Sowah Mareshah N, Klein Benjamin R, Lu Victor M, Komotar Ricardo J, Levi Allan D
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, Greenville, SC, USA.
Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Lois Pope Life Center, 1095 NW 14th Terrace (D4-6), Miami, FL, 33136, USA.
Neurosurg Rev. 2025 Mar 12;48(1):294. doi: 10.1007/s10143-025-03444-x.
Matching into neurosurgery residency within the United States is one of the most competitive endeavors for medical students. Pursuing a neurosurgery pre-residency fellowship program is becoming a popular option among domestic applicants, as well as international medical graduates (IMGs), who are unsuccessful in their neurosurgery match or wish to create a more competitive application prior to applying. The aim of this study was to review the University of Miami's pre-residency fellowship program experience to date. Records were retrospectively reviewed for all pre-residency fellows that rotated within the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Miami between 2000 (inception) to 2024 with match success rate as the primary outcome of interest. A total of 23 pre-residency fellows who trained within the University of Miami's Department of Neurosurgery since the inception of the program were identified during the study period of 2000 to 2024. There were 15 (65%) IMGs and 8 (35%) United States medical graduates based on previous medical education. All of the fellows successfully completed their pre-residency training, and 12 (53%) successfully matched into neurosurgery. Another significant trend noted was that IMGs had more research and post-graduate neurosurgical experiences compared to US medical graduates at the time their fellowship began. Pre-residency fellowship programs are a feasible and tangible alternative route for neurosurgery match applicants who wish to augment their application. The outcomes of our pre-residency fellowship are promising, particularly for IMGs, however more prospective data and experiences across multiple departments are required to truly understand parameters of success for pre-residency fellowship programs in neurosurgery.
在美国，匹配进入神经外科住院医师项目是医学生最具竞争力的努力之一。对于国内申请人以及未能成功匹配神经外科项目或希望在申请前打造更具竞争力申请材料的国际医学毕业生（IMG）来说，参加神经外科住院前 fellowship 项目正成为一个受欢迎的选择。本研究的目的是回顾迈阿密大学迄今为止的住院前 fellowship 项目经验。对2000年（项目启动）至2024年期间在迈阿密大学神经外科轮转的所有住院前 fellowship 学员的记录进行了回顾性审查，以匹配成功率作为主要关注结果。在2000年至2024年的研究期间，共确定了23名自该项目启动以来在迈阿密大学神经外科接受培训的住院前 fellowship 学员。根据之前的医学教育背景，有15名（65%）是 IMG，8名（35%）是美国医学毕业生。所有学员都成功完成了住院前培训，其中12名（53%）成功匹配到神经外科项目。另一个显著趋势是，与美国医学毕业生相比，IMG 在开始 fellowship 时拥有更多的研究和研究生阶段神经外科经验。住院前 fellowship 项目对于希望增强申请竞争力的神经外科匹配申请人来说是一条可行且切实的替代途径。我们住院前 fellowship 项目的结果很有前景，尤其是对 IMG 而言，然而，需要更多前瞻性数据和多个科室的经验，才能真正了解神经外科住院前 fellowship 项目成功的参数。
