Coming out of TX with Step scores in the 240-250 range, mediocre pre-clinical grades, excellent clinical grades with honors in two EM rotations. Strong research background in emergency medicine and education.
In no particular order, but the Bay Area programs were my top three-- despite major reservations about going from the city with the best cost of living to the city with the worst, I just think it'll be a cool place to live and train for a few years, and provide opportunities for my SO and myself to get involved with interesting work opportunities and research opportunities in the health IT sector.
UCSF - Really liked this program's emphasis on education, and the design of their curriculum -- 4 years is longer than Stanford, but the 4 years seem to be a solid investment, especially if you're interested in academics on the west coast/NW, where most programs are four years and they'll want fellows or attendings who trained at four year programs. 8s > 12s for me. Residents seem happy, faculty is interested in teaching and making a strong program. Very tightly affiliated with Highland, including the new PD, so I'm hopeful that some of the Highland personality traits will rub off on this program as Dr. Fee contineus to bulid it from a fairly new program into a powerhouse. Many people seemed hung up on the idea that you don't "own" procedures here in trauma as you might in other programs-- I don't mind this as much. Four years is a long time and I feel like I'll get plenty of experience. Also, I feel like EM and surgery/anesthesia are team players in trauma management have a lot to learn from/teach each other.
Stanford - Again, huge emphasis on education here. Stanford also has a tighter affiliation with Kaiser, which is appealing to me from a research/policy junkie standpoint. Clinically, I wish they had more time at their county site, but it seems like residents come out of here very well-trained. Like UCSF, cost of living is a factor-- though the salary here and bonuses are the best anywhere, it still will be expensive to live anywhere near where you work, and you have to commute a lot. Loved the PDs, loved the interview day, and will be very happy if I match here.
Highland - Loved everything about this program. Went in early to attend their didactics on interview day, and was very impressed at the excellence of instruction and the collegiality/happiness of the residents. Really fun group, and if you're signing up for four years of county in Oakland, you want to be with people like that. Watched "The Waiting Room" and this just deepened my respect for the community integration and social justice aspects of this program, which I'd also be ecstatic to match it. Possibily less affiliated with the tech side of things than Stanford/UCSF, which is partially a reason I'm drawn to the Bay Area, but I feel like I'd be the best clinically if I went here.
Harborview - Loved Seattle, but this program still feels like it's shaking off the vestiges of their former anti-EM head of the ED/director of Medic One. EMS experience here is obviously excellent by reputation and I love the experience you could get managing patients from all over the NW, but I also feel like it's sort of overhyped in terms of CARES data reporting. But that's a topic for another time. Harborview itself seems like an amazing county hospital, though here I think you'll get the least amount of experience running traumas-- I was concerned by, and never received a response to, an article published by their trauma anesthesiologists that said that at their center anesthesia does ALL the airways in trauma. I don't mind sharing, but I want the experience and that's a dealbreaker for me.
Denver - It's been said before, great training, brutal lifestyle. The lack of deprecated number of shifts as a function of PGY bummed me out. At the same time, you get enough time off to explore the mountains and it's a great city with low CoL. Fantastic reputation, could probably go anywhere coming out of here.
MGH/BWH - This program will eventually be a powerhouse, I think-- Ron Walls being chief is a huge deal, and obviously this place has resources for days. They have an incredibly productive research focus, and the infrastructure to get anything done you want. Downsides are basically living in Boston-- I'm just a west coast kinda guy, I think.
BID - Three years v. four, and more community sites v. 2-3 central hospitals you spend almost all your time at. That's the biggest difference between here and Partners. Also, they have an EM/CC guy who is a beast at post-arrest and sepsis research, which is a interest of mine, and a lot of really cool tech research in their ED. Again, not really wanting to live in Boston, but if I did I'd love this program.
OHSU - Beautiful campus, very nice people, Portland is an awesome city with a low cost of living. VA hospital here, which is sort of unique among the programs I interviewed at. The volume here *is* less than other sites, though as their PD says, "You'll see more patients here per resident and make up for it". I'm not really sure what this means, but I don't know that I buy it in terms of clinical excellence coming out.
UCLA/Harbor - Cool program, new ED, famous faculty, seemed kinder/gentler/happier than USC but still county. Their trauma M&M made it seem like the relationship they had with their colleagues was decent, and the residents all seemed nice and looking forward to doing whatever they wanted next year. Southern CA < Northern CA for me, but if I wanted to live in LA this would probably be my choice.
USC - Great faculty here, obviously. The size and volume at this place is a little intimidating, but I think it could yield clinical readiness for literally anything. Code Black obviously showed a side of LAC, and they seem proud of that.
Hennepin, UT Houston, UT Austin, UW Madison, King's County, Maine -- All great programs, especially Hennepin (amazing, just have to live in Minneapolis), Austin (will be the most desirable program in TX soon and provide huge opportunities to educate med students at UT Austin).
Last but not least (and definitely not ranked last, but I don't want to stay for the usual reasons anyone would want to go out and diversify their knowledge base / life experience): UT Houston-- highest trauma volume in the country, amazing faculty, happy residents, good county/tertiary care mix, endless job opportunities when you're done, and lots of intradisciplinary research happening. I went to medical school and worked closely with the faculty here, and give them all the credit for my ability to interview at a ton of amazing places and have the opportunity to leave TX-- I may yet come back for fellowship, or maybe for one of these sweet high-paying Texan jobs once I'm done.
Well, just got the e-mail that I matched somewhere. We will see where! Good luck in the match everyone!