My stats: Fair bit of research, top quartile of my class, Step 1: High 220s, Step 2: 230s.
Rank List:
#1 U Michigan. I liked the program director, and Ann Arbor seems like a great place to hang out and stay young. Long interview day, and a lot of repeat information, but the program was impressive. The two centers arrangement is a great combination of community and academic environments, in my opinion. You know that "tingly" feeling people talk about? I got it here. The interview day was a little long, but impressive nonetheless. Not sure if I really care about flying on the helicopter, but they have a strong flight program, the chief we met with was in a flight suit the whole day. Great physical plant. Good mix of young and old faculty. This is my top choice subject to me not being scared off by the 4 year program, but right now Im trying to rank based on gut feeling without any consideration to 3 vs. 4 year. I reserve the right to change!
#2 Duke. The day started with "forum with the PD" which I had been told about on the trail. Was somebody trying to scare me off? It was relaxed (maybe they loosened up from feedback in the past?) and all it was a discussion on various topics led by the PD involving about half the interviewees (they divided us into two groups). Obviously, it was a way for the PD to get to know all the candidates in a relatively quick time frame, and to see how we all interacted with other people. It wasn't confrontational. I got to kind of "settle in" with some other nervous applicants, and i was much more relaxed by the time the interviews came around (which were relaxed anyway ... I didn't expect this at Duke!). Im not worried about any kinks
If I match here, Ill be the 5th class thru. The current residents say that things are established, and I battered them pretty hard at the dinner and lunch etc. to try and tease out any discord. New ED opening early to mid 2006; Young and energetic faculty with lots of great teaching so Im told. Joint conferences with UNC sounded cool because twice as many contacts! I have been to Chapel HIll/Durham before so i know the patient population is a mix of inner city (Durham) and rich university admin types, so you get a good mix of violent/penetrating trauma and bread and butter elderly emerg med! The night before was a really good time with >50% of the residents in the program attending the event!
#3 UNC. To be honest, I had a hard time choosing between Duke and UNC, so it might flip flop yet. Mainly, the deciding factor was trauma since Duke gets the pathology that goes along with the low socioeconomic population in inner city Durham, cool for me because Im a bit of a trauma junkie. On the other hand, UNC is the state burn center, very cool, but right now Im not placing that much emphasis on burns. Interview, again, of the non-confrontation variety. I felt extremely welcome by the other residents, and have no doubt I would be happy here. Living arrangement wise, this one and Duke are going to be about the same as the Chapel Hill-Durham area is pretty much a continuum, and residents are a mix of renters and homeowners. Joint conferences as mentioned above, so lots of contacts. I am prioritizing this because I think it will help when it comes to getting a top job at the end. Physical plant pretty good.
Best of the rest:
#4: Denver
#5: UNM
#6: Ohio State
Still waiting to hear from Carolinas, and a few others including Arizona programs.
Good luck!