They have multiple options. They could do a surgical internship and re-apply next year for NS. They can do a regular internship and look into other fields. You can look into things like a year of research and etc. to increase your chance of matching in the future. A lot of people end up scrambling into other fields however.........
According to the OP: "Matched 170"
According to the dean of my medical school: "we are proud to say that 2 of our graduating 4th years will be going into nsg, a field for which only 17 positions were available"
According to another table I saw with match statistics: Only 17 spots nationwide for a nsg residency
What's the deal? I'll admit when i first read the dean's letter i couldn't believe there were only 17 slots in the country for nsg, but then i saw that same number again in another table. That seems way too low, i mean arent there more than 17 nsg residency programs in the US anyway?
There are 17 positions matching through NRMP that call themselves "neurosurgery" spots. I suspect many of them are just surgical internships for the students who've matched into the NS 2-7 years through SF Match. 170 positions in neurosurgery (NS 2-7) are available through SF Match.
The chart above is not complete. The real story for the January 2007 match:
342 people registered for the neurosurgery match and received an application.
310 of those 342 submitted a completed application
255 of those 310 people submitted rank lists
....182 of 255 were 4th-year med students in U.S. med schools
170 of those 255 people matched (66% overall match rate)
....151 of 182 fourth year medical students in U.S. schools (83% match rate)
.......6 of 18 prior graduates of U.S. medical schools (33% match rate)
.....13 of 33 international medical graduates (33% match rate)
22 people submitted rank lists but then withdraw prior to match day.
