Baylor College of Medicine 2011

[Anastasis]

hey everyone, i finally registered to post on sdn! so im still waiting/hoping to hear from baylor, i interviewed in late november, does anyone know what the chances are? i called this morning they said my file is still active or whatever

I interviewed in early November and just now heard back! Don't give up hope!

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[generic]

Electronic Stethoscope:

I always hear that there is a dedicated and vocal group of users of these who swear by them. As I recall, they're not usually THAT much more $$ than a high-end conventional one. However, I will say that I have only seen 1 person using one since I started the Medicine rotation and he was a famous attending. So if you use one, people may look at you funny. But maybe it will be with a look of pure envy.

OTOH, if you have real hearing loss, why not? It'll probably help a great deal. I think everyone else just likes to pretend they can hear all these crazy heart sounds and murmurs with their $10 steth.

 

[OncoCaP]

Electronic Stethoscope:

I always hear that there is a dedicated and vocal group of users of these who swear by them. As I recall, they're not usually THAT much more $$ than a high-end conventional one. However, I will say that I have only seen 1 person using one since I started the Medicine rotation and he was a famous attending. So if you use one, people may look at you funny. But maybe it will be with a look of pure envy.

OTOH, if you have real hearing loss, why not? It'll probably help a great deal. I think everyone else just likes to pretend they can hear all these crazy heart sounds and murmurs with their $10 steth.

Great! Thanks for the advice. I'll check out some of the electronic options.

 

[latinfridley]

Great! Thanks for the advice. I'll check out some of the electronic options.

I say stay away from the electronic stethoscopes. From what I understand, many attendings (esp. cardiology attendings) don't particularly like 'em. I have yet to see anyone use one.

 

[OncoCaP]

I say stay away from the electronic stethoscopes. From what I understand, many attendings (esp. cardiology attendings) don't particularly like 'em. I have yet to see anyone use one.

Ok, I'll try both and see what happens. If I can get by without the electronic, so be it. However, I'm totally deaf in one ear and have maybe 20-30% hearing loss (mostly hi freq loss) in the other with constant loud hi freq tinnitus. If I need the electronic to hear the sounds, well, I don't really have much of a choice here. It probably would not be appropriate to pretend to hear heart or breathing sounds or try to guess what or when a particular sound occurs. Maybe I can wear the acoustic and whip out the "contraband" electronic when the attendings are not looking .

 

[OncoCaP]

I have used an electronic one (in fact the model 3000 that you mentioned), and I was blown away by what I could hear. Granted, I haven't started med school yet and haven't had any formal training on how to use a stethoscope or anything, but seriously, I could hear what my friend had to eat last night for dinner when I tried one out and listened to his bowel sounds. And the lub-dub of the heartbeat was THUNDEROUS. OncoCap, maybe you should wait it out a little bit and ask some residents/attendings to get a feel for the popular opinion on them and try some out for yourself before buying one. But I can tell you from my experience, I was able to hear things LOUDLY that I had never heard before.

Sounds like the electronic ones are fun to get just for the wow factor alone for about the price of an iPod! Obviously I would need to be a bit discreet with the electronic one. I'm getting the Cardionics E-Scope® II and Littmann Cardio III. I can't wait until I get my E-Scope ... I'm ready to listen for dinner!

Who knows, maybe the E-Scope V or Littmann 8000 (or whatever they have when we are done with residency) will have the following capability (visualization of the heart or other structures of interest / echocardiogram, etc.) ... http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/08/27/ultra.stethoscope/
I'm not quite ready to plunk down $11K for that toy on ebay just yet ...

 

[generic]

Wow, being able to do our own "echocardiograms" would be pretty sweet. Some days it seems like all you do around the public hospital is sit on your rear and wait for the cardiologists to come back and echo your patient's heart. ESPECIALLY on the weekend.

Too bad about the $10k+ price tag. Ah well.

