There are SO many good programs on the east coast...
I love MGH. I think it is very difficult in terms of hours at the hospital, but the teaching is excellent, the specimens are exquisite, the volume is incredible.
I am SURE columbia, like many others, is a fantastic program. I do not think there is one "best." You have to know what you want and then compare it to the program. At this point I can speak very fluidly about SUNY Upstate (I was a post-sophomore fellow there) and now MGH. I see virtues to both programs and have heard of or witnessed incredible success stories from both.
MGH *is* incredible. I keep waiting for it to swallow me, but in reality they make us perform at our peak...and then keep us there. I think this must be how you feel surfing---you catch the crest of the wave and ride it out, knowing how much it would suck to fall. But then you realize that you do not have to fall after all. That you are doing just fine on your own, in a huge wave.
Its been a pretty incredible experience here so far. I do get tired, but I seem to go to work refreshed everyday.
Mindy