I'm a current fellow at Northwestern and can attest to the fact that you will be well prepared for any private practice environment if you train here. The division chief emphasizes efficiency and streamlining the clinic to make it very productive; he previously worked in private practice so he knows how to train you to succeed. There's also ample support staff: 2 MAs, 2 XR techs, a clinic manager, a program coordinator, a research RN who answers patient calls and a PA for med management appointments. Some programs don't even have one XR tech, which blows my mind! There is no waiting around for an hour to present to your attending like at some programs - you're paired with an attending for the day and you see (almost) all the patients and do all the procedures. I'll actually be taking an academic position in California so there are definitely opportunities for research (I mean - Benzon sees patients in clinic two days a week so clearly you have a good contact) but research is not required. The total number of procedures has to be near the top 5%ile in the nation but we're still out of there by 4:30 every day. We do lotssss of WCRF of SI, C/T/L spine and knee (this would be a huge money maker in private practice), conventional RF, lots of ultrasound based procedures (hip, TGN and stellate ganglion blocks - U/S bills exceptionally well for those of you concerned about RVUs) many stims and a fair but not exhausting number of pumps. We even do discos because despite the controversy they have diagnostic value and certain surgeons need them to make a plan for spine intervention in clinically challenging patients.
The majority of your year is in the clinic doing interventions but we have 3 total weeks of rehab throughout the year and you fine tune physical exam skills during those weeks, then 2 week rotations in psych and palliative. You also do some time at Children's clinic but the only acute pain you do is on call (every sixth weekend) unless you're aggressive and try to do more electively. Oh AND the fellowship director is pretty much the best thing about the program - she's approachable, has get togethers at her home downtown and will definitely go to bat for you to get your ideal position. Ok enough gushing about NMH - on my interview trail it seemed another good private practice location was BID: not a strong emphasis on research and a very efficient process for seeing patients - but then you don't get to live in downtown Chicago
I have also heard that Vandy has great training for private practice but I didn't interview there so that's just the rumor. Rush in Chicago also does a fair number of procedures but again I didn't interview there. Good luck!!