Anyway, I still say if you have real hearing loss and it makes you a better clinician to have an electronic stethoscope then no one should be able to fault you for it.

 

[Anastasis]

Sounds like the electronic ones are fun to get just for the wow factor alone for about the price of an iPod! Obviously I would need to be a bit discreet with the electronic one. I'm getting the Cardionics E-Scope® II and Littmann Cardio III. I can't wait until I get my E-Scope ... I'm ready to listen for dinner!

Who knows, maybe the E-Scope V or Littmann 8000 (or whatever they have when we are done with residency) will have the following capability (visualization of the heart or other structures of interest / echocardiogram, etc.) ... http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/08/27/ultra.stethoscope/
I'm not quite ready to plunk down $11K for that toy on ebay just yet ...

Where did you get the Cardio Lit III and how much did you pay? I think I'll go ahead and order one of those.

 

[OncoCaP]

Where did you get the Cardio Lit III and how much did you pay? I think I'll go ahead and order one of those.

http://www.steeles.com/catalog/3mlittcardIII.html
It came with a free Littmann Student Accessory Kit ($43 value) that has a CD with instructions and sounds.

There is also Allheart:
http://www.allheart.com/31273134.html

You can do a search on "Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope" and get more options. They cost ~$127 plus ~$10 shipping and handling at Steeles (no tax). Seems like it's hard to go wrong with that instrument.

 

[Pancho Villa]

does anybody know how baylor's background check process works? like what company do they use and do we need to sign some sort of permission waiver?

just curious.

 

[Anastasis]

Has a date been set for white coat yet?

 

[HumbleMD]

I have August 5th on my calendar. Not sure from what source, but it's what I have...

 

[EBI831]

hey lucky ones, on the hopefuls thread we are having a debate on whether or not the class is full. could you weigh in for me what you think now and especially after you go to second look this weekend to let me know if i'm just sprinting to the mailbox three times a day for a waitlist at best. honestly, my ankles/shins/anxiety are killing me and my shoes/patience is getting worn out. ana, just noticed that you got into baylor! good job, guess dreams do come true for some.

 

[jennifermov]

yes, some support and over-analysis from the chosen ones would be nice i had to ban myself from this thread recently because all the talk about buying new stethoscopes and white coat ceremonies was starting to depress me! EBI831, when i saw you were the one who posted, i figured i'd be safe to stop averting my eyes....momentarily....

and while i am not worried about my mailbox, i am tired of debating whether or not i should bring my cell phone with me to the gym/to run everyday....
seriously....i am checking that thing every 2 minutes! even on weekends!!!!

 

[MedSchoolinItUp]

Same situation with me, BCM was definitly my top choice and at this point I'd just like to know If I should just be hoping to get waitlisted..

 

[nickster]

It seems about 5 months pre-mature to be talking about stethoscopes and white coats. But since some on you have already done some research, why did you choose the Littmann Cardology III? There must be many other very good ones available. Personally, I probably will just wait until school starts and see what they recommend, but I and interested in your opinions and how you arrived at them.

 

[generic]

I like the Cardiology III because it's versatile: Pediatric or Adult sized heads, or a true bell (some people tell me that they don't believe in the double duty diaphragm Littmann makes). Also it's pretty loud. Price was reasonable, I thought. And my former boss the pediatrician has been using his for ~10 years now!

That said...Even with a good stethoscope I've already missed my share of murmurs and gallops down in the loud ER...

 

[OncoCaP]

I like the Cardiology III because it's versatile: Pediatric or Adult sized heads, ....

That said...Even with a good stethoscope I've already missed my share of murmurs and gallops down in the loud ER...

Do you wish you had used an electronic instead (assuming that they make the murmurs and gallops louder and harder to miss)?

Here is a thread for those who like to read arguments about which steth to get: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=4098341 . I noticed there was one post from a student who said the electronic steth helped him/her find more issues.

