[deleted880375]

If you make up your mind, please share your decision and rationale if you're open to doing that! I'm still in between (very slightly leaning toward UTMB (I think)).

Most definitely!

 

[SolidDoc]

Is anyone using anatomy as a factor into their decision? I know its a somewhat small factor in the grand scheme of things, but at this point (for me) any difference matters cause I like both schools.

A&M and UTMB seem to have slightly different ways of learning anatomy. Personally, I think I like UTMB's more cause of the full body dissection and each member gets to be involved. I believe A&M has the component where some parts of the anatomy lab, your group members, will explain what they learn to you about the topic that day and then all group members grades rely on how well they understand the material and explain it to each other. Does that factor into any of yalls decision? I personally like to learn the material myself rather than learn from another member (purely cause I am very hands-on and like to be there dissecting). Someone, please correct me if I got this wrong about A&M. I apologize if I explained it incorrectly.

 

[morristhecat]

Is anyone using anatomy as a factor into their decision? I know its a somewhat small factor in the grand scheme of things, but at this point (for me) any difference matters cause I like both schools.

A&M and UTMB seem to have slightly different ways of learning anatomy. Personally, I think I like UTMB's more cause of the full body dissection and each member gets to be involved. I believe A&M has the component where some parts of the anatomy lab, your group members, will explain what they learn to you about the topic that day and then all group members grades rely on how well they understand the material and explain it to each other. Does that factor into any of yalls decision? I personally like to learn the material myself rather than learn from another member (purely cause I am very hands-on and like to be there dissecting). Someone, please correct me if I got this wrong about A&M. I apologize if I explained it incorrectly.

Yeah but you get a day off with A&M. When you get back, it’s already dissected. Trust me, dissecting that cadaver is not going to be as fun or educational as it sounds when you are elbow deep in fat five hours in, eyes searing from formaldehyde, while your friend is at home sipping tea and catching up on coursework.

 

[Deltasidearm]

Is anyone using anatomy as a factor into their decision? I know its a somewhat small factor in the grand scheme of things, but at this point (for me) any difference matters cause I like both schools.

A&M and UTMB seem to have slightly different ways of learning anatomy. Personally, I think I like UTMB's more cause of the full body dissection and each member gets to be involved. I believe A&M has the component where some parts of the anatomy lab, your group members, will explain what they learn to you about the topic that day and then all group members grades rely on how well they understand the material and explain it to each other. Does that factor into any of yalls decision? I personally like to learn the material myself rather than learn from another member (purely cause I am very hands-on and like to be there dissecting). Someone, please correct me if I got this wrong about A&M. I apologize if I explained it incorrectly.

Also, to add on to @morristhecat, the peer teaching is likely to be more focused and faster than when you're doing the dissection (read: more time efficient) and it is not like you cannot go into the lab after the dissections are done to see the anatomy in person while being taught. Personally, I'm all for teaching others since it's the best way for me to review and you can always learn the anatomy yourself if your group members suck.

 

[morristhecat]

Med school isn’t drinking from a firehose. That analogy makes no sense. Medical school is more like eating 10 pancakes each day. It’s not that fun to eat that much and you get sick of pancakes after a couple of weeks in but it’s doable. The problem is when you procrastinate for 2 weeks then need to eat 140 pancakes right before your exam. That is when you run into problems.

You have to learn time management and prioritization if you haven’t already. Sitting all day in “mandatory” classes and taking 5 hours to trace out the thoracoacromial artery in gross lab is not using your time effectively. Cramming powerpoints at home with lectures on 2.5x speed is an efficient use of time. I know everyone’s different but these are the kind of things that mattered to me as a med student.

 

[deleted880375]

Just wanted to see if anyone choosing between these two has come to decision yet...I am still deciding and have my UTMB preview day soon.

 

[SolidDoc]

Just wanted to see if anyone choosing between these two has come to decision yet...I am still deciding and have my UTMB preview day soon.

Went to preview day and loved it! The showcase the PBL and how it works with the medical students at each group. The tour of the hospitals and buildings were also really cool. I think I’m 100% going to UTMB now cause of the full ride they gave me. I seriously think that’s the only scholarship I’m going to receive, so That’s what was the dealbreaker for to me choose UTMB.

 

[SubjectTranquil]

Months later, I just want to say they're both still outstanding schools and I can't say that I have nailed down a choice for sure yet. I will say that I've taken a couple trips to College Station and have been admitted to the MD+ program and, as crazy as it sounds, I am starting to feel some attachment to BCS! Like I've heard from many ppl's advice, you can't go wrong with either choice. But at the same time, I do think your connection with the school/city does weigh in here!

 

[deleted880375]

Just wanted to follow up on this thread, has anyone came to a decision between TAMU and UTMB?

 

[SubjectTranquil]

I've decided on TAMU! How about yourself?

 

[Hzreio]

I've decided on TAMU! How about yourself?

This is a +1 for me as well. Although I think I am going to rank Long over TAMU. Haven't decided on that follow yet.

 

[deleted880375]

I've decided on TAMU! How about yourself?

