Dude, what are you asking? The interview impressions are exactly what you are talking about unless you assume people are lying anonymously. If they are lying there, why would they tell the truth when you ask, "No really, tell me the real deal about the programs, because I want the real deal, not the fake deal."
If you look at 'em, they seem to be pretty true - MSKCC is
amazing but they work their tails off, MDACC is the cancer mecca of the
galaxy, Harvard residents are the most
funnest and
bestest, but Pitt remains the greatest residency program ... ever.
In all seriousness, there are a few "malignant" programs, but the rest are pretty great and offer varying educational, research, and clinical experiences in different cities. Having interviewed at a ton of practices and working with people from all over, people's experiences aren't a whole lot different. This isn't medicine or surgery, it's just different. Most programs are small, you interact with a small number of faculty, and not much changes in the program year-to-year. Yes, most people are not going to say, "Dr. SimulD was such a prick and I couldn't imagine training under him" or "Gfunk doesn't know his elbow from his level III lymph nodes," but at the same time, if you are complaining about rad-onc residency, what aren't you going to complain about?
-Simul
I rotated at a place where the residents seemed blindsided by their workload and hours; when I read the reviews of this place on sdn they don't stack up at all to what I saw there. So I don't want to find myself in the same position as those residents. We're so busy being pc and fair here that it feels like a disservice.
