UTMB vs UTHSCSA

[csn4646]

I have recently received offers from the alternate lists at UTMB and UTHSCSA. I am having a very hard time choosing between the two. I currently live in Austin, TX so both are relatively close to home. Any current students or prospective students who know a bit about the two and could share some information/suggestions, would be much appreciated! Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[armybound]

depends what you're looking for, really. I don't see either school as particularly better than the other, but I do think that living in San Antonio offers a lot of perks that living in Galveston does not. It's probably not as big of a deal for med school as it is for residency, but I felt like UTMB didn't offer the clinical volume that a lot of other residency programs did, and you had to rotate through a lot of different clinics to see patients, often with a significant commute.

I don't think going to either one puts you at a disadvantage for residency, I just think you have to consider where you want to live.

 

[sliceofbread136]

depends what you're looking for, really. I don't see either school as particularly better than the other, but I do think that living in San Antonio offers a lot of perks that living in Galveston does not. It's probably not as big of a deal for med school as it is for residency, but I felt like UTMB didn't offer the clinical volume that a lot of other residency programs did, and you had to rotate through a lot of different clinics to see patients, often with a significant commute.

I don't think going to either one puts you at a disadvantage for residency, I just think you have to consider where you want to live.

I agree, it's rly all about where you want to live. Both schools are very similar prestige wise and set-up wise. Personally I wouldn't want to live in Galveston, it is rly humid and there are a lot of Mosquitos.

 

[sector9]

Moving thread to "School specific discussions"

 

[Watah]

I have recently received offers from the alternate lists at UTMB and UTHSCSA. I am having a very hard time choosing between the two. I currently live in Austin, TX so both are relatively close to home. Any current students or prospective students who know a bit about the two and could share some information/suggestions, would be much appreciated! Thanks

I read Austin, TX so I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that your username csn4646 is also your UTEID lol.

That being said UTHSCSA vs UTMB is in my opinion the toughest comparison in Texas.
If it's important to you, San Antonio is only an hour drive away from 6th street on a weekend . It's also located in the huge south texas medical center (not as big as the houston one, but still respectable), so there are many opportunities there. I grew up in San Antonio and its a great family oriented city, not as cool as Austin, but at least you can call yourself a Spurs fan

On the other hand, I have 2 family members who've graduated from UTMB and they've both said that for whatever reason maybe based on the curriculum that they seemed to be much happier there than their peers who attended other schools and despite this, UTMB has traditionally a higher average USMLEstep1 score and to be honest, while the city of Galveston may be really lame (it's a beach, though!), I imagine spending most of my time studying without any distractions. If I wanted to take a break, Houston is really close.

That being said, between these two I'd choose UTMB, but I wouldn't regret choosing either one.

Congrats though and good luck!