Objective:

To retrospectively observe the proportion of the graduating medical school class pursuing residency training in neurology following a transition of the neurology clerkship to the third year of medical school.  

Background:

Neurology is a rapidly growing field, resulting in adaptations in education over the years. In medical schools, there has been a trend to shift neurology clerkship rotations from fourth-year to third-year curriculums which has resulted in improved academic performance and higher enthusiasm for the field of neurology. 

Design/Methods:

A retrospective observational study evaluating enrolled clerkship medical students at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and the match rates into adult and child neurology specialties from 2001-2021. The students were divided into two groups involving those enrolled in clerkship when neurology was during the fourth-year curriculum (2001-2012) and students enrolled in clerkship when neurology was during the third-year curriculum (2013-2021).   

Results:

Among the 3,093 students observed during 2001-2021, 59 students (1.9%) matched into adult neurology residencies and 15 students (0.48%) matched into child neurology residencies. There was a higher rate of students matching into both adult and child neurology specialties when neurology clerkship had transitioned to the third-year curriculum (37 students at 2.5% for adult; 11 students at 0.67% for child; p = 0.02) compared to the fourth-year curriculum (22 students at 1.4% for adult; 4 students at 0.28% for child; p = 0.11). 

Conclusions:

There was a statistically significant observation of medical students matching into adult neurology residencies after the transition of neurology clerkship to the third-year curriculum. The match into child neurology was not statistically significant and likely due to an overall low events number. This data suggests earlier exposure to neurology can lead to a higher likelihood of students matching into neurology for residency training.