Parzival__MD
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Hey guys,
I have been meaning to post on here and other forums for quite some time. First, I am a relatively recent grad from cards fellowship at UT Houston Cardiology (UTH). I wish you all the best of luck in the application cycle.
This is meant as a public service announcement about UT Houston Cardiology program. After training there, I can tell you it's probably one of the worst academic programs in the country.
1. The culture is horrendous. From day 1, you will be used as cheap labor to do scut work, refill potassium and see mindless consults at MD Anderson. The teaching is EXTREMELY poor, there is no curriculum and no PROTECTED teaching time. The attendings have no desire or ability to teach; you are there to keep the wheels moving and do their work. Most time if you are in conference you will be paged away to answer calls or consent patients. Attendings treat you more like residents or med students then colleagues. The PAs/NPs and device reps get treated far better than any of the fellows. I have heard from current fellows that they may be on probation from the ACGME as they were investigated last year for duty hour violations. The fellows also told me that some PDs forced fellows to falsify their duty hours to be compliant. That is INSANE.
You have to carry a spectra link mobile phone so nurses or anyone can call you 24/7 while in hospital.
You do 24 hour call and night call the first year which includes covering CCU(15-20 beds), Heart Failure ICU(40-60 beds!!!), CV ICU(15-20 beds), floor beds(50-60), ER consults/STEMI, EP consults, Private attending consults(yes, private attendings who you have never met before), supervise residents(many of which weren't signed off on lines in their 3rd year). That spectralink sound will give you PTSD.
2. Don't buy the "high volume center" nonsense. I have friends who trained all of the country in academic and community programs and they were always shocked about our workload. High volume just means more scut work for you. Also, high volume doesn't mean anything if you are not taught the basics or mentored properly. You may have the "numbers" as I did but I still didn't feel completely comfortable doing a TEE or cath completely on my own. I know most fellows leaving the program, despite 'high volume advanced heart failure center' are not comfortable troubleshooting IABP, ECMOs, LVADs, PA waveforms. I saw mutliple interventional fellows who trained at UTH struggle with basic diagnostic caths/radial access(most cases at UTH are femoral access which is NOT the norm anymore, most labs do > 80% radial approach). Resident scut work is fine but fellowship should be about honing your skills, having time to study and learning the nuances of the field imo.
3. Ask to see the schedule for the 3 years of training. You will quickly realize there are NO ELECTIVES in this fellowship even in your 3rd year. You get 1 month of nuc med in 3 years, yes only 1 month. Most of my colleagues at other programs had 6-12 months of electives in 3rd year to tailor their schedule. I was way behind my peers when i did advanced training as most of them were familiar with the basics. You are also always pulled to cover other BS when you are on your "research month"
There are plenty of great programs out there and if you really need to stay in Houston, the 3 other programs (Baylor, THI, Methodist) are better alternatives.
I wish someone had told me this when I was applying for fellowship and I happy to help any and all of you along with your journey.
I have been meaning to post on here and other forums for quite some time. First, I am a relatively recent grad from cards fellowship at UT Houston Cardiology (UTH). I wish you all the best of luck in the application cycle.
This is meant as a public service announcement about UT Houston Cardiology program. After training there, I can tell you it's probably one of the worst academic programs in the country.
1. The culture is horrendous. From day 1, you will be used as cheap labor to do scut work, refill potassium and see mindless consults at MD Anderson. The teaching is EXTREMELY poor, there is no curriculum and no PROTECTED teaching time. The attendings have no desire or ability to teach; you are there to keep the wheels moving and do their work. Most time if you are in conference you will be paged away to answer calls or consent patients. Attendings treat you more like residents or med students then colleagues. The PAs/NPs and device reps get treated far better than any of the fellows. I have heard from current fellows that they may be on probation from the ACGME as they were investigated last year for duty hour violations. The fellows also told me that some PDs forced fellows to falsify their duty hours to be compliant. That is INSANE.
You have to carry a spectra link mobile phone so nurses or anyone can call you 24/7 while in hospital.
You do 24 hour call and night call the first year which includes covering CCU(15-20 beds), Heart Failure ICU(40-60 beds!!!), CV ICU(15-20 beds), floor beds(50-60), ER consults/STEMI, EP consults, Private attending consults(yes, private attendings who you have never met before), supervise residents(many of which weren't signed off on lines in their 3rd year). That spectralink sound will give you PTSD.
2. Don't buy the "high volume center" nonsense. I have friends who trained all of the country in academic and community programs and they were always shocked about our workload. High volume just means more scut work for you. Also, high volume doesn't mean anything if you are not taught the basics or mentored properly. You may have the "numbers" as I did but I still didn't feel completely comfortable doing a TEE or cath completely on my own. I know most fellows leaving the program, despite 'high volume advanced heart failure center' are not comfortable troubleshooting IABP, ECMOs, LVADs, PA waveforms. I saw mutliple interventional fellows who trained at UTH struggle with basic diagnostic caths/radial access(most cases at UTH are femoral access which is NOT the norm anymore, most labs do > 80% radial approach). Resident scut work is fine but fellowship should be about honing your skills, having time to study and learning the nuances of the field imo.
3. Ask to see the schedule for the 3 years of training. You will quickly realize there are NO ELECTIVES in this fellowship even in your 3rd year. You get 1 month of nuc med in 3 years, yes only 1 month. Most of my colleagues at other programs had 6-12 months of electives in 3rd year to tailor their schedule. I was way behind my peers when i did advanced training as most of them were familiar with the basics. You are also always pulled to cover other BS when you are on your "research month"
There are plenty of great programs out there and if you really need to stay in Houston, the 3 other programs (Baylor, THI, Methodist) are better alternatives.
I wish someone had told me this when I was applying for fellowship and I happy to help any and all of you along with your journey.