I too would like some information regarding the specifics of this process. My applications will be to APPCN (the neuropsychology match) programs and selected neuro postdocs which don't participate in the APPCN match.
The APPCN website does a decent job of cover 90% of the information. Read through their descriptions and FAQ section, and you should have a decent idea of what is going on. With that being said, there have been a couple of subtle changes to the APPCN match process in the last year or two that are worth noting. There have been more sites that have chosen to withdraw from the match system, which has put more pressure on match participants to have to choose between a pre-match offer or roll the dice and hope to get match. This isn't anything new per se, though some of the longest standing fellowships like Johns Hopkins (Psychiatry and Behavioral Science) and UCLA are now "free agents". APPCN has attempted to address the pre-match offer bind by establishing "response to preemptive offer" guidelines.
(copied from APPCN's site)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Response to preemptive offers: Prior to the Rank Order List Deadline, an applicant who receives an offer from a program not participating in the Match (i.e., a "preemptive offer") may contact a program participating in the Match and inform the program of the offer. The program may then provide additional, limited feedback to the applicant, as follows:
First, the following two conditions must be satisfied:
The program has been informed by the applicant prior to the Rank Order List Deadline that the applicant has received a preemptive offer from a program not participating in the Match, AND The program will be ranking the applicant high enough to be guaranteed a match (e.g., ranked first if the program has one position to fill, ranked in the top three if the program has three positions to fill).
If the two conditions above are satisfied, the program may then provide the following response to the applicant:
"We will rank you high enough to match with our program. You may match with another program if you rank that program higher, but if you rank us first, you will be guaranteed to match with us."
If a training site offers more than one track in the APPCN Match for which it submits separate Rank Order Lists, the site must specify in the response the track(s) to which the response applies.
Responses to applicants provided pursuant to this Policy 4e should be provided to the applicant in writing (e.g., by e-mail).
Programs that choose to provide this feedback in response to preemptive offers must submit Rank Order Lists for the Match that are consistent with any and all feedback provided to applicants in response to preemptive offers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So uhm....there's that.
To muddy the water further, there are a number of fellowships offered through division 22 that have strong neuropsychology components that may attract a portion of the APPCN application pool. Traditionally the top rehabilitation programs like to secure their people BEFORE the APPCN match deadline, so interviews happen much earlier than other division 22 fellowships to avoid losing out on APPCN match applicants. This past year the APPCN match deadline was moved up to a few days after INS, instead of a couple of weeks after INS, which gave less time to applicants to interview elsewhere. So while an applicant can still have an offer letter in hand, the timeframe for interviewing and hearing back from non-match sites shrunk.
Some neuro, some peds with heavy testing, one or two forensic, and a couple of safeties. I heard that it is such a small and competitive pool for post-docs (especially neuro and even more so pediatric neuro) so applying to all neuro positions was not the way to go. Maybe someone has some more info. If I can't get a formal position, don't want to be stuck pulling together some type of informal work experience situation to get licensed!
There are far fewer peds neuro positions, though I'm not sure if statistically they are harder to match to each year. The good news is that if you do secure a peds neuro position, you'll be in great shape for a job afterwards. INS has a "job board" every year, and this past year probably 2/3 of the jobs were peds neuro.
The overall match rate was 53% last year, so I'd definitely encourage applicants to cast a wide net. A formal post-doc is far preferred to an informal one. I'd
strongly suggest that you leverage any contacts you (or your mentor) have at fellowship sites because the competition is fierce.
Sorry if that isn't a rosey picture...but it is best to know what you are up against so you can prepare for it. I found the fellowship application process to be more stressful than internship because there were far fewer sites and far more quality applicants for each site.
