Sorry, couldn't let this last message be the last word on our residency. Let me take it point by point.
1. We had a bunch of faculty leave in 2008-2009ish. One has since returned, but we didn't make it back to full staff until early this year. I did a 4th year rotation as a medical student, so I met some of the faculty involved, and I cannot claim that the faculty departing were all "better" than the faculty remaining, and some of the new ones are pretty awesome. I didn't know the outgoing ones as well, though, so take that for what it's worth.
2. Attending attendance at lectures has improved greatly. Not surprising, since at peak faculty loss those who were left were working a lot of extra clinical shifts; now that we're back at full staff, there are consistently 2-4 faculty at every lecture.
3. We've finally gotten simulation back up and running monthly, now that the faculty are no longer working as many extra clinical shifts.
4. I don't know who this interviewee was talking to about "staying silent" when asked about curriculum change. The curriculum changed between my 4th year elective and my intern year, and (I think) has been tweaked every year since.
5. We don't spoon-feed anyone EMS, and I fear the basic EMS education for anyone not doing the assistant medical director program is less than optimal. The interns are now scheduled EMS days into their ED schedule, but I don't think they do any less clinical time than I did (in other words, EMS time wasn't on your "day off," rather it was a day you were expected to work but didn't have scheduled. Now it's scheduled). (That said, if you do the assistant medical director program, your EMS time is going to be more than just riding on the ambulance, which I did enough of in my previous career, thank you.)
6. The seniors at the time were working longer shifts for 2 reasons: they were the last class of 8 residents (we now take 10), and one of their members was fired. Not "left"--fired. We did have one of our interns leave at the end of the 2010-11 year...to be closer to her daughter. (She's already been replaced, ironically by someone with the same first name.)
7. Our health system is being bought by the region's dominant insurer, and one of the closed hospitals is re-opening early next year.
The city itself, by the way, is probably the most underrated city in the world. Not the best, just the most underrated. And you can afford to live here on a resident's salary.