Interested in Neuro to NeuroIR... how do I do it?

[SamuraiPanda]

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So I'm currently a 3rd year nearly finished with all my rotations and right now I'm thinking of doing the (very long) Neurology to NeuroIR path. I've been told by some people that I have to apply to programs that have a direct path Neuro to NIR. Other people told me I have to do a Neuro residency then apply to a radiology(?) residency afterwards. Nobody seems to know exactly what I'm supposed to do seeing as its not a very popular path to take at the moment, so I came here to ask people here.

So how do I go about applying to residency with this path? Are the specific residencies for Neuro to NIR? If there are, how do I find out about the available programs?

EDIT: I'm a medical student.

 

[typhoonegator]

Your next step should be a stroke or NCC fellowship, preferably one in which you have already talked to the NIR staff about progressing to their fellowship to follow. There are multiple programs where this has been done and is a viable track, although I will say you need to be a pretty stellar applicant, and be willing to do more fellowship years than you did residency.

Don't do a rads residency next, unless you really want to. It is not necessary to go into NIR.

EDIT: sorry, did you mean you are a third year neuro resident (PGY3 or 4) or a third year medical student? If you are sold on neurology, it can be done but will require focus and hard work. If for some reason you are dead-set on doing endovascular neurosurgery as a profession, then the radiology or neurosurgical tracks are much more straightforward.

 

[SamuraiPanda]

Haha, yeah I'm a 3rd year med student. I shouldve mentioned that.

I'm highly aware that neuro to neuroIR is not a popular path, and that going thru radiology or neurosurg is much more "preferrable"... But Im pretty sure that neither of those paths interest me nearly as much as thru neuro. That's why I'm looking for some help here, because the path is so unpopular that I can't find much info on it and all the docs I talk to have no clue.

 

[typhoonegator]

I know at least 5 people who have done it here in Boston and more throughout the country. Almost all of them have done 4 years of neurology, 1-2 years of stroke or NCC fellowship, and then 2 years of NIR. In some cases, they make you do a bunch of radiology at the beginning of the NIR fellowship, but in general the first NIR year is diagnostic procedures, and the second year is therapeutics.

 

[SamuraiPanda]

So you're saying I just apply to a Neurology program anywhere and then separately apply to a stroke fellowship after the 4 years are done? I've been told from a few sources that I need to apply to the entire course at the same time (given I don't entirely know what the course is) so I've been quite confused as to what I'm supposed to do. The last adviser I talked to (a Neurologist at the hospital I work at) said the programs I can apply to for residency are very limited with this path so I assumed it was a separate residency from a standard Neurology path...

Guess I need to talk to more advisers.

 

[typhoonegator]

All you need to do is become a neurologist first. You don't apply for stroke/NCC fellowships until you're in your PGY3 year, and this is when most people line up their NIR fellowships to follow. There are some people who don't arrange their NIR training until they are already in fellowship.

That said, you will want to look at residencies where this has been done before, and where you can develop a rapport with the NIR staff during residency. This will make it a lot easier to get your foot in the door for fellowship. There are a lot of people who want to do NIR from neuro residency, and not that many spots for neurologists, so it is very competitive.