Avoid programs with accreditation cycles 3 or less years. The process is based on meeting requirements and resident feedback. Meeting requirements is often fluffed up a bit if a program can't do certain things, like in NYC I remember almost no place handled any real trauma, they all went elsewhere so residents would count almost anything as trauma. But that being said if you're having problems meeting the MINIMUM requirements then what is your program doing? There are no transplants or crazy things on the requirement list, they are things every anesthesiologist should know.
The second part is resident feedback, this I think is what gets people in trouble. Some programs, even 'big names' use their residents as work horses, provide very little education. They produce people who will struggle in their first. You can get a 4 yr accreditation for being late with paperwork or maybe being weak in one area the acgme finds out about but three or less is a problem, especially if its repeated because it shows faculty don't respond to problems. That being said having a 4-5 yr doesn't mean you're great, it means that program is at least doing the minimum
The funniest thing on the interview trail you'll find is that every resident thinks their program has its faults and is a little wacky but is overall good, just like a persons family. The trick is finding one you fit on with. Like when I was looking I looked for the smaller programs, these are usually the 'hidden gems,' I wanted a place where the faculty knew their residents and they weren't just an afterthought to academic thumb twiddling. However I know one of my friends wanted to go to a big academic place and liked a large class
