Neurology residency chances

[deleted986861]

---

Members don't see this ad.

.

 

[Robotfishbrain]

You should post this on the neurology forum where most neurology residents and PDs go.

 

[ricksimmonsrafowens]

Any research in neuro? It's not necessary to match, but PDs and interviewers love talking about it! and it'll help you match more competitively.

Are you letters coming from academic physicians or community physicians who volunteer to precept students? Academic neuro programs care about you having LORs from academic neurologists, so I would do a sub-I at a university program to get a letter if you don't have an academic letter.

I don't think you need any back-ups unless you're geographically limited. I think a sub-I/away rotation is a great idea to consider for you!

also to add, if any PDs ask you why you didn't take Step 1 don't be defensive like you are in the OP

 

[deleted986861]

You should post this on the neurology forum where most neurology residents and PDs go.

Oh cool. I’ll try to find that thanks.

 

[deleted986861]

Any research in neuro? It's not necessary to match, but PDs and interviewers love talking about it! and it'll help you match more competitively.

Are you letters coming from academic physicians or community physicians who volunteer to precept students? Academic neuro programs care about you having LORs from academic neurologists, so I would do a sub-I at a university program to get a letter if you don't have an academic letter.

I don't think you need any back-ups unless you're geographically limited. I think a sub-I/away rotation is a great idea to consider for you!

I wish I could have research in neuro, the school doesn’t offer much. Letters are from my preceptors at the hospital and two are from residency program directors at said hospital. Academic letter in neuro is a great idea. Thanks for your input.

 

[ricksimmonsrafowens]

I wish I could have research in neuro, the school doesn’t offer much. Letters are from my preceptors at the hospital and two are from residency program directors at said hospital. Academic letter in neuro is a great idea. Thanks for your input.

I'm confused... do you have any neurologist letters? also what do you mean by a preceptor, is that an attending you've worked with? if you want to match an academic program, you definitely need a letter or two from academic neurologists!

I feel you on research, but even a lit review or a case report would help out a lot! That can be done with a community neurologist. Neuro really emphasizes research and scholarly activity, so PDs love to see involvement in it. It will definitely help you match better.

 

[ananasmed]

You don't need a backup specialty. Apply broadly especially to programs that have DOs on their current roster and ones that are formerly AOA. Research is great but don't think you absolutely need it in order to match at the places you'll be competitive for anyway. The vast majority of neurology programs are at university hospitals, so I think making a distinction between community and university programs, like people often do for IM, is kind of moot based on the fact that there are so few true community programs.

 

[ZezKaiEll]

I cosign everything "ananasmed" above said.

As far as how to apply, that's easy: BROADLY. Knowing how neurotic med students can be it, it never ceases to surprise me how some still have regrets over not applying to enough programs. Be mindful of geographic location of school/home and apply most concentrated in that region. If the goal is merely to match anywhere, then former AOA programs should all be applied to. The straggler programs that remained in the AOA match this past year had multiple unfilled spots in the 2019 scramble...

I do wonder about your recs, though. What specialties are the physicians in? How many neuro rotations have you completed/will you complete? FYI I would not recommend anyone send in an ERAS app w/ 0 neuro recs. Out of the 3 minimum recs, 2 neuro letters is ideal IMO. 1 will have to do otherwise. The most important thing in a specialty like this may well be demonstrated interest within the field. You can do that by getting rotations/recs in the field. Any scheduled/completed rotations at hospitals w/ neuro residency programs? A letter from one of those attendings can be quite helpful.

 

[ricksimmonsrafowens]

just to add, what I meant by an "academic" letter is a letter from a neurologist affiliated with a residency program, who works with residents and medical students, and who can state that "OP is committed to neurology and is an excellent candidate for residency." Letters from a teaching/academic attending affiliated with a residency are much more impactful than letters from community neurologists who occasionally precepts students but do not formally teach residents or are not formally affiliated with a residency. You want a letter from someone who is an assistant, associate or full professor or a clinical faculty with a formal academic appointment. the LOR will make you a more competitive candidate for most PDs.

You WILL match a program somewhere as is, but if you hustle a little bit now you may match better than "a random program somewhere."

 

[deleted986861]

.

 

[ananasmed]

Cool that makes sense thanks a lot for all the input. Its reasonable and valuable. I am trying to get an away rotation right now in neuro. I don’t have any way to get a recommendation from a neurologist as they are not many at the hospital I am at, and the ones there don’t take students.

Letters I have

One infectious disease
One pulmonologist
One psychiatrist
Two family med (one is the head of the family med residency. )
One chair letter for internal

Everyone but the chair letter knows me very well and my clinical reasoning and diagnosing skills. I worked one on one with each of them and I find that more valuable than a standard letter from someone who doesn’t know me well, but I definitely do see the value in a neuro letter. I have been fascinated by neuro my whole life, spending countless hours in those offices with my dad who has MS, and in school it’s the only block I had a solid 4.0 because I just actually wanted to learn it. We shall see how I do in the match. Again thanks for the input.

You need at least one letter from a neurologist (agreed with above that 2 would be ideal). You still have time to set up an away rotation to get one, and I would prioritize this. It sounds like you have a true interest in neurology and that will come across in your personal statement, but you need to have someone vouching for your interest as well.

 

[ZezKaiEll]

Make getting that neuro rotation + letter your top priority. Applying to this field without it is completely inadvisable. Reach out to your school/fellow students at different sites to find one if you must. Even significantly better applications than yours are likely to be turned away without a rotation/letter from within the specialty.

 

[deleted986861]

Make getting that neuro rotation + letter your top priority. Applying to this field without it is completely inadvisable. Reach out to your school/fellow students at different sites to find one if you must. Even significantly better applications than yours are likely to be turned away without a rotation/letter from within the specialty.

Just to update people I matched at my number one university program. Did one neuro rotation (not audition) and no neuro letter. She couldn’t get it in on time for me so I went without it. Very pleased with the match.

 

[ZezKaiEll]

Just to update people I matched at my number one university program. Did one neuro rotation (not audition) and no neuro letter. She couldn’t get it in on time for me so I went without it. Very pleased with the match.

Congrats and welcome! As I'm sure you'll discover, this is a very exciting time to enter neurology.