American neurology fellowship setup and its enlightenment to specialized training in China

Abstract

In view of the recent advancements in the standardized neurology residency training in China, standardized neurology fellowship training has become a crucial next step for China′s graduate medical education. The design of the fellowship and development of relevant norms and standards to ensure quality training constitute key areas in need of further consideration. The United States has established a standardized neurology fellowship training for nearly 30 years and has been successful in ensuring high quality physician training. Currently there are 9 accreditation council for graduate medical education (ACGME) accredited neurology fellowship programs in the USA, including clinical neurophysiology, pain medicine, neurodevelopmental disabilities, vascular neurology, neuromuscular medicine, sleep medicine, endovascular surgical neuroradiology, epilepsy and brain injury medicine. Among them, the number of fellowship training programs in vascular neurology, clinical neurophysiology, and epilepsy are relatively stable or show continuous growth, while neurodevelopmental disabilities and brain injury medicine remain stagnant or even retrogressive. It indicates that design of the neurology fellowship training calls for full weight of a wide array of factors, taking into account the number of subspecialty patients, clinical applications, prospects for future development of the subspecialties, and lessons learned from the United States. We can start with ACGME accredited steady growth fellowship programs and then add others in the future accordingly. Key words: Neurology; Sub-specialty; Fellowship; United States