I have only interviewed at UPMC, UMD, Wake, and Jeff. I am also a med student at one of these places.
Based on reputation (Doximity) Jeff > Wake > UPMC > UMD, but from my interviewing experience I will be ranking them UPMC>Jeff>UMD>Wake.
Jeff: happiness seemed to be on par with UMD, which prides itself on their collegial atmosphere, which is the only place that has been able to actually show that among its residents and faculty. Training is great and volumes are very high. Anything MRI you will get great experience, since they have 20+ scanners working 24/7, and their MSK is very strong. There's a definite lack of trauma, as most trauma in Philly goes north to Drexel or Temple. Peds is more than sufficient but you must travel to Delaware for DuPont during that rotation. Call was kind of overlooked at my interview day, and moonlighting is available but not frequent. Location is pretty amazing in Center City, and you can live very well on a decent budget. Program had very few perks outside of the standard AIRP, etc, and salary is on lower end. There is research, and they acquired a PETMRI and new PHD to do research with it, but Jeff is known for clinical > research. Didn't ask about jobs afterward.
UPMC: residents seemed to be happy but less aware of each other than at other programs, so unsure of how they got along as a group (also relatively large program at 11-12 spots/yr). Big drawbacks are needing to drive everywhere in Pittsburgh (transit is ok, and biking is possible but no one seemed to do it), and there are multiple hospitals you'll be rotating at. Their peds hospital is basically brand new and you're the only residents there, so residents enjoyed being the point of care for patients there. Volume is absurd, something like 2.4m studies / yr, and accordingly, moonlighting is absurd. Residents were saying there is more than enough to go around, and multiple residents made north of 120k/yr in residency. They didn't feel like any departments were weak, and there are few fellows. Definitely opportunities for research and involvement with GE, Google if you seek them out. Pittsburgh is hit or miss, I feel like residents loved it or hated it. It can be pretty isolating, as it's a 5hour drive from Philly or other more populated cities.
UMD: happiest residents and faculty by far. Everyone was happy to be there, proud of their job and institution. But make no mistake, it is in Baltimore. City is very cheap, and has nice amenities, but it's not always safe going between then. As a result, trauma training is incredible. Peds does suffer, as most peds goes to Hopkins. Residents also complained there's a lack of MSK MRI, although they're working to improve that. Other than that, seemed a decent program with decent volume and good fellowship matches. There is also some very interesting research going on with molecular imaging and using that as part of therapies (they show this off at interview day), so it is very easy to find projects if you're interesting, but it is not a focus. I didn't specifically ask about jobs after training, so I'm not sure about academic vs clinical.
Wake: program and location surprised me, but it definitely is out of the way. The town is your average small-middle-sized city with some revitalization going on, so there are amenities but it is far less than even Philly or Pittsburgh. The program has a nice geographic area from which it pulls and as a result there is a high volume and high variation in pathology. Residents and faculty didn't lie that it is a working residency, and it shows in job placement. They say residents frequently get into jobs where they want, and even filled 2 spots in Denver last year where there were only 2 jobs open in the whole city. On the other hand, they were decently vague about research, and residents willing to talk about it talked more about IT and business ends of things rather than clinical or basic research. Seems from that that many go into private practice rather than academics, although they are very involved with students.
I feel like getting into academics on the west coast will come down to connections and your fellowship, so go somewhere with strong training and strong matches to west coast programs.
