Axel Rodriguez
Let me just summarize by saying that when I arrived at the Department of Anesthesiology at UTMB for my residency interview, I was well qualified but an "outside-the-box" applicant. This program could have shunned me; in fact I was half expecting it. But as soon as I walked in, faculty members as well as residents were genuinely friendly and freely shared a trove of information about the experience there. Minutes after the naturally stressful interviews were over, I started talking with faculty members and residents about the clinical experience, the academics, as well as life in general. The easy- going personality of the program was a distinct contrast to the somewhat abrasive environment of my clinical rotations in the New York area. I then knew this would be my first choice in my rank order list and months later could not believe my luck when I matched there.
Now that I have recently completed Board Certification, I am awed by and feel immensely thankful for the opportunity I had. You'll work hard at UTMB, but if you have chosen well, you will love every minute of it. The academic preparation is solid and constantly improving; in fact; I actually wish I could remember everything I heard at the daily morning lectures. The clinical exposure is phenomenal, in both breath and depth. Faculty members will exude knowledge, experience and pure wisdom in an amazing array of variability in style and clinical strength. The resident that learns to tap that wealth of knowledge effectively will be very well prepared. When I finished my training and started work in private practice 10 months ago, I had the normal fears about not ever having the attending to turn to anymore, or being ready to supervise CRNAs with two decades of experience. Certainly, I have had my fair share of challenging cases that make our specialty so humbling. But my training has not failed me. I have found out that I was in fact ready but also trained well by some of the best there is.
Bradley J. Reid, MD
“…I already knew so much about the program and had already fallen in love with it. The residents are exposed to a variety of interesting cases and leave the program feeling well-prepared for the real world. Additionally, there seems to be great camaraderie between the residents and faculty. Everyone appears to have mutual respect for one another and get along even outside of the OR. The faculty with whom I worked were very open to teaching and were patient with me, even in the beginning when I was still learning my way around. Attending the daily conferences, I was impressed with the quality of the program’s didactics and with the board pass rate. Finally, the residents seem very happy overall. No one I worked with ever had a bad thing to say about the program and were all happy with their decision to attend UTMB.
The qualities listed above that I found in the program are exactly what I was searching for, and I consider myself very fortunate to have found them all in one place. None of the other places I interviewed came close to meeting the high standards that UTMB had set…”
Nicholas DeFilippis
When applying to residency, I knew very little about UTMB, and was set on staying in Houston for my training. All this changed on the interview day just shortly before the match. I was immediately impressed by the residents and faculty who went out of their way to answer my questions and make me feel at home. Out of all the schools at which I had interviewed, none came close to matching the unique combination of a friendly, laid-back working environment and superb quality of training I found at UTMB. Furthermore, only a handful of programs in the US are designed to offer interns 6 months of anesthesia experience. The shoe fund, book fund, laptop, and paid late-rooms were just icing on the cake! I changed my match list right after the interview to rank UTMB #1, and it's one of the best decisions I have made.
A Day In The Life of An UTMB Anesthesiology Resident…
Monica J. Oldenburg, MD
" I think the one best thing is the people we work with. It is a very nice group of residents. "
Grace Huang, MD
" The family atmosphere is the best thing about the residency. Everyone is looking after each other and helping each other out whenever necessary. We always have a good time at work and outside of work together. "
Mario T. Cancemi
" That people generally get along well and we are friends. Also, the late rooms and the opportunity to pick up extra cash. ”