Also, I'm curious when you get very obese patients (400 - 500 lb?) whether it can be hard to hear the heart and breathing sounds.

 

[generic]

sure, I guess in a perfect world more amplification would be nice...but the electronic ones seem harder to carry and require batteries and are a tad more $$$ and all. Also, it may be more a factor of my inexperience and lack of diligence (or so the residents and attendings always want to tell me).

Obesity definitely makes it harder to hear the heart sounds and breath sounds....COPD makes heart sounds very distant too. So depending on which hospital you're at and which patient population you're seeing you will have different challenges.

 

[nickster]

You got me starting to research stethoscopes and I've come up with the following: Littmann cardo III, Littmann Master cardo, welch allyn Elite and the Welch Allyn double head DLX. Can anyone enlighten me on the difference between the Welch-allyn elite and the DLX?

 

[MAP8]

I hate to get off the steth topic and sorry if this is a touchy subject, but can someone please shed some light on the Baylor Clinic for me.

I understand that Phase I was completed in 2005 and that Phase II is to be completed in early 2008; however, I have been unable to find more detailed info on the Phase II plans, construction, location, etc. On the Clinic website they have an ambiguous "Plans are underway that will include expanded facilities." message under "The Future - Phase II" of Baylor Clinic. Will Baylor Clinic become the primary teaching site? Where does this leave St. Lukes, since even the plans of the clinic led to the BCM/Methodist split? How (if at all) might this affect the education of the Class of 2011? If all this works as planned, it sounds like should be an incredible boost for BCM.

This might be an extremely dry topic, but I just wanted to get as much info as I could; external links, threads, comments, whatever, would be much appreciated.

 

[generic]

I don't think anyone knows, really. Maybe not even Dr. Traber (President).

However, people (like myself) love to speculate, so here goes:

The Baylor Clinic was a rush job, created using an existing parking garage with a few floors left on top for office spaces. It's quite nice, but definitely NOT useful for teaching students. It's more of a nice place to get the name out there/have professors see patients in nice offices/make a little money for the school. Basically it is a nice office that is NOT part of Methodist. Originally, there were plans to quickly assemble more clinic space (after all, most of Phase 1 is a parking garage) in Phase 2. Those plans were mysteriously and quietly deleted from the official website after new plans were publicized...........Baylor Hospital.

The hospital (down the road next to the VA) will be like a Phase 2 on anabloic steroids. It's to be built in phases also, with incorporated clinic space. I think it will be fairly small at first, but with room to grow.

What will happen to the existing clinic? I dunno...I wonder if St. Luke's won't want their space back someday. The relationship between BCM and SLEH is good but not great (or so we hear). The clinic doesn't really compete with St. Luke's. Will we still rotate through SLEH after the Baylor Hospital is complete? mmmmmm....

Anyway, this stuff all affects the name recognition of BCM, the money it takes in, and those things are highly important. But really, med sudents learn/do so much more when at public hospitals. Rotating through private hospitals is kinda like just shadowing fancy doctors and seeing what your life may one day be like if that's what you want.

 

[Anastasis]

The Cardiologist I shadowed yesterday recommended the Litt Cardio III to me as well (with no prompting) so I think that's a pretty glowing recommendation

Does anyone here use Franklin Covey organization stuff? My family, in an attempt to get my sorry butt organized, has agreed to pay for a nice organizer (not a PDA though). Any suggestions?

 

[OncoCaP]

The Cardiologist I shadowed yesterday recommended the Litt Cardio III to me as well (with no prompting) so I think that's a pretty glowing recommendation

Does anyone here use Franklin Covey organization stuff? My family, in an attempt to get my sorry butt organized, has agreed to pay for a nice organizer (not a PDA though). Any suggestions?

