MUSC, USC, Carolinas

In this region, I only interviewed at USC and I really liked it. This is only an outsider's opinion, but I thought all of the residents seemed very well-read, capable, autonomous and actually quite happy. I spoke to people who initially weren't happy that they matched there and have since changed their tune. OSB may be right that it is the least "impressive" of the region, but it seemed like a place where you would get great training. I agree with chilidipper regarding the good fellowships, etc. The attendings (including the Chair) were very welcoming and they seemed to respect the opinions of the residents as collegues.

Having lived only in big major cities (NYC, LA) - I even found Columbia a nice liveable city. There is some culture, nice climate and the cost of living is incredible. Having heard some of the rumors I would have to say -I little to support them - but again I only went for the interview and the social the night before - I did not rotate there.

The only thing that I did not like about it was the size - for me 2 per year is a bit too small, but this might not be the case for others.

You may be missing three other programs that are at least as good, if not better (for different reasons) than two and definitely better than one that you mentioned. I am speaking of UNC-Chapel Hill, Greenville, and Wake Forest.

As far as the ones that you mentioned, I interviewed at two of them, so I can comment there:
Duke: Highly academic, plenty of high powered staff, big cases, etc, etc. Too many fellows for me, not enough normal everyday trauma, but good if you want to do research and be a program chair.
USC: Least impressive program out of twelve I visited. Very odd chairman that creeped me out all day, residents that didn't seem happy to be there, bad city, etc. etc. Chilidipper is right that they have some great staff, nice people, but overall not a great experience. All the rumors were quite true for me.

MUSC: Been told by people that they don't think that it would be as highly thought of if it wasn't in Charleston, but then again, didn't interview there, and love Charleston.

Of the others, some quick notes:
Wake Forest: Plenty of trauma, good sports, nice town, nice faculty, residents are happy, kinda higher on the academic side. No real downers that I saw, except the six year track.
Greenville: Great location, very happy residents, community program with perks, good fellowships, friendly attendings/chair. Also no noted downers.
CMC: CMC and Greenville seemed very very similar, almost like brother programs. CMC's chair was a little different also, but no significant downers.
UNC-CH: College town, but can't afford to buy there, the staff was nice, but in a big flux over the past year. Nice facilities, good group of residents, plenty of trauma with wake-med thing, get to make fun of Dukies often.

As a guy from California, and going to med school in the midwest...I did not think I would be considered to much by the carolina programs or that I would like them all that much for that matter. I was lucky enough to interview at DUKE and USC and actually ranked them both highly. There is tons of DUKE info on this site if you search it out. However I never found much about USC going into things other than word of mouth. USC is very small but that adds to the benefits of the program. The residents almost all do fellowships and get placed into some of the best in the country in every specialty. They seemed like a bunch of fun people and I really got along with them in the short amount of time I got to spend there. The faculty were very enthusiastic and eager to teach. They have a very nice schedule so they are far from over worked and have great outside activities and moonlighting options that were quite impressive. The impression I got from them was that a rotation with them would go a long way towards matching there...just the sense I got.

I really enjoyed meeting the faculty in particular at USC because most of htem were younger guys and were very friendly and we just chatted alot about my extensive sports background and the abundance of outdoor activities all the residents enjoy there. The program felt very like a nice tight family and was very welcoming. If you really want to stay in the carolinas I would look into it very closely. I heard some bad rumors on the interview trail about them but I found them to be untrue from my own experience. Good luck