From neuro to interventional neurology fellowship

[thediamondmaker]

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Question regarding interventional neurology fellowships: Realistically speaking, what are the odds of getting a seat in a program? Everyone says encouraging things, but do neurology applicants actually have a statistically significant chance of being accepted when compared to the neurosurg and rads applicants? Or is this just pie in the sky positive thinking? Is there any quantitative data out there regarding neurology applicants and the number accepted to programs?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bombrainiac]

Question regarding interventional neurology fellowships: Realistically speaking, what are the odds of getting a seat in a program? Everyone says encouraging things, but do neurology applicants actually have a statistically significant chance of being accepted when compared to the neurosurg and rads applicants? Or is this just pie in the sky positive thinking? Is there any quantitative data out there regarding neurology applicants and the number accepted to programs?

I would hate to commit myself down a path towards being an interventionalist only to realize that it was a dead end (statistically speaking)...

Thanks for the help.

It depends on the program you're applying to, but you are up against radiologists and neurosurgeons. The main thing you have to remember is that you're competing with other specialists for the same coveted spots. A neurosurgeon is going to have a lot more ICU training (they are certified by the ABNS as intensivists at the completion of their residency) and will not have to prove their ability to withstand the hours or pace of interventional work, AND they have the advantage of surgery if patient's need it. A radiologist is going to have less clinical knowledge than you and will not know the first thing about how to treat these patients in the ICU setting, but they will be much more familiar with imaging modalities (although you can learn that stuff pretty quickly). You have the advantage of understanding stroke better, and general neurological disease processes.

Each specialty has their strengths and weaknesses. There are programs that lean toward training more of each specialty than the others. From what I've seen, radiologists tend to drop out of the fellowships more, and more neurosurgeons are applying these days than before.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

Just wanted to add something as an MS4 that has been interviewing-

Neuro residencies have varying intensities of neurocritical care components, and I think as long as you find a strong one with enough elective time you could be very capable and I would assume competitive. Find out who is primary manager for neurocritical patients.. neurosurgery, anesthesia, ICUMedicine, neurology, etc. There are ones where neurology is the primary service and I'd go for those...although that isn't my cup of tea so I don't have any good programs.

 

[typhoonegator]

I know multiple neurologists who have gone into INR. Some interventional programs are philosophically more accepting of neurologists than others, but there is certainly no reason why anyone should feel like they can't go into this specialty from neurology.

That being said, you need to be a rock-star, be willing to bust your buns in a premier neurocritical care or stroke program first, and be active in research. No one is going to give it to you, because it is competitive and programs can pretty much pick who they want.

If it really is something you want to do, start early in residency. Build connections and do research. Make sure you really want to do it, because there are plenty of people I know who wanted to be catheter-jockeys until they realized what the day-to-day (and very frequent calls) were like.

Also, do a search. This has been discussed multiple times before.