DR to neuroIR, is it a possibility?

[SweetBurger]

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I know from reading online looks like you do a year of neuroradiology fellowship and then you can apply to neurointerventional programs. My questions is in reality, do any radiology trained physicians actually get these fellowship spots, and if so is it difficult to find a job with this type of background?

 

[Cognovi]

Every institution I've been at has had a radiology trained neuro IR fellow

 

[Clean7795]

This is historically and still is the most common pathway from radiology.

 

[MadRadLad]

To echo the others, this is traditionally a radiology-fed field but due to lack of interest from radiology applicants there has been more and more neurosurgery and neurology encroachment. Many radiology run programs remain, however most places have a mix of trainees from different fields nowadays.

 

[bobjonesbob]

Given the rough life style as a fellow and an attending, it's a self-selecting field. From what I've seen any radiology resident who really wants to do it should be able to find a spot as there really aren't that many people who want them.

 

[ProReduction]

For sure. I am Neuro to NCC so closely work with Neurointervention. I've never heard of a Radiologist aiming for Neurointervention and not getting it. The desirability for Neurointerventional fellows is Neurosurgery > Radiology >>> Neurology. It is Neurologists that have a rough time getting Neurointervention fellowship slots. However this all begs the question: Why in the world would you want to ruin your life going from DR to Neurointervention?

 

[SweetBurger]

For sure. I am Neuro to NCC so closely work with Neurointervention. I've never heard of a Radiologist aiming for Neurointervention and not getting it. The desirability for Neurointerventional fellows is Neurosurgery > Radiology >>> Neurology. It is Neurologists that have a rough time getting Neurointervention fellowship slots. However this all begs the question: Why in the world would you want to ruin your life going from DR to Neurointervention?

Fair enough, I just wanted to know if it was possible and secondly hoping i get exposure in residency and then i can see if i like or dislike it. The medicine just interest me is all, i understand the lifestyle is crap

 

[MadRadLad]

Fair enough, I just wanted to know if it was possible and secondly hoping i get exposure in residency and then i can see if i like or dislike it. The medicine just interest me is all, i understand the lifestyle is crap

Find a residency with radiology-run NIR service where you can maybe scrub a few cases and see. The medicine is interesting but coming in at 3am to basically do a very high risk plumbing job with a low rate of success is a tough sell. You can read the imaging or manage the patient and get 90% of the interesting medicine experience. You have to be a bit of an adrenaline junky to enjoy NIR.

 

[Shunsui]

Out of curiosity, do you have any insight into the NIR job market?

Have been told by attending that it's hot but radworking says otherwise

 

[MadRadLad]

Out of curiosity, do you have any insight into the NIR job market?

Have been told by attending that it's hot but radworking says otherwise

Radworking is probably not reliable for NIR. There are so few of them, and a good chunk aren't even rads. I can imagine NIR is in demand as stroke care has kind of blown up lately. We CTA/CTP so many people now that the demand for thrombectomy is higher, modern high res CTA/MRA finds a ton of aneurysms that need followup or coiling, and there are options like pipeline stents, MMA embos etc that didn't exist at this level of volume 20+ years ago. However, you are basically limited to stroke centers for work (maybe covering several hospitals) and depending on if there is enough elective NIR volume, you may be reading a good bit too.