Yeah, I think so as well. About 90% certain- want to visit the campuses one more time

 

[premedgirl25]

Hello all. I am currently making this same decision. I am leaning towards ranking A&M higher than UTMB. What led some of you to rank A&M higher? Just trying to make the best choice for me by Feb 19th!

 

[Hzreio]

Hello all. I am currently making this same decision. I am leaning towards ranking A&M higher than UTMB. What led some of you to rank A&M higher? Just trying to make the best choice for me by Feb 19th!

Location, better apartments lol

 

[SubjectTranquil]

Location definitely was important to me. It was not an easy choice! UTMB has that prestige, that legend status, and just an amazing reputation. Not that A&M doesn't, but UTMB definitely has a wow factor to it. Personally, I did not want to live in Galveston though. Also, A&M's five-year program gives you the opportunity to rotate in the Houston Medical Center (not just Wildebrook). That kind of confirmed the decision for me. A&M does not mean you can't match into a certain residency either, I think that's a misconception. I will say that one thing that helped my decision is the whole idea that "You can't go wrong with either school". We are in Texas, we're paying low tuition, and they are all great schools!

 

[Hzreio]

Location definitely was important to me. It was not an easy choice! UTMB has that prestige, that legend status, and just an amazing reputation. Not that A&M doesn't, but UTMB definitely has a wow factor to it. Personally, I did not want to live in Galveston though. Also, A&M's five-year program gives you the opportunity to rotate in the Houston Medical Center (not just Wildebrook). That kind of confirmed the decision for me. A&M does not mean you can't match into a certain residency either, I think that's a misconception. I will say that one thing that helped my decision is the whole idea that "You can't go wrong with either school". We are in Texas, we're paying low tuition, and they are all great schools!

I wouldn't say UTMB has a prestige that sticks out like the top texas schools. While it has been around for a really long time some of the academic docs I've spoken to say that it's program is kind of shaky. It's definitely related to the location and the staff that are willing to live in that location for a prolonged period of time (that being said, it has a super renown infectious disease lab. Probably because if something breaks out, at least it is quarantined on an island... lol). A while ago, they actually just considered moving the med school to Austin system, but that was replaced by dell med. That kind of talk dissuaded me a bit as well. That combined with the fact that the UTMB match list does not seem to stick out over A&M motivates me to put A&M first.

 

[moonyoung_8]

I will say that I've taken a couple trips to College Station and have been admitted to the MD+ program and, as crazy as it sounds, I am starting to feel some attachment to BCS!

Did visiting multiple times help you with your decision? I visited TAMU and the health science center there and kind of want to go back and see it again now that I have visited other schools that I interviewed at.

 

[texasfight2020]

I am having such a hard time deciding how to rank these two as well ... the reputation of UTMB is obvious but in the end I think I will end up ranking A&M higher.

At the end of the day, the difference in the quality of education/resources/and research opportunities between the 2 institutions is almost negligible & I think we can't go wrong either way! I think now, most can make the decisions based on other attributes of the school you deem to be more important to you (location, grading, etc).

I made a very long pro vs con list for the two with extensive research if anyone wants to look at it!

 

[deleted880375]

I am having such a hard time deciding how to rank these two as well ... the reputation of UTMB is obvious but in the end I think I will end up ranking A&M higher.

At the end of the day, the difference in the quality of education/resources/and research opportunities between the 2 institutions is almost negligible & I think we can't go wrong either way! I think now, most can make the decisions based on other attributes of the school you deem to be more important to you (location, grading, etc).

I made a very long pro vs con list for the two with extensive research if anyone wants to look at it!

I would love to take a look at your pro vs con list!

 

[texasfight2020]

Here it is! Please correct me if you say anything wrong as a lot of this information was accumulated by texting students. Also, disclaimer - I am planning to do the Dallas track if I end up here and have family there, thus the excitement behind Dallas lol.

 

[deleted880375]

Just wanted to follow up and say I will be ranking A&M above UTMB!
Does anyone know how the Houston campus assignments work? I would love for TMC Methodist to be my main site, I just visited yesterday and it is incredible! Willowbrook...not as much haha

 

[wysdoc]

Just wanted to follow up and say I will be ranking A&M above UTMB!
Does anyone know how the Houston campus assignments work? I would love for TMC Methodist to be my main site, I just visited yesterday and it is incredible! Willowbrook...not as much haha

@nontrad1997, see what you can find on the A&M info you were given, but I believe TMC Methodist is only the site for the EnMed cohort of students.

 

[SubjectTranquil]

@nontrad1997, see what you can find on the A&M info you were given, but I believe TMC Methodist is only the site for the EnMed cohort of students.

Dr. Huston of TAMU MD Plus also informed me that TMC Methodist is also for the MD Plus students who choose Houston for their last 3.5 years

 

[deleted880375]

@nontrad1997, see what you can find on the A&M info you were given, but I believe TMC Methodist is only the site for the EnMed cohort of students.

I think you may be right. I'll do some more research on that. Based on the documents they sent us, it's clear that EnMed students rotate at TMC Methodist, but I'm not sure if MD students also rotate there.

