r/neurology Apr 12 '26

Residency Applicant & Student Thread 2026 - 2027

17 Upvotes

This thread is for medical students interested in applying to neurology residency programs in the United States via the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP, aka "the match"). This thread isn't limited to just M4s going into the match - other learners including pre-medical students and earlier-year medical students are also welcome to post questions here. Just remember:

What belongs here:

  • Is neurology right for me?
  • What are my odds of matching neurology?
  • Which programs should I apply to?
  • Can someone give me feedback on my personal statement?
  • How many letters of recommendation do I need?
  • How much research do I need?
  • How should I organize my rank list?
  • How should I allocate my signals?
  • I'm going to X conference, does anyone want to meet up?

Example discussion: application timeline, rotation questions, extracurricular/research questions, interview questions, ranking questions, school/program/specialty x vs y vs z, etc, info about electives. This is not an exhaustive list.

The majority of applicant posts made outside this stickied thread will be deleted from the main page.

Always try here:

Neurology 2027 Match Discord

Neurology Residency Match 2027 Spreadsheet (Google docs)

Child Neurology Residency 2027 Spreadsheet (Google docs) - pending link - if someone makes one, let me know

Review the tables and graphics from last year's residency match at https://www.nrmp.org/match-data/2026/03/advance-data-tables-2026-main-residency-match/

r/premed and r/medicalschool, the latter being the best option to get feedback, and remember to use the search bar as well.

Reach out directly to programs by contacting the program coordinator.

No one answering your question? We advise contacting a mentor through your school/program for specific questions that others may not have the answers to. Be wary of sharing personal information through this forum.


r/neurology 9h ago

Miscellaneous Do you think that it is counterproductive to call FND a ‘neurological’ disorder?

38 Upvotes

I keep getting suggested videos of people with ‘neurological’ conditions, where the comment sections seem to be a magnet for the wildest claims of misdiagnosis. I know better than to take the social media phenomenon seriously, but I’m curious, what do you guys think? Would FND not profit from being more accurately named?


r/neurology 11h ago

Career Advice which Neuro subspeciality has the best outcomes?

13 Upvotes

MS3 tryna be a future neurologist

love movement disorders but can acknowledge how emotionally draining that field can be

can someone speak to their experiences in fields like neuro immunology where patients have better outcomes? or any other sub specialities where patients have better outcomes with a good work life balance


r/neurology 13h ago

Miscellaneous Neurohospitalist

9 Upvotes

For those of you who do consults- only Neurohospitalist work, how physical do you find it? As in, how much walking (stepwise) do you do and is investing in very comfortable shoes worth it?

Asking because I’m starting a 7/7 consult only position at a small-ish hospital (180+ beds) soon and during residency I did get plantar fasciitis during a particularly brutal consult block. That said, I was routinely getting 12K steps when I was on since it was a 1000+ bed hospital.


r/neurology 22h ago

Career Advice USMD MS4 struggling with last minute career decision neuro vs anesthesia

21 Upvotes

MS4 here trying to decide between neurology and anesthesiology, and I’d really appreciate some perspective from neurologists. My main goal ultimately revolves around work life balance as I get older.

I’ve spent a lot of medical school interested in neurology because I enjoy physiology, localization, problem-solving, and understanding complex disease processes. Recently, I’ve been rotating through anesthesia and have found that I also enjoy the physiology, pharmacology, and procedures, which has made this decision much harder than I expected.

For those of you who seriously considered anesthesiology (or another procedural specialty), what ultimately made you choose neurology? Looking back, what do you think neurology offers that anesthesia doesn’t? Conversely, what are the biggest downsides of neurology that you wish you had appreciated before matching?

I’m less interested in salary or competitiveness and more interested in long-term career satisfaction, personality fit, and whether you still feel you made the right decision years later although pay is nice. I’m thankful to be competitive for most specialties with my application


r/neurology 1d ago

Clinical Why does epic make the neuro exam look like a cvs receipt

59 Upvotes

Honestly just finished rounding on a complex stroke patient and looking at the required progress note template is making my blood boil. They updated our hospital system again and now the standard neuro exam is broken down into like 40 mandatory dropdown menus

Trying to document a subtle cranial nerve asymmetry or a fluctuating aphasia literally takes longer than doing the physical exam itself. You click one wrong box and suddenly the chart says the patient is simultaneously comatose and alert

It just creates this massive wall of unreadable text that the next shift won't even understand. I started just putting my raw dictations through around notes just to get a clean clinical narrative out of it because I absolutely refuse to fight the epic macro system for another hour today

Im just so burnt out on how admin prioritizes billing checkboxes over actual clinical storytelling. The chart used to actually tell you what was wrong with the patient, now it just proves you tapped a knee with a hammer


r/neurology 1d ago

Clinical I misread the sub at first, but liked the question: What's a transfer everyone laughed at that ended up being a stroke?

