Child Neurology vs. Pediatrics

[HalfwaytoMD]

Hi!
I'm an MS3, who until this week was 100% doing general pediatrics. I loved my pediatrics rotation, but I am just now doing an elective in child neurology and I really love it. So much, that it's making me question what I want to do specialty wise.

With the Child Neurology being mainly filled by fourth year medical students (not graduating pediatrics residents), I feel like I should make this decision sooner rather than go through a complete pediatric residency before deciding. My concern is that I'll have a harder time matching in child neurology just due to the lack of positions available across the country, compared to pediatrics. There's also a much higher number than normal of students in my class planning on going into child neurology - which scares me, making me think there could be more nation wide.

My grades are decent (1 B, rest As - all As on clinical rotations), unsure of my class rank, step 1 in 240s, lots of volunteer experience, Gold Humanism, but no research.

I guess my question is if people who have matched into this in the past could comment on how competitive I would be for child neurology. I'll probably be looking to apply broadly in the Southeast and possibly some in California - no interest in Northeast.

Thanks in advance!

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[Postictal Raiden]

Child neuro is not competitive at all. Several spots go unfilled every year. IIRC, Loma Linda has not been able to fill their child neuro position for past 3 cycles.

Your step1 is good for any field, let a lone child neuro.

Btw, there’s a huge shortage of child neurologists. The career prospects are great!

 

[Thama]

Child neuro in general isn't competitive but because most programs are so small the competitiveness at any given program can be strangely high. You can't really count on the match working out in your favor in the same way that you can with larger programs, and so even highly competitive applicants tend to apply pretty broadly.

 

[babybrains]

Hi!
I'm an MS3, who until this week was 100% doing general pediatrics. I loved my pediatrics rotation, but I am just now doing an elective in child neurology and I really love it. So much, that it's making me question what I want to do specialty wise.

With the Child Neurology being mainly filled by fourth year medical students (not graduating pediatrics residents), I feel like I should make this decision sooner rather than go through a complete pediatric residency before deciding. My concern is that I'll have a harder time matching in child neurology just due to the lack of positions available across the country, compared to pediatrics. There's also a much higher number than normal of students in my class planning on going into child neurology - which scares me, making me think there could be more nation wide.

My grades are decent (1 B, rest As - all As on clinical rotations), unsure of my class rank, step 1 in 240s, lots of volunteer experience, Gold Humanism, but no research.

I guess my question is if people who have matched into this in the past could comment on how competitive I would be for child neurology. I'll probably be looking to apply broadly in the Southeast and possibly some in California - no interest in Northeast.

Thanks in advance!

I'm a current MS4 who just matched into CN this past cycle. Assuming A's are the highest possible grade for rotations, your application is decently strong for child neuro based on what I see here. Having no research will hurt you at the top programs, but you should be able to match at mid-tier programs without difficulty. That being said, you obviously will have to do well on your CN sub-I and get a strong letter from that rotation.

Child neurology is definitely getting more competitive than before, but we're still at the point in which there are more qualified applicants than spots. In 2018, only 1 USMD didn't match in child neuro per Charting the Outcomes; this year, the match rate dropped down to 88% or so, which is still pretty good. Some people apply peds or neuro as a backup, so you could always do that if you wanted to. And if you change your mind later and want to do just peds, there are opportunities for that. People drop out of the CN program to do a third year of peds every year, though it's relatively uncommon. And you can also get boarded in gen peds after the 5 year residency as well - though, again, 90% of CN residents tend not to.

I was definitely afraid of the low class sizes, but it's not that bad. It's really only more of an issue with matching at a top program, as the odds of getting your top program are lower just by virtue of there being fewer chances to get it. Programs range from 1-7 per year, and I would recommend only applying to those programs that have 2 or more residents a year. The exception would be if you have a home program that takes 1 resident/year, as often those programs fill with home candidates - but even then, I personally wanted a program where I had a few co-residents in my year. My personal recommendation to applicants is to apply to 15-20 programs and attend 8-10 interviews (no more than 10) unless you have significant red flags in your application. Assuming you're not only applying to CHOP/BC/UCSF/etc., you'll match somewhere.

Feel free to ask me any other questions if you have any! I know resources for child neuro aren't super available.

Child neuro is not competitive at all. Several spots go unfilled every year. IIRC, Loma Linda has not been able to fill their child neuro position for past 3 cycles.

I think Loma Linda's a special case. In addition to them only having 1 spot, which means that a lot of people aren't going to apply there in the first place, a lot of people I met on the trail had horror stories to tell about their interview days there and had no intention of ranking them. So people are avoiding Loma Linda intentionally, from what I can tell.

 

[HalfwaytoMD]

I'm a current MS4 who just matched into CN this past cycle. Assuming A's are the highest possible grade for rotations, your application is decently strong for child neuro based on what I see here. Having no research will hurt you at the top programs, but you should be able to match at mid-tier programs without difficulty. That being said, you obviously will have to do well on your CN sub-I and get a strong letter from that rotation.

Child neurology is definitely getting more competitive than before, but we're still at the point in which there are more qualified applicants than spots. In 2018, only 1 USMD didn't match in child neuro per Charting the Outcomes; this year, the match rate dropped down to 88% or so, which is still pretty good. Some people apply peds or neuro as a backup, so you could always do that if you wanted to. And if you change your mind later and want to do just peds, there are opportunities for that. People drop out of the CN program to do a third year of peds every year, though it's relatively uncommon. And you can also get boarded in gen peds after the 5 year residency as well - though, again, 90% of CN residents tend not to.

I was definitely afraid of the low class sizes, but it's not that bad. It's really only more of an issue with matching at a top program, as the odds of getting your top program are lower just by virtue of there being fewer chances to get it. Programs range from 1-7 per year, and I would recommend only applying to those programs that have 2 or more residents a year. The exception would be if you have a home program that takes 1 resident/year, as often those programs fill with home candidates - but even then, I personally wanted a program where I had a few co-residents in my year. My personal recommendation to applicants is to apply to 15-20 programs and attend 8-10 interviews (no more than 10) unless you have significant red flags in your application. Assuming you're not only applying to CHOP/BC/UCSF/etc., you'll match somewhere.

Feel free to ask me any other questions if you have any! I know resources for child neuro aren't super available.



I think Loma Linda's a special case. In addition to them only having 1 spot, which means that a lot of people aren't going to apply there in the first place, a lot of people I met on the trail had horror stories to tell about their interview days there and had no intention of ranking them. So people are avoiding Loma Linda intentionally, from what I can tell.

So, what exactly are you considering "top tier"? Sorry I haven't done too much research yet since I've just had the idea this week.

 

[babybrains]

So, what exactly are you considering "top tier"? Sorry I haven't done too much research yet since I've just had the idea this week.

Programs like Boston Children's, CHOP, UCSF, and the like. You can look at doximity & USNWR to get general gists of what programs are considered super-prestigious. There are also programs that are good but not tippy-top like Stanford and MGH that have a clear preference for research-oriented residents. In general, research is highly valued in child neurology, so if you can fit in a project prior to application, it'd help you imo.