As far as organizational tools go, I would probably just use Excel, OneNote, MindManager (a program I'm already working with) to make schedules and a PDA for reminders, key items. If I didn't have a PDA, I might just use the Calendar in MS Outlook or a similar program. I can't imagine using a manual tool to organize my time. The problem with the manual tools is that you can't really cut and paste or carry over undone things. You wind up recopying items a lot from one day to the next or consolidating undone items in new lists. Also PDA's have reminder alarms that can go off as well.

 

[qno1]

i know this was kinda answered in the previous post, but i've been hearing a lot of mixed things about baylor recently. people have been saying baylor's losing a lot of funding, sleh is going to pull out of baylor in two years, and there was some random rumor about ben taub not being a level I trauma center in the near future. ok the third claim seems a little out there, but the first two claims i've heard many many times - from various people including baylor employees, pre-med advisors, local physicians, and parents of med students. in my mind i really can't see anything negative happening to baylor because it's baylor. but i am starting to wonder about the school's future. granted they're building a new hospital and things like that... but does anyone, especially current students, know how this will affect the education for the class of '11 and '12? will all these funding issues and hospital problems screw us over? 3 or 4 years ago, i would have said that baylor was the school to go to in a heart beat... now i'm not too sure... granted i still have to get in stuff first. but i can't help but wonder why so many ppl are saying these things...

btw, i don't know if this the right place to ask these questions...you all just seem to know more than anyone else. i just wanted to clear doubts for some of my friends who are waiting for baylor this year and for me when i apply in this summer.

 

[weathertalk]

Somebody post a match list, gosh darn it! I'm itchin' to see where the grads are going.


Oh... and the issue with Baylor Hospital is one thing I'm quite apprehensive about as well.

Part of the reason I like Baylor is because I can see myself staying in Houston for residency. Assuming that I decide to go into a competitive specialty, I'm not going going to be a superstar (I'm not that sort of material) and be able match wherever I want in, say, ortho or rad-onc. I'm banking on connecting early with my home residency program and hope that I can worm my way into the specialty via institutional incest with my bushy tailed and bright-eyed enthusiasm. What I fear is that instability caused by the lack of a teaching hospital (it won't be done until summer 2010 assuming _everything_ goes according to schedule) will compromise the residency training programs. *sigh* I mean... it'd be really weird to train at a hospital that opened up a year before you graduated from med school.

However, it's a necessary move and one that will undoubtedly benefit Baylor in the long run. In response to qno1... I don't think Baylor is strapped for money... they have an endowment of 1.1 Billion. That's double what UCSF has and slightly more than Columbia P&S. Granted... they say their new hospital is gonna cost about 1 Billion... but I think that's going to come from new fundraising. Regarding research funding in particular... the only way that Baylor would lose funding is if it lost a lot of researchers. This happened right after the split from Methodist 2005, but was halted by some litigation and a ceasfire called by city officials. It seems that things are no longer in flux. If the stealing of researchers by Methodist were to have any effect, it would have shown up in this years rankings-- but didn't (10 is Baylor's highest ranking ever)

IMHO, what's holding Baylor back is those gosh darned "Peer" and "Residency Director" rankings. Which I think is a load of garbage. BCMs average USMLE is a 236! I think BCM is like the new girl who is quirky, but really hot, who transferred to a highschool and who all the popular girls (Harvard, Penn, Stanford, etc.) don't like. Envy! Baylor built itself into an elite school in 50 years (When it moved to its current site from Dallas, it started it out in an abandon sears roebuck warehouse). Compare that to Columbia, which was founded during the colonial period and is now eating Baylor's dust (well, barely #11 vs. #10)!

 

[OncoCaP]

Somebody post a match list, gosh darn it! I'm itchin' to see where the grads are going.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. I e-mailed a couple of BCM students that I know to see if they could help me out with this. Maybe those of us who know BCM students should ask them if they know how to get a BCM match list and would be willing to provide it.

Oh... and the issue with Baylor Hospital is one thing I'm quite apprehensive about as well.

