Hello, I know this might be a “medicalschool” post but I felt like I could get better responses here. I am a below average medical student. I honestly can’t think of why this program offered me an IV, definitely not for academic reasons. Everything else in my application shows my love and commitment to neurology.

My question is from your experience, would my low step score be the only reason I am not ranked?

I would like to here from our fellow attendings and residents regarding choosing neurology program for the match.

Which one is better the neurology residency program with more inpatient or outpatient blocks?

I noticed some programs are more inpatient focused with very minimal outpatient blocks. How can that affect my career or lifestyle?

Sorry for the late post, life got busy. This week's article is about Central Neuropathic Pain by Charles E. Argoff, MD. Also, the associated podcast interview with Dr. Argoff.

The article discusses a few interesting cases of central neuropathic pain, including spinal cord injury pain, post-stroke pain, and multiple sclerosis-related pain. Post in the comments if you find anything helpful for your practice!

Hello fellow Neurons. I am a PGY-1 Neurology resident and want to explore this topic early on in residency. What do you think are important factors for fellowship (Step 3 scores, Board scores, letters of rec, etc...). I am currently thinking of Neuro-phsyiology fellowship because the outpatient life is more appealing to me, and recently I have started learning more about interventional pain. I know the latter is one of the most competitive fellowships through Neurology, so any thoughts on what the route looks like from your experience?

The ABIM Research Track Residency is a very well established set of guidelines adopted by many programs to produce a research-oriented IM residency with the option of culminating in a PhD at by the end. On the other hand, the ABPN Neurology Research Track is not that well structured and the information available for these sort of programs is scant. Additionally, I can’t find a single source that says there is an option for pursuing a PhD through this program like there is for ABIM.

I’ve tried to contact many PDs and associated MDs but to no avail. Can anyone help me find out more about this? I love both but I generally would lean towards Neuro if there was at least some guarantee of an option to pursue a PhD.

Does anyone knows of any self-assessment tests made to simulate the RITE exam? A way to gauge current prep level
I know TrueLearn offers an annual simulation test but I don't think it is available on demand

Nurse practitioner here with a strong interest in neurology, specifically with neurodegenerative disorders. What’s the role of NP’s work in your clinic? Would love working with an outpatient neurologist and do stable follow ups. Is this attainable, or are most organizations pushing even the midlevels to do initial evaluations.

Hello everyone,

I’m working on a research project focused on early intervention timing for ischemic stroke, specifically exploring how the timing of Tenecteplase (TNK) administration and thrombectomy affects outcomes. I’ve been reviewing studies, such as the Emberson et al. meta-analysis on Alteplase, but often find that studies focus on broader timeframes, like the 4.5-hour viability window for thrombolysis or 0-6 and 6-24 hours for thrombectomy.

However, I’m interested in smaller, specific increments within the 0-6 hour range—e.g., outcomes when interventions occur at 1 hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours after stroke onset. My aim is to understand how timing within those intervals impacts functional outcomes and aligns with the ‘time is brain’ principle.

If anyone can share studies, meta-analyses, or clinical guidelines that break down the effects of TNK and thrombectomy by specific time points within the early window, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you for any guidance or references.

Hello, I am a little more than halfway through neurology residency in USA and am wondering what my options are for completing training abroad. I’m sure it’s no secret why I’m asking.

I figure my options are to either finish residency here and apply for my desired fellowship abroad, or move now and finish residency abroad. I do want to specialize in a specific field, and I’m wondering if it would even be possible to get a fellowship abroad as an American resident. My desired field is one of the following: stroke, neurointensive care, Endovascular, epilepsy, neuroimmunology. (Is there even a neurointensive care fellowship in other countries? I haven’t found much looking at google.)

I am hoping someone from Europe/Scandinavia, or Australia/New Zealand can help me to better weigh my options and see what is realistic. Thank you.

Hello,

I'm a student in my last year of medical school and I've always considered neurology as one of the specialties that could interest me. I'm thinking of going into academic practice and potentially doing research.

