I am not really sure by what you mean by "malignant" (everyone has their own definition) but I can tell you that being a former Vandy med student, and currently an internal medicine intern elsewhere, that I thought Vandy's medicine program was excellent- the attendings were great, teaching quality, and the schedule was not all that bad (compared to what I am doing now, anyway) I frequently think back to how great the float system was there and how a lot of the time the team signed out around 2 or 3PM on the wards, especially post call. The only problem for me is that I am more of a city person and I became claustrophobic in Nashville.
I know that Wash U is a quality program that is not brutal as well- they have a very large intern class which makes for better coverage. Great reputation- Not sure of the hours though. Hope this helps a bit.