What I was told by BCM students I spoke with is that we have a very nice set of hospitals to rotate through right now and that any rumblings about the relationships with various hospitals are just part of the politics and negotiations that go on at a high level. I get the impression that the TMC is just continuing to get better, and BCM & UT-H will be part of that rise. BCM is going to do what it takes to elevate the school and not having its own hospital is just one of the things that is supposedly holding BCM back. BCM is not going to do anything to hurt its reputation or quality of education. BCM is causing these rumblings in their relationships because they have plenty of resources and drive to elevate their program even more. Making improvements is going to ruffle some feathers, but it will all work out. If things got ugly, BCM would certainly step back and adopt a more flexible position.

Part of the reason I like Baylor is because I can see myself staying in Houston for residency. Assuming that I decide to go into a competitive specialty, I'm not going going to be a superstar (I'm not that sort of material) and be able match wherever I want in, say, ortho or rad-onc. I'm banking on connecting early with my home residency program and hope that I can worm my way into the specialty via institutional incest with my bushy tailed and bright-eyed enthusiasm. What I fear is that instability caused by the lack of a teaching hospital (it won't be done until summer 2010 assuming _everything_ goes according to schedule) will compromise the residency training programs. *sigh* I mean... it'd be really weird to train at a hospital that opened up a year before you graduated from med school.
...

It's way too early to be talking like this, but I'm also interested in matching into a Houston residency (I'm currently interested in heme/onc), which is part of the reason I like Baylor as well. However, the location of my residency is only one of several factors I will be looking at. BCM has many things going for it and changes are necessary to continue to improve the program. I'm glad I'll be part of a program that is taking the difficult steps to improve its standing even further.

 

[generic]

1. PDA: VERY handy. I didn't buy one til right before the clinics. But at least on Internal Medicine I use it every day and frequently at that. Epocrates is an awesome program. There are lots of other little handy programs out there too, like calculators that have formulas I've forgotten, books like "Surgicall Recall," medical dictionaries, etc.

2. None of us really can say what will happen in the future. There are factors that look a little grim (Methodist is a giant 10-headed monster that's expanding like crazy) as well as ones that make it look like BCM is only going up (New hospital, new clinic, new giant research building for more NIH funding, new study spaces/museum/labs). If Methodist were really THAT strong, they wouldn't have done a weak about-face and restarted several programs/cooperations with BCM right after the big "divorce." I'm talking Uro, Neuro, Ophtho, ENT, Psych, community health/vaccination program, etc. Also, if their "great" relationship with Cornell were really THAT great they wouldn't be talking to UH about starting up a 3rd med school here (look it up!).

In my opinion BCM took a bit of a hit in the short-term for what will prove to be long-term benefit. Methodist was an abusive leather jacket wearing, motorcycle riding, cigarette smoking boyfriend. We feel a little about losing Methodist as a primary affiliation because the boyfriend sure did have a lot of money lying around and occasionally he used it to buy us a nice lunch or a Tiffany's necklace. But the rest of the time he beat us with a stick and kept the best stuff for himself.

Plus, the class that probably got screwed the most is either c/o 2006 or 2007. At least when I entered I already knew about the BCM/TMH split. I didn't know that BCM would have its own hospital. Oh yeah have you guys seen what Texas Children's is up to? It's going great guns too.

3. The other advantage that BCM will always have is location in the med center. You can go to 2 Cardiology programs (Baylor or Texas Heart/St. Luke's), 2 heme-onc (BCM or MDAnderson), 3 surgery (BCM, UTH, Methodist), etc. So yeah, if you wanna stay here for residency or beyond, getting to know these people and rotating through their hospitals and all will be a great boon to your application.

4. The only place I've seen a match list is the one posted on the Student Affairs Office door. I'm not standing there and writing it down because I'll look either nerdy or stalker-y and Dr. Traber will probably walk down the hall and lift me up with his pinky and toss me into the construction area of the Michael E. DeBakey museum. And I won't be wearing a hardhat.

 

[OncoCaP]

...
4. The only place I've seen a match list is the one posted on the Student Affairs Office door. I'm not standing there and writing it down because I'll look either nerdy or stalker-y and Dr. Traber will probably walk down the hall and lift me up with his pinky and toss me into the construction area of the Michael E. DeBakey museum. And I won't be wearing a hardhat.

I've e-mailed Kelsie Ennis (someone who I was told may be able to help me) to see if she has an electronic match list she would be willing to send me. I'm not sure if there is someone else I could e-mail or not. If someone has a better potential source, by all means, let's give it a shot.

(thanks for all the helpful info, generic!)

Also, what about scrubs ... should we pick those up after orientation? Are we going to be given some recommendations on where to get them?

 

[generic]

you might be able to get some scrubs at orientation for a small small fee (free). Wink, wink. nudge, nudge.

Then, if you want more (like I did), you can feel free to purchase at any number of vendors around the TMC or online. No need to rush.

I personally have heard good things about "Scrubs 4 less." By good things I mean that I've heard they really do give them to you "4 less." I have heard that the store smells funny, however.

 

[OncoCaP]

you might be able to get some scrubs at orientation for a small small fee (free). Wink, wink. nudge, nudge.

Then, if you want more (like I did), you can feel free to purchase at any number of vendors around the TMC or online. No need to rush.

I personally have heard good things about "Scrubs 4 less." By good things I mean that I've heard they really do give them to you "4 less." I have heard that the store smells funny, however.

Great, thanks! I'll just plan on getting some "small" priced scrubs at orientation. I'll get some additional ones around the beginning of school then.

 

[weathertalk]

2. None of us really can say what will happen in the future. There are factors that look a little grim (Methodist is a giant 10-headed monster that's expanding like crazy) as well as ones that make it look like BCM is only going up (New hospital, new clinic, new giant research building for more NIH funding, new study spaces/museum/labs). If Methodist were really THAT strong, they wouldn't have done a weak about-face and restarted several programs/cooperations with BCM right after the big "divorce." I'm talking Uro, Neuro, Ophtho, ENT, Psych, community health/vaccination program, etc. Also, if their "great" relationship with Cornell were really THAT great they wouldn't be talking to UH about starting up a 3rd med school here (look it up!).

WTF? Why would the same bloody med center need a 3rd school? Texas med centers big... but c'mon.

Also... how's the relationship between UT Houston and Baylor? It seems like they have almost identical affiliations. So... why is Baylor an elite school and UT Houston unranked?

 

[latinfridley]

Quick question for some current Baylor students: for those students who don't live on the light rail line nor on a bus route, what is the best (fastest) way to get to class? I know I've read about extension lots where you can either catch a bus or the light rail, but can someone consolidate and elaborate on those methods? What are the names of the lots and where are they? How much does it cost? Do many students do it? Thanks.

If you live close enough to campus you can just ride a bike to school, which is what I did the 1st year. There is a parking lot called South Extension Lot, where you can pay about 50-60 dollars per month to park and take a shuttle to school. I park there now, and its a pretty good deal. Shuttles are frequent. Go to the transportation/parking page on the bcm site (you'll have to look for it) and there is a link with more details.

 

[latinfridley]

i know this was kinda answered in the previous post, but i've been hearing a lot of mixed things about baylor recently. people have been saying baylor's losing a lot of funding, sleh is going to pull out of baylor in two years, and there was some random rumor about ben taub not being a level I trauma center in the near future. ok the third claim seems a little out there, but the first two claims i've heard many many times - from various people including baylor employees, pre-med advisors, local physicians, and parents of med students. in my mind i really can't see anything negative happening to baylor because it's baylor. but i am starting to wonder about the school's future. granted they're building a new hospital and things like that... but does anyone, especially current students, know how this will affect the education for the class of '11 and '12? will all these funding issues and hospital problems screw us over? 3 or 4 years ago, i would have said that baylor was the school to go to in a heart beat... now i'm not too sure... granted i still have to get in stuff first. but i can't help but wonder why so many ppl are saying these things...