 

[SubjectTranquil]

I think you may be right. I'll do some more research on that. Based on the documents they sent us, it's clear that EnMed students rotate at TMC Methodist, but I'm not sure if MD students also rotate there.

From what I have read, that's correct as well!

 

[texasfight2020]

Just wanted to follow up and say I will be ranking A&M above UTMB!
Does anyone know how the Houston campus assignments work? I would love for TMC Methodist to be my main site, I just visited yesterday and it is incredible! Willowbrook...not as much haha

I received this information from the Dean:

"The Houston bound students complete the 18-month pre-clerkship curriculum in BCS and then transition either to Houston Methodist Texas Medical Center or Houston Methodist Willowbrook to complete their clerkship training (years 3 and 4). In regard to your question about the location for the clerkships in years 3 and 4, a proportion of Houston bound MD students will train at either Methodist TMC or Methodist Willowbrook. However, the distribution is not equal. At this time, I don’t know what the total count of Houston bound students will be or the distribution across the two facilities. Those details we being discussed with our campus deans because we have increased our class size from 175 to 200. Based on what we’ve done in previous years, the majority of the MD Houston bound students train at Willowbrook."

 

[Icositetrachoron]

I received this information from the Dean:

"The Houston bound students complete the 18-month pre-clerkship curriculum in BCS and then transition either to Houston Methodist Texas Medical Center or Houston Methodist Willowbrook to complete their clerkship training (years 3 and 4). In regard to your question about the location for the clerkships in years 3 and 4, a proportion of Houston bound MD students will train at either Methodist TMC or Methodist Willowbrook. However, the distribution is not equal. At this time, I don’t know what the total count of Houston bound students will be or the distribution across the two facilities. Those details we being discussed with our campus deans because we have increased our class size from 175 to 200. Based on what we’ve done in previous years, the majority of the MD Houston bound students train at Willowbrook."

@nontrad1997, @wysdoc:
Current TAMHSC student here. While there appears to be more emphasis on moving traditional MD track students over to the Willowbrook facility, traditional MD students are still being tracked to the TMC facility. I have been told, however, that students tracked to "TMC" may also end up doing rotations in other Methodist branches within Houston (Clear Lake, Sugar Land, etc.). Whether or not that holds true is yet to be seen.

Dr. Huston of TAMU MD Plus also informed me that TMC Methodist is also for the MD Plus students who choose Houston for their last 3.5 years

MD/PhD and EnMed students are 100% for sure tracked to TMC. MD Plus students, after completing their program of choice, will be integrated into the incoming cohort (one year after their entry year) and will still have to compete for Houston campus spots among those from that class -- placement is not guaranteed.


For Co2024, 19 traditional MD students were tracked to the Houston campus, with 10 placed at Willowbrook and 9 at TMC. Including EnMed and MD/PhD, the total number of students on the Houston campus (Willowbrook and TMC) is around 40. I suspect that with the expansion of the EnMed program, traditional MD students will eventually be fully ported to the Willowbrook facility.

 

[Hzreio]

@nontrad1997, @wysdoc:
Current TAMHSC student here. While there appears to be more emphasis on moving traditional MD track students over to the Willowbrook facility, traditional MD students are still being tracked to the TMC facility. I have been told, however, that students tracked to "TMC" may also end up doing rotations in other Methodist branches within Houston (Clear Lake, Sugar Land, etc.). Whether or not that holds true is yet to be seen.



MD/PhD and EnMed students are 100% for sure tracked to TMC. MD Plus students, after completing their program of choice, will be integrated into the incoming cohort (one year after their entry year) and will still have to compete for Houston campus spots among those from that class -- placement is not guaranteed.


For Co2024, 19 traditional MD students were tracked to the Houston campus, with 10 placed at Willowbrook and 9 at TMC. Including EnMed and MD/PhD, the total number of students on the Houston campus (Willowbrook and TMC) is around 40. I suspect that with the expansion of the EnMed program, traditional MD students will eventually be fully ported to the Willowbrook facility.

Do you know why they want EnMed at TMC?

 

[Icositetrachoron]

Do you know why they want EnMed at TMC?

EnMed is our flagship program, and TMC is arguably the campus with the most research connections (Methodist Research Institute, MITIE, etc.). As the EnMed program is a 4 year combined ME/MD program, their schedules are extremely streamlined -- close proximity between clinical opportunity and research is imperative. I don't think that there's a better place to do translational research in engineering than the TMC.

Edit: This is also the reason why MD/PhD is housed in TMC as well.

 

[wysdoc]

EnMed is our flagship program, and TMC is arguably the campus with the most research connections (Methodist Research Institute, MITIE, etc.). As the EnMed program is a 4 year combined ME/MD program, their schedules are extremely streamlined -- close proximity between clinical opportunity and research is imperative. I don't think that there's a better place to do translational research in engineering than the TMC.

Edit: This is also the reason why MD/PhD is housed in TMC as well.

Also they just built a tech maker space for EnMed students. Go look up a podcast about this on Texas Health Education Services web page, under about our schools or maybe Courage Sessions.