UTSW vs Emory

[Radiologyreviews2015]

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I hate to make one of these posts but I'm torn on these two awesome programs. Would appreciate anyone to shed light/opinions on these places

UTSW
Pros
-awesome PD
-amazing brand spanking new facilities, beautiful reading room
-lots of pathology at parkland
-lots of vacation and moonlighting
-close to family and friends
-strong caliber of residents
-"up and coming"

Cons
-little global health focus
-huge research push
-residents seemed a bit more intense
-regional bias, more Texas connections after graduation
-no option to take business classes from university

Emory
Pros
-built in TY year (although hard)
-nuclear med fellowship during residency
-can take business classes with emory business school
-beautiful campus and facilities
-strong global health focus
-lots of pathology at Grady
-more broad connections, not a regional bias
-2 week rotations
-higher doximity rank

Cons
-little moonlighting
-no friends or family in the area
-less direct flights for family to visit
-lots of hospitals/clinics to cover (although I like change bc I get bored easy)

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

I'm ranking UTSW higher. I dont have ties to either area but with your ties to Dallas seems like UTSW would be a easy favorite. From an outsider perspective Dallas > Atl. Emory felt a little big and impersonal for my tastes, but obviously both strong programs.

 

[AlexMorph]

Same programs in different cities, pick your location

 

[Radiologyreviews2015]

If you really feel its close between the two programs, its hard to imagine you'd regret going to the one close to friends and family. I wish my program had two week rotations though. After about that time I'm looking forward to the change and it be nice having certain rotations more than just once a year.

 

[chronicidal]

UTSW
Pros
-"up and coming"
-strong caliber of residents

Cons
-huge research push
-residents seemed a bit more intense

These are conflicting views. It sounds like you want to get into making the $$ and probably won't be into the way in which UTSW is up and coming. It aspires to be a big deal academic program. Rofsky has brought in the intensity of his experience in New York and Boston, recruiting a stream of people from other high-powered academic programs (eg Hopkins, MGH, Wake); installing Bob Mattrey from UCSD as vice chair for research; and adding 3 whole residency slots per year for the +1 year research track. The institution at large has a big reputation in the research community, and now the radiology department playing catch up. Honestly nobody can figure out how they can afford this growth. The residents are strong in that they are more intense academically. Half of them were apparently AOAers, several are taking the academic half-day a week for research, some present at multiple conferences a year.

That said, Emory is a very similar gig, as mentioned above. It's about the same size (ie pretty big), the program spans multiple sites in a big southern metropolis, it has a research track, it has many faculty that trained at big academic places elsewhere. But you have identified an interest in the business of radiology and, beyond taking b-school classes (which I didn't know about...), there are people at Emory you can potentially look up to, such as the new health system CEO (Lewin, rads chair from Hopkins), or work with, such as the vice chair for health policy and practice (Rich Duszak, did private practice for a while before). Follow him on twitter or look up the ACR's Nieman health policy institute and see if you're into the stuff he's into, like organized medicine, healthcare economics, etc. I bet you'll rank Emory over UTSW.

 

[GadRads]

I interviewed at both places and I felt they were generally very similar, so it should come down to where you think is your best fit. UTSW is trying to be more serious about research; and I also agree that UTSW residents seemed a bit more intense. It seems you prefer Emory from what you have written, and you may not be all that into research.

I hate to make one of these posts but I'm torn on these two awesome programs. Would appreciate anyone to shed light/opinions on these places

UTSW
Pros
-awesome PD
-amazing brand spanking new facilities, beautiful reading room
-lots of pathology at parkland
-lots of vacation and moonlighting
-close to family and friends
-strong caliber of residents
-"up and coming"

Cons
-little global health focus
-huge research push
-residents seemed a bit more intense
-regional bias, more Texas connections after graduation
-no option to take business classes from university

Emory
Pros
-built in TY year (although hard)
-nuclear med fellowship during residency
-can take business classes with emory business school
-beautiful campus and facilities
-strong global health focus
-lots of pathology at Grady
-more broad connections, not a regional bias
-2 week rotations
-higher doximity rank

Cons
-little moonlighting
-no friends or family in the area
-less direct flights for family to visit
-lots of hospitals/clinics to cover (although I like change bc I get bored easy)

 

[Shifty B]

I was a resident at one of the programs and am well acquainted with the other. As mentioned above, they are quite similar programs. Both have a VA, big county hospital, and private hospital. Both are similar size and residents are of similar caliber. Both have access to high quality fellowships, but probably not too many fellows around. Dallas and Atlanta are even very similar cities.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. However, a few of your points that you make aren't that relevant to what the resident experience will be like. For example:

regional bias - almost every program has a regional bias (it may be a little less at top 5 coastal programs), and your programs are probably equivalent
nuclear medicine fellowship during residency - I honestly can't tell if this is a positive or negative; it won't affect the vast majority of residents
global health and business class access - also not a major focus for most residents, who should really be focusing on learning radiology
doximity rank - so close it's irrelevant

Overall, I think you should probably choose the one that works with what your geographic expectations are. Do you want to live in Texas or do you want to live in the South? PM me if you have specific questions and I can be more detailed or tell you more about the program I went to.

 

[elektroshok]

I'm at UT, pm me if you have specific questions.