the San Francisco Orthopedics Residency Program is indeed a little gem which few people are familiar with, however, more and more people are finding out about it. i am a second year there, so i know a few things about the place. we do indeed interview only 12 people per year, A LOT of them will be rotators.
it is not unlike many other community-based programs in that we get to operate very early (5 months into my 2nd year now, i have done tons of joints, some sports, hand, and trauma; i'd say that i was the primary on at least 50% of those cases, 1st assist on the rest); weak on research, but plenty of opportunities and you just have to be self motivated; lifestyle here is nothing to complain about, intern year is a joke, i played plenty of golf and got adequate number of skiing days, the next four years will be all home call q4; we also lack the crazy hierarchy and politics that exist in most high power academic institution; graduates get surprisingly good fellowships every year.
overall, it is just a pleasant place to be, both the program and the city.