You are going to have mixed reviews of just about any program. Just like you will probably do well at just about any program if you are a hard worker/independent studier.
Didactics should be an integral part of any program. For your written boards you need a solid knowledge base that will come from lectures, text book reading, and clinical experience. Ask about written board pass rates for the different programs. If the rates are low, or were low in the past, you should ask what the program has done/is doing to improve this. There will always be people who take tests poorly, have bad days, etc., but a consistently low written board pass rate should be a red flag.
Are any of the programs on probation, or were they on it recently? What has changed to improve the program as a result of that? How long is there ACGME accreditation good for? If they were accredited for 3 or 4 years last time, it is likely a solid program. A 1 year accreditation would be a red flag.
As someone else mentioned, a smaller program can make it harder to adjust for call schedules. But it may also build more collegiality.
Maimo residents do not really get acute trauma exposure. Nor do they do lots of burn cases. I trained there and feel I got a good experience. I love the program director. She is a true residents advocate. But things change from year to year. I left 2.5 years ago. Talk to the residents, and see what they have to say. When I was a resident we met with the interview candidates for lunch in the absence of attendings. So you should be able to get a true feel for what the residents think of the program.
I did a Burn ICU rotation as a 4th year medical student, and it was all from the surgical side. But I had no hesitation stepping into the Burn OR at my current institution as an attending, because I had a solid grasp on the academic aspects.
I am also at a trauma center. So while I have not been scheduled in the trauma ORs, we get a lot of the stabilized patients for their first or subsequent post-trauma surgeries in the main OR. There are a lot of facial fractures. I hadn't seen any facial fractures in residency, mainly lots of hips and long bone fractures. I took my general principles and picked up on other aspects by talking to my colleagues and surgeons. It was not a detriment
St. Barnabas is in a suburban area (Livingston, NJ). The patient population there is different than that of Maimonides, which is different than that of Downstate. Maimonides is in a more upscale area than Downstate. Is location important to you?
Assuming you didn't get bad vibes from any of the programs, look at these other aspects. Only you can decide what program is best for you.
