Here's my list so far, but very subject to change. Right now, Duke and UNC are tied for 1st. Any opinions welcome!
1. UNC- Excellent training; residents work hard; Good mix of trauma/transplants/peds/OB/regional; great people; didactics seem excellent but not overbearing, a good amount of learning-by-doing (which is a + for me); lack of cardiac fellows means that residents get the ‘big’ cases and do a bunch of TEE; culture seems very supportive. Also a growing research emphasis.
1. Duke- Also excellent training, particularly thoracic/cardiac. A possible drawback seems the culture—I had two residents imply on interview day that there is a systemic disrespect for Anesthesiology (they said residents are often yelled at by surgeons in the OR); Otherwise seems like great cases, good didactics, and planty of research opportunities.
3. UPMC— Great training all-around; Plenty of research; PD is great. Pittsburgh is a great city and is affordable. Possible drawback is the commuting to several clinical sights, but not a big deal
4. Virginia Mason- Smaller department, residents work very hard, but also LOTS of focus on resident education. Exceptional regional, but also good exposure in other areas with rotations at Harbourview/Childrens/Swedish. Faculty are very close-nit and invested in residents.
5. Johns Hopkins
6. Stanford (Would have been higher, but $$ cost of living, and traffic is horrendous. Also, my wife wants to get her MPH, and the nearest program is Berkeley, which is a pretty bad drive.)
7. Wake Forest (Exceptional training all around, no fellows, serious focus on resident education--Would have been higher, even #1, but Winston-Salem also doesn't have an MPH program)
8. UMD
9. UW
10. GWU
11. Baylor
12. UT-H