Visiting Student Rotation at Texas Programs

Come hang out with us in Corpus Christi. Advantages are the beach, and free housing. PM if interested.

 

I was born and raised in Houston and love the city. I lived in Dallas for a while as well but prefer Houston. I did an away at Southwestern, it was great. I got comfortable with LPs, femorals, blocks and really good at suturing (every shift). Prior to going there, I had never even done a procedure really. It was a good rotation to do first. They hook you up with a teaching resident (an R3) for most of the shifts and they teach you how to do procedures and polish up your presentations before talking to attendings so you look good in front of them. Also, they don't kill you with shifts I think it is 12 x 12 hr shifts so you can enjoy Dallas. The administration are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. This rotation really helped me with the two rotations I did later on. I didn't rotate at Houston but know people who said it was cool. I would go with UTSW though, esp if you are considering county programs in the South.

 

I am a rather die hard Texan who has spent a fair amount of time in every place across Texas. I am not a big city person, however, If I had to live at one, I would take DFW over Houston. As far as specifics of the hospital, I only was at either for medical school interviews so I do not have a grasp on the ED situation...

Houston is a super mega complex of hospitals, crazy parking, super busy, etc etc. Dallas is obviously very busy but the hospital (Parkland) is more by itself and traffic and such right in that area is not as big of a killer.

There is more to do in either town than you will be able to partake in one month. Dallas is hot, Houston is also but put really high humidty with that. At least towards the north we like to brag and say, "well, its a dry heat!".

I think both would have their fair share of trauma; Houston maybe a little more. I am not positive about housing, but I would assume both to be similiar and probably both would be the same commutes to get to somewhere you would feel comfortable staying. Both have unsafe places, but NOTHING like NE towns (philly, detroit, chicago, NYC, etc).

I am confident you'll get great experience in Big-D or H-Town and get to experience Texas at either as well.

Good luck...

 

Houston vs Dallas is a big thing in texas. I am assuming you want to do a rotation at a residency otherwise I would say go to Breckenridge in Austin. Much better city than either of the others. Dallas is flat. there are plenty of places to eat and shop. Eat and shop.

Houston you are a little closer to the beach. Huge medical complex. lots of traffic.

both hospitals will get you good experience as they are both high volume. Houston has an awesome guy who heads up the EM u/s program. Dallas doesn't have standing faculty in u/s. However, they have a great researcher and thier program director is really nice. (don't know who the PD is in houston).

Manhattan has very few unsafe places anymore. Its why, almost uniformly, EM residents do trauma outside the city now. People just aren't getting stabbed and shot. The dude/s have left the city. I personally think they moved to miami.

You can also look at Texas Tech. They have a great program, albeit in west texas.

and texas is hot. period.

 

Info about UTSW:
Schedule is 12 12 hour shifts some with a teaching resident(r3) and some just paired up with an R3. The teaching residents are really good and you will have a good time here. They want you to learn and do procedures. They do not want you to do scut and will usually do all of the paperwork for you. This is because there are a lot of forms and quirks about Parkland that are not present in "the real world" and it is not useful for you to learn.

On most shifts, the teaching resident and the student will try to do any procedures (lp, central lines, suturing, paracentesis) and cherry pick patients. You can see really any patients you want. When you are not scheduled with a teaching resident, you work with an R3 and see some of his/her patients. You will present to the residents and then they will coach you on what to say to the attendings so you look good. The residents are really nice here and will help you regarding info on applying to programs, info on where they interviewed and who you should get to know in the emergency department for letters or interesting conversation.

Teaching lectures are on tuesday for 2 hours for students and interns, wed. is morning report and teaching on thursday for all students and residents and lasts from 7:30 until noon and breakfast and lunch are provided. The schedule is very flexible and you can work almost any shift you want. The rotation is really set up to make you enjoy the ED and they try to make it a positive experience for you. I do not know about any other programs in Texas, so I can't compare them. However, this program is great and it is a good one to start with. PM me with any specific questions and I will be glad to answer.

 

Well, North Mexico. Oh and it's really not that hot here - 4000 ft elevation and far from that mean ole gulf.

 

but it yields all that yummy gulf shrimp, oysters and snapper. mmmmmmmmm