One of my big fears is that I've noticed that in large hospitals, neurologists are forced to choose an subspecialty and practice mainly in this sector without transversality: abnormal movement, neuropathy, sleep, inflammatory... Having seen departments where doctors only treated Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy or CIDP, it's true that I'm a bit scared of this type of practice : these doctors were difficulty when taking care of other neurological pathologies such as stroke or epilepsy... For the moment I really love all aspects of neurology and would like to do a bit of everything: from emg/eeg, to maybe critical care , cognitive, autoimmune... Is this possible or impossible in the current system especially in academia ?

Some said to me that in order to be good at something you have to stick to one type of pathology all your life : seems to me to be rather exaggerated...

Thank you!

I am reading Oliver Sack's The man who mistook his wife for a hat. As a normie who is interested in neurology, but doesn't have knowledge at all, it's very interesting but confusing at the same time.

So I stumbled upon a case about a recent patient he wrote about in the book, where the patient had a sudden thrombosis in the posterior circulation of the brain. This caused the person to lose their sight, but also to lose the memories of being able to see, and everything related to it.

This made me so curious, I wanted to know what happened to the patient, and also how that happened alltogether. But didn't find any information about this on the internet, despite the popularity of this book. If anyone has any information, or could explain to me how was that sort of a thing possible, and how did it happen, I would be very grateful

Hello Doctors,

I am a writer working on a science fiction short story. I've always had a deep respect for the genre, not only for the capability of a curious and imaginative mind to create novel ways to explore current problems, but also for the way in which possible solutions can be eked out in piecemeal nuggets for other curious minds to weigh and consider in their own way.

My grandfather fostered this curiosity in me since I was young - one year for Christmas he gave me the first of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series and each year I would receive the next one. While broad strokes were taken and thousands of years were spanned, one cannot deny that his own foundation of biochemistry informed his prose and understanding of biological processes - be it a planet, a society, or an empire.

Recently I've had the chance to read through Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem series and it leaves me with a similar feeling; his background in computer science informs much of the Trisolaris civilizations' endless permutations - never to find stability until they must leave. The astrophysics are made real and tangible, to the everyman - in such a way that while the reader might not necessarily share the lexicon of the profession, they are able to grasp the concept.

So here's my ask: chatGPT is great and all but I believe in the power of looking for your answers and speaking to those who know. I realize many of you are saddled and under much pressure so even if it were someone who was currently in medical school - I want to know about the brain, its parts and processes - as well as common and rare disorders that occur in recent medical history as well as what is considered "quackery". Examples such as lobotomies, the proto-electroshock therapy - what the default mode network is responsible for and what happens when its function is disabled/impeded?

Ultimately I seek what the above two writers were able to accomplish - which in my mind isn't a minimization of the field, but rather a transfiguration into layman's terms to honor the science in science fiction.

It could be as short as a three email exchange, high level overview with some deep incursions.

Thanks for your consideration!

Hello there Im a fresh neurology resident . Are there any localization flash card or game that i can play with. I really like NeuroLogic website from university of michigan. However, it is a little bit too basic. Sincerely need your expertise,thanks alot.

MS3 here heavily considering neuro and also IM. Briefly considered PM&R but realized I was interested for the wrong reasons (lifestyle over passion). My question is, are you ultimately satisfied with your choice (feel you make a difference, work life balance, does it maintain your interest, etc)? I love the IM variety, but neuro has a lot of the interesting cases and anecdotally the attendings seem happy and excited about what they do, less burned out

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Considering a career in neuro critical care. Obviously I don’t intend to burn out, but when I speak with many critical care physicians, it seems to be a real concern. The pulm crit drs have pulm clinic to fall back on. What do you see as the burnout plan for NCC? I think it would be difficult to just go back to general outpatient neurology after 20-30 years of NCC.

Hello...as a freshly minted PGY1 attempting Lumbar punctures...I would love all of your recommendations on how best to minimise failures. While I know the broad overview of technique and have been successful a few times, lately I have NOT been successful with a couple of easy patients and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I would love to learn from all of your experiences. What you think the most common mistakes are...how to correct them....different scenarios....your tips and tricks. Please do help !

