UTSW vs Baylor

[shindaigua]

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Which one is better? UTSW or Baylor/Houston?

 

[Eidolon6]

UTSW.

 

[rgizmo]

UTSW is arguably in the top ten IM residency programs in the country, Baylor likely in the top fifty

 

[Crypt Abscess]

I think this is very debatable as both are very solid programs. UTSW probably is top 10; however, Baylor is easily top 20-25. I think in terms of real-world training Baylor may have a slight edge as they rotate through four hospitals (St. Luke's, Methodist, Ben Taub, and VA) two public, two private, with about 2/3 of their time spent at the publics. The VA is really amazing- TVs and nice computers in call rooms. The Texas Medical Center is also amazing. You will work very hard at both programs. Both seem relatively front-loaded. Very good fellowship placement at both with UTSW maybe a little better than Baylor. Baylor has an interim chair, whereas UTSW has a new chair. I didn't get the impression that UTSWs new chair was on the same level as Foster (previous chair). I would love to hear others opinions on these two programs and other programs in Texas. Crypt

 

[UTSouthwestern]

I say UT Southwestern with clearly no bias.

 

[ckent]

My department chairperson says UT Southwestern too. I think that in IM, it's pretty universally accepted that Southwestern has a really strong program.

 

[GO_MEDPEDS]

Didn't UTSW just get off of probation for their IM program?

Having visited Baylor (but not UTSW), I would be surprised if UTSW is really that much better. The resources available at Baylor, the fellowship placement, and the number of top-ranking facilities/programs it had were astounding.

I would like to know by what criteria you would rank UTSW above Baylor...

Thanks!

🙂

 

[johnd]

UTSW definitely has a better national reputation in IM. If you want to go into academic medicine, you are more likely to get a top fellowship outside of Texas coming from UTSW. However the IM residents at Baylor don't have a problem matching into competitive specialties - just not at BW, MGH, JH, etc.

That being said, I don't think the clinical training is much different at either place. As a resident, you probably would have an easier life at Baylor.

One thing that bothered me about UTSW when I interviewed there was that it seemed that an inordinate number of their residents "chose" to take a year working before beginning fellowship training. I think that this is because there is no chance to do any research during your intern year at UTSW and therefore people need some extra time to buff up their resumes before applying.

The internal medicine department dominates all of the others at UTSW. This is simply not the case at Baylor. This is probably why Baylor is viewed as a better medical school and UTSW is viewed as a better internal medicine residency.

 

[UTSouthwestern]

UT Houston just came off probation, NOT UT Southwestern. Get your UT's straight. 😀

 

[Tom345]

If I were you, I would pick Baylor over UTSW. Good for your fellowship too.

 

[shindaigua]

How do you know Baylor is better than UTSW for my fellowship? I never said what fellowship do I want...

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by shindaigua
How do you know Baylor is better than UTSW for my fellowship? I never said what fellowship do I want...

I think the bottom line is going to come down to is: do you like high volume at Parkland? Are you someone who want to deal with that stress? How much you like Dallas vs Houston? I interviewed at Baylor (and invited to UTSW too but declined them due to their inability to work with my visa status).

UTSW is arguably better renowned, with their Nobel laureates and prominent national authors and NEJM editors to boot, but the thing is, BMC's program dont exactly suck, either. You are probably looking the difference between a top 10 program (US News ranked UTSW 9th last year) and a top 25. The fact is, both are huge programs that attracts the better candidates from Texas. And surprisingly, talking to people at both programs, most residents at either programs really make their choice base on where they prefer to work, rather than the actual difference in reputation or difficulty to match (which I probably say it's about equal). And residents (even faculty) at both institutions all says the other program is a great program. Fellowships out of Baylor is very good, as with UTSW (I seen both their fellowship lists).

 

[scrub monkey]

is baylor affiliated with md anderson?

 

[UTSouthwestern]

From my perspective I can tell you that while there is high volume through Parkland, the IM residents are definitely not overworked. The multiple call teams each night and pit bosses ensure that crap doesn't get admitted that someone else just wants to turf out.

Not sure where some one got the data for residents taking an extra year to buff up their research. You have time to do that during residency and one of the residents even did a research project on the ophthalmic consequences of specific disease processes. Got him so interested in ophtho that he applied for and got a spot in ophthamology. Parkland is definitely an old facility but the others are on par with any that Baylor has to offer.

Either way, you can't lose.

 

[johnd]

Originally posted by UTSouthwestern

Not sure where some one got the data for residents taking an extra year to buff up their research. You have time to do that during residency and one of the residents even did a research project on the ophthalmic consequences of specific disease processes. Got him so interested in ophtho that he applied for and got a spot in ophthamology. Parkland is definitely an old facility but the others are on par with any that Baylor has to offer.

UTSW,

I got this impression from talking to a lot of the residents when I interviewed there. I guess I am specifically talking about GI/cardio where I think it is a major advantage to get some research either in your intern year or very early in the 2nd year. I would say the over half of the third years that I talked to (maybe around 6 or so) were taking a year off to work as hospitalists before starting fellowship. These guys were applying for fellowships during their 3rd year instead of their 2nd.

The other problem if I remember correctly is that there is no electives in your first year. There is definitely no way to do research during your intern year at UTSW. Applications for GI go out in the first half of 2nd year and you could easily have not done any GI rotation or research which basically kills your application.

I really liked everything else about Southwestern so I would be interested to know if I am incorrect here.

John

 

[rgizmo]

John D

Having finished interviewing I can compare most big name programs to UTSW with respect to IM. There are 2 major distinguishing characteristics about the program here.

First, the residents are unusually happy for such a big name program. Most residents of big name programs say they are "tolerating" their program but the Parkland guys are "glowing." They hang out together, make fun of each other, it's really like a small family. Anyone who's interviewed there must have gotten that feeling from the day of the interview, including Dr.Hillis' opening speech.

Second, UTSW is one of the few programs where research seems to play a smaller role in securing a cards/gi fellowship. Well, GI traditionally goes to the indiginous residents of Parkland regardless. But, it is true that there is less protected research time than at other insitutions. However, this has done nothing to lessen the caliber of fellowship positions we secure. This year the people who are applying as 3rd years did so simply because they were unsure if they wanted to specialize. The previous year was the first time in a # of years that someone applied to cardiology and did not match. He is now a first year fellow at Parkland. To me, who is not big into research, this is a benefit--not HAVING to do research to become a cardiologist. I personally am not staying here for residency becuase I am sick of Dallas, I need a cooler city. UCLA is the only other place I can think of where many residents find high powered fellowships s doing research (they also have no time during internship). However, Parkland traditionally has much better placement for fellowships.

 

[viva la bam]

Baylor is not affiliated with MD Anderson, but you can easily do research there and a rotation if you so desire - Baylor does pretty well placing people in Heme/Onc including at MD Anderson.

Baylor does have an intimate relationship with the Texas Heart Institute if that interests anyone. The Texas Medical Center is an amazing place if you've never been there and research and post-residency opportunities abound.