International issues: Obtaining an adult neurology residency position in the United States: an overview.
Around the world, there are marked differences in neurology training, including training duration and degree of specialization. In the United States, adult neurology residency is composed of 1 year of internal medicine training (preliminary year) and 3 years of neurology-specific training. Child neurology, which is not the focus of this article, is 2 years of pediatrics and 3 years of neurology training. The route to adult neurology residency training in the United States is standardized and is similar to most other US specialties. Whereas US medical graduates often receive stepwise guidance from their medical school regarding application for residency training, international graduates often enter this complex process with little or no such assistance. Despite this discrepancy, about 10%-15% of residency positions in the United States are filled by international medical graduates.(1,2) In adult neurology specifically, 35% of matched positions were filled by international graduates in 2013, 75% of whom were not US citizens.(1) In an effort to provide a preliminary understanding of the application process and related terminology (table 1) and thereby encourage international residency applicants, we describe the steps necessary to apply for neurology residency in the United States.
From the Department of Neurology, Division of Neuro-Oncology (J.T.J.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Department of Neurology (J.S.), Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Department of Neurology (J.S.), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany; Department of Neurology (W.S.), General Hospital of the City of Linz, Austria; Department of Neurology (L.S.), The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD; and Neurology Consultants of Kansas (D.M.), Wichita, KS.
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Mayans
D002321:Career Choice; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D007396:Internship and Residency; D009462:Neurology; D012577:Schools, Medical; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce