Compare IM residencies in Houston, TX (Baylor, UT-Houston, Methodist)

[Susan Watts]

Im interested in several IM programs throughout Texas, Houston in particular - Baylor, Methodist, and UT-Houston. Can people from these programs, currently or alumni or even those who interviewed there relate their experience in terms of workload (malignant, cush, somewhere in btw), faculty support, how well they do for fellowships, some nice unique incentives, and general feel...would you go there again. I appreciate your input.

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[drfunktacular]

Methodist is definitely the cushiest of the three. BCM and UT-H have better reputations... which is the more prestigious is up for debate I suppose, but BCM tends to come out on top in things like USN&WR (although those rankings are essentially useless).

Houston is a great city, though.

 

[PartyPants]

Methodist is great for a transitional or prelim year because it IS so cush (and you get paid more and fed on a constant basis).

If you want more rigorous training, Baylor or UT are the way to go. Between the two, you have to go with whichever one better suits your personality, and you'll get a feel for both during interview season. BCM is very proud of its history and seems more formal and traditional. UT-Houston is more laid back (this goes from the attending level all the way down to the student level), and the program director is completely eccentric but loveable. Baylor probably has better didactics and also fewer (or no) FMGs, whereas at UT-Houston AMG's from allopathic schools are probably outnumbered by FMG's and DO's combined. This probably won't affect your overall training, as you would emerge a good physician from both programs; but you should go where you would feel most comfortable. I personally have had a UT-Houston affiliation and would have stayed there if I had actually wanted to remain in Houston because cards, renal, and pulm/cc there are pretty decent (and UT-Houston fellowship directors are very generous towards their own). Feel free to PM with any other questions you may have.

 

[Susan Watts]

Thanks for everyone's replies, I have heard Baylor can be pretty rough workload wise, is UT-Houston roughly the same or not?

 

[drfunktacular]

BCM can be rough, but I've heard that the UT-H residents really get worked on some rotations with certain attendings, and that they are not very forthcoming about this on interview days. I certainly got two very different vibes from my interview day vs. talking to UT-H MS4's who were trying like hell to match somewhere else...

 

[ResidentMD]

BCM can be rough, but I've heard that the UT-H residents really get worked on some rotations with certain attendings, and that they are not very forthcoming about this on interview days. I certainly got two very different vibes from my interview day vs. talking to UT-H MS4's who were trying like hell to match somewhere else...

Always something to be on the lookout for, I guess

 

[PartyPants]

BCM can be rough, but I've heard that the UT-H residents really get worked on some rotations with certain attendings, and that they are not very forthcoming about this on interview days. I certainly got two very different vibes from my interview day vs. talking to UT-H MS4's who were trying like hell to match somewhere else...

Drfunktacular is right: most of us medicine-bound MS4's were trying to match elsewhere unless there were personal reasons to stay in Houston. There was a perception of unhappiness and dissatisfaction among many of the housestaff who told us to try to match somewhere else, but being an intern at another institution has really shed some light, retrospectively, on how balanced and relatively light the workload at UT-H is. Interns never cap thanks to the sub-I's, and rarely would a team cap. Interns also do not have to do any cross-cover on call: all you do is admissions (this is huge), and my friends doing prelim year there are getting a minimum of 1 hr of sleep on call per night (sometimes up to 4 or 5 hours of sleep). If you're efficient and competent, you really should not be struggling at all.

 

[tachycore]

If you plan to do a competitive fellowship, expect to work during your residency.

The idea of landing into a cush IM program and then expecting to get a competitive fellowship seems absurd. At least a PD for a competitive fellowship will find it hard to take you seriously without demonstrated clinical competence. Personally, I'd rather and am actually in a Houston program that prepares me to handle any kind of of IM patient that walks through the door than one that makes me wonder what kind of actual training I received.

Fellowship lists are readily available at the two main Houston programs:
Baylor College of Medicine
http://www.bcm.edu/medicine/residency/?PMID=7021

UT-Houston
http://www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/imed/residency/match-list.html

Now it's just a matter of time before someone brings up the old BCM-Methodist split and why UTH MUST therefore be superior. I'll throw in the possibility of a Rice Univ.-BCM-Methodist merger to spicen up the debate, if it happens.

 

[ResidentMD]

If you plan to do a competitive fellowship, expect to work during your residency.

The idea of landing into a cush IM program and then expecting to get a competitive fellowship seems absurd. At least a PD for a competitive fellowship will find it hard to take you seriously without demonstrated clinical competence. Personally, I'd rather and am actually in a Houston program that prepares me to handle any kind of of IM patient that walks through the door than one that makes me wonder what kind of actual training I received.

Fellowship lists are readily available at the two main Houston programs:
Baylor College of Medicine
http://www.bcm.edu/medicine/residency/?PMID=7021

UT-Houston
http://www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/imed/residency/match-list.html

Now it's just a matter of time before someone brings up the old BCM-Methodist split and why UTH MUST therefore be superior. I'll throw in the possibility of a Rice Univ.-BCM-Methodist merger to spicen up the debate, if it happens.

I agree with you - this is a factor I am considering when applying to "backup" programs. Yeah, the program may be good, in a good city, whatever - but will a fellowship PD be confident of your clinical competence?

I have heard some very good things about Baylor training but that was a few years ago. It was one of the programs which markets itself on the training that you receive, rather than focusing on its name or fellowships (which are anyways excellent). Not heard much recently.

I wonder if someone can shed light on the UT Houston or Methodist programs regarding how competent you feel regarding your clinical training, yet whether that is coming at a price of you losing your sanity over being overworked (honestly being overworked).

On a side note, I'm hearing a lot about the Baylor-Rice merger. Can someone shed light on the implications of this?