Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94131, USA; Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA; School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2021 Oct;209:106891. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2021.106891. Epub 2021 Aug 24.
Although foreign medical graduates (FMGs) have been essential to the US physician workforce, the increasing competitiveness has made it progressively challenging for FMGs to match in US neurosurgery programs. We describe geographic origins and characteristics associated with successful match into US neurosurgery training programs.
Retrospective review of AANS membership data (2007-2017). Scopus was used to collect bibliometrics.
From 2009 neurosurgical residents, 165 (8.2%) were FMGs. Most were male (n = 148; 89.6%) with a median age of 34.0 years. Top six feeder countries (TFC) included India (13.9%; n = 23), Lebanon and Pakistan (9.1%; n = 15), Caribbean Region (7.2%; n = 12), Mexico (6.67%; n = 11), and Greece (3.6%; n = 6). Compared to FMGs from non-top feeder countries (NTFC), TFC FMGs had higher H-indices (2 vs 4, p = 0.049), greater number of publications (2 vs 5, p = 0.04), were more likely to have an MBBS/MBBCh (n = 38 vs n = 17, p = 0.03), and had twice as many candidates from major feeder medical schools that successfully matched into a US neurosurgery program (n = 43 vs NTFC = 20, p < 0.001). NTFC FMGs were almost 3-times more likely to match at an affiliated neurosurgery program (8 vs TFC = 3, p = 0.03), while TFC FMGs were 1.5-times more likely to match at an NIH Top-40 program (33 vs NTFC = 21, p = 0.03).
TFC graduates have higher bibliometrics, frequently come from major feeder schools, and have greater match success at a broader selection of programs and NIH top-40 programs. Future studies characterizing FMG country and medical school origins may enable foreign students to geographically target institutions of interest and could allow US programs to better evaluate foreign training environments.
尽管外国医学毕业生（FMG）对美国医生队伍至关重要，但竞争的加剧使得 FMG 越来越难以在美国神经外科项目中匹配。我们描述了与成功进入美国神经外科培训项目相关的地理来源和特征。
回顾性分析 AANS 会员数据（2007-2017 年）。Scopus 用于收集文献计量学数据。
从 2009 年神经外科住院医师中，有 165 名（8.2%）是 FMG。他们大多数是男性（n=148；89.6%），中位年龄为 34.0 岁。前六大生源国（TFC）包括印度（13.9%；n=23）、黎巴嫩和巴基斯坦（9.1%；n=15）、加勒比地区（7.2%；n=12）、墨西哥（6.67%；n=11）和希腊（3.6%；n=6）。与非顶级生源国（NTFC）的 FMG 相比，TFC FMG 的 H 指数更高（2 对 4，p=0.049），发表的文章数量更多（2 对 5，p=0.04），更有可能拥有 MBBS/MBBCh（n=38 对 n=17，p=0.03），而且来自成功进入美国神经外科项目的主要生源医学院的候选人数量也多一倍（n=43 对 NTFC=20，p<0.001）。NTFC FMG 更有可能在附属神经外科项目中匹配（8 对 TFC=3，p=0.03），而 TFC FMG 更有可能在 NIH 前 40 名项目中匹配（33 对 NTFC=21，p=0.03）。
TFC 毕业生的文献计量学指标更高，通常来自主要生源学校，并且在更广泛的项目和 NIH 前 40 名项目中匹配成功率更高。未来对 FMG 国家和医学院校来源进行特征描述的研究，可能使外国学生能够在地理上瞄准感兴趣的机构，并使美国项目能够更好地评估外国培训环境。
