I don't think it's fair to any of the programs to rank them because I'm sure each has their pros and cons, and different people are better suited to different programs.
I can speak for Stanford, which I think is an amazing program, and is definitely on the up and up. The inpatient training has always been super strong, including working in a rehab trauma center with high quads being weaned from vents. I think if you have an interest in SCI, you can't do better. The outpatient training is also very good.... I did at least half my time in outpatient, including doing Sports medicine with a lot of elite athletes, and now there are four months of Spine. The Spine attendings are both just amazing and are trying to ramp up the number of injections. As for EMGs, there's one dedicated EMG rotation where you get to do lots, but there are multiple other rotations from PGY2 to PGY4 where you do maybe 10 EMGs per week, so there is no problem getting over 200. The seniors also get to do a peds rotation, which used to be a weak point in the program, but now I feel 100% ready for the peds questions on the boards.
The education is great. Stanford has a Wed morning lecture series, which is protected teaching time, and this year I think the residents are going to get to do time in the anatomy labs. Each site also has its own noon lecture series too. Many of the attendings are young and very eager to teach.
The call is taken from home. It can admittedly get kind of bad at SCVMC, but at the north campus you might get one page per night. As a senior, you are mainly at north campus.
The only possible negative is that coming out of residency, I don't feel prepared to go do spine injections on my own. Then again, other residents in my program felt differently and honestly, that wasn't an interest of mine. The residents who were interested in Pain all found great fellowships.
All in all, I think Stanford is a great program!