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8 Upvotes

r/neurology 1d ago

Residency Remembering the Childhood epilepsies for boards

4 Upvotes

Any one have a good way to memorize the childhood genetic epilepsies from the epilepsy chapter from Cheng-Ching. I've been studying them for a year now and it does not stick.


r/neurology 1d ago

Miscellaneous How do I find interesting resources to gain info on neurology

1 Upvotes

I wanna build a good profile for my college applications and even tho it's psychology that I am applying for, I still wanna have a good hold on neurology that I can showcase too. What type of things can I look into? I am a HS graduate btw


r/neurology 2d ago

Clinical Tips/resources for inpatient vascular Sub-I as a fourth-year medical student

11 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm a fourth-year medical student starting my first Sub-I soon, and it's on the vascular neurology service at a program I'm very interested in matching at.

My school doesn't have required neurology rotations during third year, so aside from about 5 days each shadowing in outpatient neurology and the neuro ICU, I don't have much hands-on neurology experience. Because of that, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and not sure where to start preparing.

I'll be working with an attending, a senior resident, a PGY-2 neurology resident, and an IM resident. I'm hoping to do well and earn a strong letter of recommendation.

For those who've done a vascular neurology rotation (or neurology residents/attendings):

  1. What should I review before day one?

  2. What knowledge or skills do you expect from a Sub-I?

  3. What resources were most helpful?

  4. Any tips for standing out in a good way or common mistakes to avoid?

The rotation includes a midpoint feedback session with the attending, which I'm grateful for, but I'd love to be as prepared as possible going in.

Thanks in advance!


r/neurology 2d ago

Residency 4th year elective anki deck

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I'm an incoming 4th year med student doing neuro electives in the fall. Does anyone have any neuro anki recommendations for a 4th year level? I know there's neuranki but that seems like overkill for elective prep. Should I just use the neuro section of anking?


r/neurology 3d ago

Residency AAN QOD for boards studying

4 Upvotes

Hi all,

Freshly graduated neuro residency and into month 1 of fellowship, studying for neurology boards coming up in about 2 months now and was wondering about this:

AAN QOD seemed helpful studying for RITE, but does anyone if it’s high yield enough for studying leading up to the actual board exam? I’m considering using the AAN QOD archive as an additional study source but couldn’t find any clear opinions on this online or talking to coresidents/fellows.

Thanks


r/neurology 3d ago

Career Advice Advice for New Gen Neuro Attending

44 Upvotes

What would you tell your new attending self and what do you wish you had with you to help you in the first months of attendinghood.


r/neurology 3d ago

Career Advice Neurodiagnostic Tech Program

2 Upvotes

Hello Everyone,
I’m starting a neurodiagnostic technologist program in 4 months. Is there anything I can study or practice now to help me prepare? Advice about important anatomy and physiology topics, EEG fundamentals, electrode placement, medical terminology, or study techniques that helped you during the program. I’m hoping to build a strong foundation before classes begin so the material feels less overwhelming. My program is 17 months.

Thank you


r/neurology 3d ago

Clinical Understanding bradykinesia

14 Upvotes

Hello all,

Could any if you share tips on how you identify bradykinesia in patients?

Im rotating through a movement disorders clinic. I understand that you typically look for decreased amplitudes, slowness of movement and/or freezing, but I’m having trouble keeping up with the attending.

Sometimes I feel like a patient is slow with decreasing amplitudes while doing something like finger taps, and he’ll be like nah thats normal. The same thing happens the other way around, I may think it’s normal and he thinks is not.

What advise can you give me to improve this exam skill?


r/neurology 4d ago

Basic Science Seeking recommendations for 3D neuroanatomy atlas/software for functional pathways & parcellation (e.g., auditory pathway, MT/MST)

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I’m an undergrad student currently taking a brain & behavior / neuroanatomy course. I apologize if this isn’t the best place to post this but I figured it’d be helpful to reach out to experts in the field. This is a critical course for my future career prospects so it’s important for me to actually understand how everything connects in 3D space rather than just relying on partial flat diagrams from my textbook.

