How important is to go to an accredited stroke fellowship?

[RAD345]

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Regarding stroke fellowship:


On one hand, I see some programs are not ACGME approved, like Duke. (based on AAN fellowship Directory and FRIEDA).

And on the other hand, I see ABPN says "successful completion of one year of ACGME-accredited fellowship training in vascular neurology", as a requirement for vascular neurology board.

And to add to these, I found out that the only Accredited program for Interventional Neurology in country, is Univ. of Minnesota.

I also see the same thing for other subs, like movement disorder, headache and etc.

I think most of program are trending to get ACGME approved eventually but what if you do your fellowship 1-2 years before program get approved?





RAD345

 

[bonran]

It is very important if you are thinking of going into Interventional Neurology in the future. While most interventional neurology (& other) INR fellowships are not ACGME approved (mainly to escape the 80 hr rule & other ACGME requirements), they do prefer candidates from ACGME aprroved vascular neurology fellowships.

From July 2011, the vascular boards can only be taken by fellows coming out of ACGME approved VN fellowships.

Most neurology sub-specialties (barring Clinical electrophys, EEG, EMG, VN, ESNR, Sleep & Pain) are not ACGME approved at all. This is because the ABMS (Am Board of Medical Specialties) does not consider them large enough fields to give them independent standings. Hence specialties like Behavioural Neurology, Movement Disorders, Neuroophthalmology, Neuro-oncology, Neurorehabilitation, Neurotrauma & Neuroinfection are not recognized by ACGME. However, UCNS does recognize them to allow these fields to grow.

 

[Lebron666]

Bonran -- I believe you may be mistaken on the dates of having to complete an ACGME accredited fellowship prior to sitting for the exam.

I believe the grandfathering period and non-ACGME period ended in May 2009,not July 2011 (where did you find this info?). From this point on and in the future, one MUST complete an ACGME VN fellowship in order to sit for the exam. They must also pass their Neurology boards prior to sitting for the VN boards.

So, in order to answer RAD's original post --- yes, doing an ACGME VN fellowship is EXTREMELY important, that is if you want to have the opportunity to be certified in a specialty that you spent at least a year of your life toiling away.

 

[buckley]

Does ACGME accreditation matter for visa issues? thanks

 

[RAD345]

Does ACGME accreditation matter for visa issues?

I don't thinks, what it matters is mostly for job and board as well as going to INR.

 

[bonran]

Lebron, true that the grandfathering period ended in July 2009. However, I am not sure if the non-accredited fellowship candidates are not allowed to sit the boards yet. I may be wrong though.

The accreditation is coming for INR/ESR too. As we speak, guidelines for accreditation are being written & a board exam will be in place in the next few years.

As has been observed in VN, a lot of non-accredited ESR programs will fall in line & get accredited once the guidelines are accepted by ACGME & ABMS. Many VN programs (Case, OSHS & Allegheny) have gotten accredited this year in order for their fellows to be eligible to sit the VN boards.

As for visa candidates, J-1 candidates can participate in non-accredited fellowships by extending their visas through the "Non-ACGME approved fellowship" extension forms on the ECFMG J-1 site. I am not so sure about H-1 visa.