I have no interest in academics or research. I can grit my teeth and get through a few years of bad location if necessary during residency years. What is the motivation for going to top programs vs bottom ones? To me the only thing that matters is financial considerations and return on investment--do these come into play?
I did some research as an undergrad and don't want to do anymore, ever.
You're asking a good question, though I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be shocked that there are people who actually (gasp) don't care whether their program is "top" or not. You're with the rest of the world who aren't in medicine. Look for the practical things that other people usually look for in a workplace:
1)
Go for a hospital that is MAKING money, not losing money. Your ancillary support staff will be that much better for it and it will save your intern's life a lot of headache. Top academic residencies are usually at money-making hospitals, but there are plenty of community-based residencies also at hospitals that make a lot of money. If you interview in a range of places, you will usually be able to tell (often just by the look of the facilities and by the existence of building plans for expansion) which hospitals are making money, and which ones aren't.
2)
Go to a region where you are willing to live. And that does not have to be Manhattan, Boston, San Francisco or other competitive locations. You can enjoy life in the middle of nowhere -- that's all about how you approach life.
3)
Go to a program that is NOT on probation. For obvious reasons. If you can.
The rest, as you say, doesn't really matter. "Average" is more than okay (unless your ego won't tolerate it), and good for you for enjoying the freedom of being average.
But after you start your residency, you'll probably find that the little niggles of workplace culture do matter. For example, 3/4 of the way through my intern year at an "average" community hospital, I found I was getting sick of going to work with a group of people who go to work, complain about hating working, and look forward to going home at the end of the day. It's a long day of waiting to go home when you arrive and start waiting at 7am, only to go home just before 6pm. I wanted to say, "Uhhh, don't you want to show even a LITTLE bit of enthusiasm for being here?"
So I'm excited to be moving on to a residency at a place where people are actually really interested in the subject, and not just interested in going home -- but that is only marginally related to the reputation of a program, and you can find better attitudes in average places too.