I am a crossroads regarding what I want to go into between Neuro and PM&R. Hoping someone could shed some light on suggestions as there are benefits to both specialties and reasons I like them each.

Neuro: I enjoy like neuro trauma and the acute care aspect of it. Deciphering the diagnosis and looking at the imaging is very interesting. Very broad in terms of what I could do with it but, I could see myself in neuro ICU. I recognize however, it is a hard residency and I am definitely a "i like my work, don't live for my work" person and work-life balance is important to me. I know i'll enjoy every second of the job while there but with all my family/friends not in medicine, I worry being able to balance neurology and my life (at least until after residency, which i recognize is only temporary, but still worrisome to me)

PM&R: Very much interested in brain injury within pm&r or spinal cord injuries. I am very interested in disability advocacy and QoL, and felt like this was the only specialty that adequately addressed it to the degree I'd prefer. Obviously there is less chaos, which I worry I will miss, but I thoroughly enjoy the nice work-life balance associated with it. I like being able to help patients adapt after big function changes/disability changes and help them find their new normal, which is sometimes missing for me in neurology. I like spasticity management with injections for brain injury and also like IM/primary care and like that for some folks with disabilities, I can become sort of like their primary doc. A con I worry about is that I have heard the disrespect physiatrists can get in the hospital, and I worry that it will bother me.

I feel like I am so split because I love the fast pace/acute care/diagnostic possibilities of Neuro, but appreciate the advocacy/QoL improvement/patient relationship of the PM&R and it just feels like I like them both for very different reasons and I don't know what to pursue.

Feel free to also comment any more details (MD, DO, IMG, step score(s), etc) if you feel comfortable sharing.

Thanks,

A neurotic MS4 in the middle of interview season lol

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Can anyone help with a list of programs that offer combined neurophys/epilepsy fellowships? Can see a couple when I google-search but can't seem to find a list anywhere.

Which is best study book/guidelines etc. about headaches and migraine for neurology practice? I read "Biology of headache and migraine" Seymour D. and it was perfect. Only essential things. But it was published in 2015., so outdated. Can you recommend something fresh and without unnecessary information. Thanks!

I am a Medical Student, not a Resident! Our attending mentioned something about Dejong? Or I might have misheard it. This was for the clinical examination part. He also mentioned a sub-website of Med Scape called iMed or eMed. Forgive me for not remembering these. Please leave your recommendations below if you have any.

Hello I'm not applying for this year's match but I just wonder if most of applicants for neurology are above 250. My friend told me like it has become almost basic to have at least 250 for img.. Does a lot of programs have filter for step2 score? Just wondering

Are there useful websites or resources that could help me find areas of research in Neurology to start a research question? ( I am interested in Vascular Neurolog)

my main goal is get into med school and specialize in neurology. i initially planned to major in neuroscience but i heard people say that it doesnt really help & is largely absent from neurology so now im reluctant. my other choices are biochem, health sci, or biomed. i am all highly interested in these subjects (but mainly neuro & health sci) and eager to learn so it all comes down to what would benefit me more. is there one which med schools favor more? one where its easier to maintain a high gpa? what did you guys major in? i am dedicated to my goal but i will say that there is a chance i will not get into med school bc of either the really competitive admissions or financial problems. if that happens (hopefully not), what would be the degree to fall back on?

sorry if this is like a lot ^^ i still have a lot of time to explore and decide but im facing a lot of pressure and anxiety right now so help and advice would be greatly appreciated

Hello! PGY3 neurology resident here who will be applying to epilepsy fellowship soon. I was wondering if anyone is familiar with fellowships which aren’t so surgical epilepsy heavy? I know a lot of the big name academic programs tend to focus more on surgical epilepsy even when choosing the one year route, but as someone whose goal is to pursue an entirely outpatient lifestyle (with some tele-eeg reading on the side) it feels like investing energy in a program with so much emphasis on surgery may be a waste of time. I’m still keeping all my options open at this time but just wanted to hear some thoughts or recs!

Also: are there any ressources to get yourself introduced to basic statistics typically used in such researches?