Family Medicine in Houston?

[studentxx8800]

Hey all, I'm a 4th year who is thinking of ranking a residency program in Houston as my number one (great training and cool people!) and although there is no guarantee in the match, I feel that I interviewed well enough to be somewhat confident to have a decent chance of matching there if I rank them number one. With all this being said, I do have some reservation about Houston. On my interview trails, I talked with multiple Texas students who have either rotated or currently going to schools in or near the city and many of them shared pretty negative experiences about people attitude toward FM physicians and FM in general as a field in the city. One student told me that since Houston has so many specialized top notch medical centers, a lot of patient don't really care for FM and usually go directly to specialist for benign problems. In addition, some share stories about how lots of specialists in the area look down on FM more than other areas that they've rotated at. Most people stay close in the area where they do their residency and with all this info, I'm not sure if I want to be in that kind of environment after I'm done with residency. I'm lucky to be at a state where FM is well respected with lots of healthcare organizations focus on FM as an important part of healthcare delivery. Can any attending who work in Houston comment on these info? Are they accurate? Are you happy with where you work at currently? Thank you so much

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[septoplasty]

I'm familiar with the market, however I don't work there. This might be a hospital system issue vs. anything else. PCPhysicians are in demand everywhere. If you look at the major systems around the city, all are hiring. If you called one of these systems and requested an appointment, there are several weeks of waiting before being able to be seen. The demand is there.

As for training, again, institution based. My opinion has always been, try not to train at big institutions where they have specialty training (i.e. fellowships, core residencies), as your experience will be less than ideal. As for respect, usually earned when you develop your core group of specialist. Specialist don't generally like patients going to them directly unless they've been referred, as more of their time is spent on doing the work up PCPhysicians will do prior to sending them to specialty.

 

[studentxx8800]

I'm familiar with the market, however I don't work there. This might be a hospital system issue vs. anything else. PCPhysicians are in demand everywhere. If you look at the major systems around the city, all are hiring. If you called one of these systems and requested an appointment, there are several weeks of waiting before being able to be seen. The demand is there.

As for training, again, institution based. My opinion has always been, try not to train at big institutions where they have specialty training (i.e. fellowships, core residencies), as your experience will be less than ideal. As for respect, usually earned when you develop your core group of specialist. Specialist don't generally like patients going to them directly unless they've been referred, as more of their time is spent on doing the work up PCPhysicians will do prior to sending them to specialty.

Thank you so much for the info! Much appreciated

 

[crazyboi1993]

Is your program unopposed? I feel like unopposed would be the best best!

 

[SXMMD]

One of my close friends trained in a Houston program, opposed.
Excellent training, wide range of experiences and malignant af program. They did run into respect issues, but came out of the program exceedingly well trained.

Opposed vs unopposed debate is silly. I am pgy3 in unopposed residency with colleagues equally well trained at opposed residencies. I suggest evaluating programs based on your professional and personal goals rather than oversimplifying it to opposed vs unopposed. Each system has it's merits and it's challenges.

 

[studentxx8800]

One of my close friends trained in a Houston program, opposed.
Excellent training, wide range of experiences and malignant af program. They did run into respect issues, but came out of the program exceedingly well trained.

Opposed vs unopposed debate is silly. I am pgy3 in unopposed residency with colleagues equally well trained at opposed residencies. I suggest evaluating programs based on your professional and personal goals rather than oversimplifying it to opposed vs unopposed. Each system has it's merits and it's challenges.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[galactus]

I practice academic FM in Houston, but I did train somewhere else in Texas. I feel like we train our residents pretty well, and they all get along with the other specialists residents/fellows. Then again I work in an institution were all specialties get along pretty well lol. Feel free to PM me if you need any more info about Houston!

 

[studentxx8800]

I practice academic FM in Houston, but I did train somewhere else in Texas. I feel like we train our residents pretty well, and they all get along with the other specialists residents/fellows. Then again I work in an institution were all specialties get along pretty well lol. Feel free to PM me if you need any more info about Houston!

Thank you!