The schools future is bright. Our expansion projects include both improved research/clinical/ and educational facilities. We are filling all the voided department chairs post-Methodist split. The faculty chairs we have recruited to date are awesome. Our ties to TCH and MD Anderson remain strong (and will get stronger), and these two organizations are absolutely fantastic. Ive heard nothing about the SLEH rumour you speak of. Eventually we may split off from SLEH, but really it won't make much of a difference education wise, as the public hospitals are where most med student learning takes place.
The new clinic/hospital is a big deal. With BCM in the drivers seat, we have control over our financial and educational future. The site where the new hospital is planned is big, allowing for continued expansion not only clinically, but new research/educational facilities as well.
Prediction: BCM is one of the top 5 med schools within 10 years.

 

[latinfridley]

WTF? Why would the same bloody med center need a 3rd school? Texas med centers big... but c'mon.

Also... how's the relationship between UT Houston and Baylor? It seems like they have almost identical affiliations. So... why is Baylor an elite school and UT Houston unranked?

Relationship between UTH and BCM is fine, no animosity.
BCM has a larger amount of NIH funding, larger endowment, accepts more competitive applicants, better avg USMLE step 1 score, greater integration into the medical center, etc....

 

[latinfridley]

So I looked at the match list, didn't write it down, but as I recall it was as expected....which is very good. The quality of programs BCM grads are going to is pretty much the same. The one interesting thing about the '09 class that I noticed was that there were approx. 15 students going into ENT. Thats ridiculous.

 

[generic]

1. Ah, but the real question is "How many went into derm?"

Because the truth is we ALL want to do derm.



2. Also look into the "South Fannin" Lot which lets you ride the MetroRail. Parking is $2 per day or $35 per month or so.

There are also a few places you can park for free on random streets and then ride the rail. But I don't think anyone will consolidate those and post them up on the internet because then they'll disappear.



3. Another slightly less convinient thing about UTH is that their version of Ben Taub (LBJ) is a bit of a drive away. I like how most everything we need for clinics and classes is right in the TMC. Except for preceptors' offices where you learn physical exam/history taking skills.

And I think the BCM curriculum and habit of quickly pushing us into rotations really helps the school's reputation and helps the students to feel more excited and remember why they're in med school. I'm so glad I'm not still studying pharmacology or somthing like my peers at other Texas schools. Whew!

 

[ms. a]

couple of quick things -

scrubs - don't buy any, at least, unless you really, really want your own. For the first year and a half, the only time you'll need scrubs is anatomy lab. Obviously, that only lasts a few months, so there will be almost a year until you need then again. Of course, I would not recommend hanging on to your anatomy lab scrubs for rotations. There will be other uses for them (where do you think the free scrubs at orientation come from?). As for scrubs for rotations, by that time, you will have figured out where else you can scam some scrubs. No need to buy them any time.

parking - someone asked about it, and someone else mentioned the South Extension Lot. I, too, park there, and it's great. One of the advantages is that the shuttle starts running at 4:30am, earlier than any of the Metro buses or the Rail. This is important on surgery, when you have to be there for some rotations at 5:00am to round. It's pretty safe, plus your contract allows you to park in any TMC garage on weekends and from 6pm-8am on weekdays (great for the Ben Taub Surgery rotation when you work 7p-7a).

hospitals - you have to realize that we are not leaving Ben Taub or the VA. Those two hospitals (espeically Ben Taub) are where we really get the most out of rotations. That's where we're thrown in and learn how to swim really, really quickly. The private hospitals are great for having time to intellectualize medicine, but you'll do more rectal exams and sew up more lacerations in Ben Taub in one shift than you'll ever do at St. Lukes for the entire 2.5 years of rotations. The residency programs aren't really going to change or start anew just because we'll have a new hospital. I'm sure that a good majority of the Baylor docs that work at St. Lukes will just move over to the new hospital.

