This post is not meant to start a pi$$ing contest. The point of it is to help applicants know where programs stand from an academic standpoint. This by NO means ranks the best program, as there is no such universal program. The best program is the one you match at and fits your career goals and lifestyle aspirations. By academic standpoint, I mean: graduates pursing academic careers, research grants, research facilities, research staff, well known academians, cutting edge surgical procedures and development, Programs with all subspecialty areas covered and with depth, referral centers, publication output, graduates going into academically oriented fellowships, etc. This list is based on MY own conversations with academians, other residents, and publication and presentation observation. It is not a definitive list as it is opinion and there is no “right” list. I hope that it opens up mature dialogue about this subject and is helpful to those applicants applying. Please post any changes you would make, discussion is the point. Any ACGME sponsored program will provide adequate training and the trick is to find what suits your tastes, I hope this helps those with more academically oriented tastes. Cluster A UCLA Pitt Rush U Iowa Hopkins Harvard Mayo Clinic Washington U St. Louis U Rochester Hospital for Special Surgery Columbia NY Presbyterian Hospital for Joint Diseases Duke Case Western Cleveland Clinic U Penn Jefferson U Washington U Utah Cluster B: UC Davis UC San Diego UC San Francisco Yale University of Florida Emory Northwestern U Michigan Dartmouth Mt. Sinai UNC Brown U Tennesee Memphis Campbell Clinic Vanderbilt UT Southwestern U Wisconsin U Virginia Cluster c USC University of Alabama UC Irvine Stanford Colorado University of Connecticut Georgetown George Washington Jackson Memorial U Chicago Loyola Indiana U Maryland Boston U William Beaumont Royal Oak U Minnesota Wake forest Carolinas Ohio State Oregon Health Sciences Penn State Hershey UT San Antonio Baylor U Vermont Cluster D: University of Arizona University of Arkansas Loma Linda Harbor-UCLA Orlando Regional Medical College of Georgia U Illinois Chicago U Kansas Louisiana State New Orleans Union Tufts U Massachusetts Henry Ford Grand Rapids St. Louis U UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson U New Mexico Albany Albert Einstein Buffalo Lennox Hill SUNY Upstate Summa Cincinnati Mt. Carmel Louisville U Oklahoma Drexel Temple U South Carolina UT Galveston UT Houston Texas Tech Lubbock Texas AM Virginia Commonwealth Medical College of Wisconsin West Virginia University