Vascular/Stroke Fellowship

[Cardboard101]

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It looks like 1 in 5 spots don't fill from the match report: https://mk0nrmp3oyqui6wqfm.kinstacd...rology-Results-Match-Results-Stats_AY2020.pdf

Why is this?

 

[Postictal Raiden]

simply because there were most spots than applicants?

In neuro, we are fortunate to have overall more fellowship positions than residency graduates. Some are easier to match to than others. But the consensus is that as long as you’re not picky, you’ll match the fellowship you want.

 

[Cardboard101]

simply because there were most spots than applicants?

In neuro, we are fortunate to have overall more fellowship positions than residency graduates. Some are easier to match to than others. But the consensus is that as long as you’re not picky, you’ll match the fellowship you want.

Sorry, I probably should've phrased my question better.
How come there aren't many applicants? Is vascular/stroke neurology not a desirable field?

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Sorry, I probably should've phrased my question better.
How come there aren't many applicants? Is vascular/stroke neurology not a desirable field?

~150 out of ~700 grads applying to stroke is a good number imo. Remember, there are just as many people interested in epilepsy and same can be said about neuromuscular. Also a significant number is interested in NCC. And let's not forget that 20% or so don't pursue fellowships.

Depending on where you train, I can see very little value of doing a stroke fellowship. If you spend 10 months of your residency on the stroke service experiencing 5-10 strokes a day, I don't think you'll gain much by spending a year doing stroke after residency, except for the credentials.

 

[Thama]

~150 out of ~700 grads applying to stroke is a good number imo. Remember, there are just as many people interested in epilepsy and same can be said about neuromuscular. Also a significant number is interested in NCC. And let's not forget that 20% or so don't pursue fellowships.

Depending on where you train, I can see very little value of doing a stroke fellowship. If you spend 10 months of your residency on the stroke service experiencing 5-10 strokes a day, I don't think you'll gain much by spending a year doing stroke after residency, except for the credentials.

I don't know why anyone that went through my residency would ever do a stroke fellowship, given the volume and complete clinical independence in the acute stroke setting we already had as residents. Most of what I saw stroke fellows do is play Monday morning QB on rounds the next day.

Also, depending on where you are, behavioral, movement, MS and sleep are also popular, with neuro-onc and neuro-ID being fast risers in popularity.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

I don't know why anyone that went through my residency would ever do a stroke fellowship, given the volume and complete clinical independence in the acute stroke setting we already had as residents. Most of what I saw stroke fellows do is play Monday morning QB on rounds the next day.

Also, depending on where you are, behavioral, movement, MS and sleep are also popular, with neuro-onc and neuro-ID being fast risers in popularity.

Likewise, my program is very stroke heavy. Besides, we don’t have stroke fellows so we act almost autonomously on the service. One of my upperclassmate match stroke for fellowship and he justifies it by saying you may see a zebra or two in fellowship that you may not see in residency. I disagree. I doubt there’s much more to experience beyond what we see.

Now for epilepsy, despite how much we see of it in residency, a fellowship maybe necessary to master the field, given that you need to see a billion EEG to learn how to differentiate between true pathologies and normal variants/artifacts.

our exposure to neuro-onc, neuro-opth and MS is suboptimal and fellowship is necessary for those interested in these fields.

 

[DrSatan]

I've heard people do stroke fellowships to make themselves more appealing for neurohospitalist positions.

 

[Hank Rearden]

You probably don't need a stroke fellowship if you want to be a neurohospitalist or practice at a community medical center. Critical if you want to practice stroke at an academic medical center and would probably help quite a bit if you want to be stroke director at a community medical center. The biggest thing I learned in fellowship was finally knowing all of the data behind the landmark trials - hard to do as a resident based on time constraints.

 

[Protosri]

What are the chances of matching into your top choices for stroke? Im looking to get into a fellowship In California or DC, so how difficult is it to match at UCSF, UCSD, UCLA or NIH?

 

[Hank Rearden]

Once you get to the fellowship level I found it largely depended on word of mouth and simply availability. Do you have a good reputation within your residency program and would one of the stroke docs be willing to put in a good word for you for fellowship? Chances are the stroke docs in your program know some of the other docs at the places you are applying to - consider having them send an email to put in a good word for you. The other thing to keep in mind is that many programs just have 1 fellow a year and it's almost always filled by an internal candidate. In that case you would have trouble even if you're outstanding.

 

[Protosri]

Thanks. I'm still very early in residency, what should I focus on? I suppose fellowship PDs do not compromise on clinical reputation during residency, but how important is the number of publications and posters for a top 10 stroke fellowship? Should I spend more of my not-so-ample spare time on case-based/textbook reading or on research? Advice most appreciated.