 

[OncoCaP]

couple of quick things -

scrubs - don't buy any... No need to buy them any time.

parking - someone asked about it...South Extension Lot....

hospitals - you have to realize that we are not leaving Ben Taub or the VA. ...

Thank you ms. a, generic, and latinfridley! You all are awesome.

 

[Anastasis]

Relationship between UTH and BCM is fine, no animosity.
BCM has a larger amount of NIH funding, larger endowment, accepts more competitive applicants, better avg USMLE step 1 score, greater integration into the medical center, etc....

Can you elaborate on what you mean by that?

 

[Anastasis]

Oh and for those of you who have glanced at the match list, do any of you remember off-hand how many people matched into EM?

 

[NCF145]

Oh and for those of you who have glanced at the match list, do any of you remember off-hand how many people matched into EM?

My friend at Baylor said there were five EM matches. I remember hearing that Baylor does not have an EM Department and that could be why they don't have many matches in that field.

 

[NCF145]

Or because they only had five people interested in matching in EM.

That is basically what I was getting at.

 

[serendipity88]

The Cardiologist I shadowed yesterday recommended the Litt Cardio III to me as well (with no prompting) so I think that's a pretty glowing recommendation

Does anyone here use Franklin Covey organization stuff? My family, in an attempt to get my sorry butt organized, has agreed to pay for a nice organizer (not a PDA though). Any suggestions?

I've used Franklin Covey stuff both on my tablet PC and their paper planners in the little binder things. I found them both very very helpful and easy to use. If they'll buy it for you, take advantage of it!

 

[OncoCaP]

If you are looking for an inexpensive but respected, durable, and reliable Littman Classic II steth (hardly used -- this was an extra), I know an MS4 who will sell his for $40.

Here is what it looks like:
http://www.steeles.com/catalog/3mclassII.html

 

[HumbleMD]

Alright, I expect big e-favors for doing this, but I've typed out the match list:

Anesthesiology: 13
Derm: 6
EM: 7
Family: 7
IM: 22
IM/Prelim (whatever that is): 2
Med/Peds: 3
Military: 1
Neuro: 4
Neurosurgery: 2
OB/GYN: 8
Patho: 2
Peds: 17
Peds-Child Neuro: 3
P.M.&R.: 1
Psych: 9
Rad: 8
Rad. Onc.: 0
Gen. Surgery: 4
Prelim. Surgery: 5
Optho: 7
Ortho: 8
ENT: 10
Plastics: 4
Urology: 3
9 unmatched, 6 other, whatever that means

 

[HumbleMD]

So I know I read about scholarships that Baylor offers at some point between application and now. Does anyone know if this is posted online or in the interview day materials? Also, Dr. Lloyd did say that the scholarship meeting is tomorrow, tuesday the 27th

 

[OncoCaP]

Alright, I expect big e-favors for doing this, but I've typed out the match list:
...

Thank you Humble! You're a huge help. I'm asking them to provide more information as well (information about specialty / location as well as explaining "prelim yr" and unmatched and "other."

 

[HumbleMD]

Thank you Humble! You're a huge help. I'm asking them to provide more information as well (information about specialty / location as well as explaining "prelim yr" and unmatched and "other."

I have the info on location for all specialties that don't require a transition year. If you're really interested in a certain specialty or location I could look it up. No guarantees on promptness though (mostly because I'm 3 glasses of wine into celebrating my UPenn acceptance and headed out soon).

 

[OncoCaP]

I have the info on location for all specialties that don't require a transition year. If you're really interested in a certain specialty or location I could look it up. No guarantees on promptness though (mostly because I'm 3 glasses of wine into celebrating my UPenn acceptance and headed out soon).

You got UPenn! Well, I don't want to cut into your celebration. Let's touch base when you're back to quasi-normal life.