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- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 505
- Reaction score
- 502
- Points
- 4,921
- Attending Physician
There aren't many community hospitals with neuro residencies at all. With that said, there are many mid-tier residencies that really don't care much about research on the part of residents (much more care for faculty). I personally don't enjoy research at all, and have largely been able to avoid it in residency and fellowship. The research is there if you want it, but you are not forced to do it. One or two small pubs is already enough to match neuro/have something to talk about in the interview so you don't need to do much more particularly with how busy third year gets in med school. Fellowships in neurology are not competitive overall, and you likely won't need to do much if any research to get one. It is even possible to get name brand fellowship spots without research (or maybe a small project in process). Going from mid-tier residency to name brand fellowship (and vice versa) is not uncommon either.
FM, PM&R, gas, and path attract vastly, vastly different personalities than neuro (and different from each other with little overlap). Make sure this field is what you want to do with your clinical rotations.
FM, PM&R, gas, and path attract vastly, vastly different personalities than neuro (and different from each other with little overlap). Make sure this field is what you want to do with your clinical rotations.
- Joined
- May 2, 2010
- Messages
- 432
- Reaction score
- 34
- Points
- 4,651
- Medical Student (Accepted)
How much does USMLE scores and personal statement matter at this point?
What do they want to see in the personal statement?
What do they want to see in the personal statement?
- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 505
- Reaction score
- 502
- Points
- 4,921
- Attending Physician
I'm not adcom, academic, or on any selection committees so someone who has had that experience will know details better, but I'd want to know with a personal statement how one came to decide on neurology in the context of their own personal background/life. It doesn't need to be stellar, it just needs to show passion for the field and explain a bit about yourself and how you connected with neurology.How much does USMLE scores and personal statement matter at this point?
What do they want to see in the personal statement?
USMLE scores are a nearly direct correlate to the likelihood of you passing neurology boards. First time board passage rates for neurology residencies are closely tracked, and a single board failure causes a lot of consternation in program administration and is publicly available for four years in the average pass rate statistic. Every program wants that to be 100% and it is doable until you take an academically marginal candidate which programs occasionally do for various reasons and then hope that they can coach/teach the individual up enough to pass. Alternatively some programs wind up with residents who are lazy, not talented enough to make up for the laziness, and fail for that reason. RITE exam scores in training correlate very well with neurology board pass rates and most programs do what they can to ensure you'll pass assuming you start out at a good point in general medical knowledge.
Also- as an aside I think not listing step 1 scores simply hurts every medical student who is not from a top program, as everything is riding on the step 2 CK score now as far as that crucial metric indicating whether you'll pass boards eventually.