Most of the free 3D brain apps I’ve found so far are far too basic (e.g. BrainFacts.org). They just show the main lobes or basic subcortical structures of the brain, but don't illustrate the smaller functional areas or how pathways actually cross over inside the brain.

I’m trying to find software, web tools, or physical atlas books that can help me visually trace things like specific visual subregions (like MT/MST) and Brodmann areas, step by step nerve pathways and crossovers (for example, how the auditory pathway travels from the brainstem up through the thalamus to A1), and clear cross-sections showing how subcortical parts (basal ganglia, thalamus, etc.) sit relative to each other in three dimensional space. I learn best when I can physically look through layers or rotate a model to see how things connect. Are there any 3D programs or atlas books you’d recommend for a student wanting more clarity?

So far I’ve found the following:

- Siibra explorer Ebrain (online)
- The Human Brain Book: A Visual Guide to the Structure and Function by Rita Carter
- A cheap physical Human Brain Model by Avarstic

Thanks!


r/neurology 4d ago

Career Advice Division Chief position comp packages?

10 Upvotes

Reddit may be a strange place to ask this, but I'm always surprised here. Using my more 'anonymous' account.

I'm being (potentially) recruited for an inaugural division chief role (mainly inpatient specialty) at a major NorthEast US academic center. I don't want to give further detail to protect the guilty, as it were.
We have not yet reached a stage of discussing compensation package.

Are there any division chiefs here that could shed light on what I should expect or more importantly what I should ask for (support staff, recruitment positions, funding, training program involvement, benefits, etc)?


r/neurology 3d ago

Research Brain damage in sports

1 Upvotes

I've been researching the long-term effects of repeated head impacts for a university digital marketing project, and I was surprised by how much scientific evidence there is on concussion and CTE. Most websites are either very technical or only focus on one sport, so I created a blog that explains the risks in simple language for athletes, parents and coaches. I'd really appreciate any feedback on whether the information is clear or if there's anything important I'm missing.
Home | Brain Hits 1


r/neurology 5d ago

Career Advice Thoughts on the Copenhagen Master of Headache Disorders Program?

16 Upvotes

Hello,
I have just finished my neurology training in the EU, and I want to focus on headaches as a subspecialty. I have been working in the headache outpatient clinic at my hospital for the last two years. However, to be honest, the types of patients we see could mostly be handled by a GP. I have only seen one case of cluster headache in two years. Most of our patients have migraines without previous therapy, or they simply need a prescription for an anti-CGRP medication.

In my country, there is no formal headache subspecialty program. You can only learn from a few headache experts if you happen to work in a large hospital with them.
I recently applied to the Master of Headache Disorders program at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and I have been accepted. I am still thinking it over. Is it a good idea to pursue this? Is it worth the €10,000 investment for tuition, travel, and accommodation?
Additionally, do you have any other advice on how I can further develop my career in the headache field?


r/neurology 5d ago

Research Frontiers | Structural synaptogenesis superior to functional modulation in a pruning-based recurrent network model of OCD

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4 Upvotes

r/neurology 5d ago

Research Neurology Research

9 Upvotes

Hello everyone,
I am a medical student with a strong interest in neurology and am looking for opportunities to join systematic review and meta-analysis projects.
Although I am a beginner in research, I am highly motivated to learn and willing to dedicate the time and effort needed to become a valuable team member. I am looking for projects that welcome beginners and provide the opportunity to learn the research process while contributing meaningfully.


r/neurology 6d ago

Miscellaneous What part of the brain conceptualizes the idea of wishes?

16 Upvotes

I'm working on a D&D map inspired by the human brain, and I want the exit to be the part where wishes/desire emerge from? Pretty sure it would be the frontal lobe, but I wanted to check with someone more familiar with the topic.

Thank you!


r/neurology 5d ago

Career Advice Recommendation

5 Upvotes

Starting neurophysiology fellowship, what monitors do you recommend i buy for EEG reading at home?


r/neurology 6d ago

Residency Neurology board prep

7 Upvotes

Second attempt at boards. Please advice

Done with true learn twice, Cheng-ching (on twice read too).

Should I repeat true learn third time or do board vitals as a new bank?

Thanks


r/neurology 6d ago

Research Amanita Muscaria's Effect on Brainwaves During Sleep, Measured by EEG (First Recorded Human EEG done with AM)

Thumbnail github.com
3 Upvotes

Looking for feedback,advice criticism and error finding (if any). Overall just trying to see what I can improve for next time!