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Just FYI and clarity purposes, ACP/AAFP/AAP do not set standards for residencies and in fact none of the specialty colleges have anything to do with residency standards.
Residency standards are set by the ACGME and the respective specialty board (e.g. ABIM/ABFM/etc.) and on the AOA side by the AOA and the respective osteopathic specialty board (e.g. AOBIM).
One should definitely go where they are happy because as you mentioned happiness does increase your chance for success. But just because all programs meet the minimum standards doesn't mean they all provide equal education/opportunities. Also the concept of malignancy is very important and often forgotten by medical students.
Is there a difference in quality of education between place that's ranked 50th vs 70th (or 30th vs 60th)? No
Is there a difference in quality of education between a mid-tier university program and a random 200 bed community program? ABSOLUTELY
Congratulations to you and all other matched OMS-IVs as well!
Just for the sake of questioning: what would the negative impact be if one did their residency in the "random 200 bed community program?" I certainly wouldn't prefer this, but with the difficulty that DO's face in matching competitive fields (even talking about gen surg), what would the downsides to a poor residency location be, aside from general unhappiness. Upon graduation, would the prospects for hire be any better/worse or are you talking about purely the level of skills the surgeon/clinician would have following a poor residency placement?