They are ridiculously happy. Academically sound and stable. All paper charting like most of the CA schools (Irvine and UCSF have AIMS at this point.) Self-supported residency (if you miss a day, one of your friends has to cover for you.) Beautiful area.
Very light-hearted, jovial atmosphere-- but also very boys-club. Expect cussing in the break room, trash on the couch, ect. If you can't deal with a program that has only 3 chicks, and jokes about how those chicks are forced to watch football on their call nights, its probably not the right place for you.
And no, not everyone's a surfer-- but it helps. 🙂