The truth about post-grad research fellowships

[Guest]

Why aren’t these PRF getting resident spots? They are obviously performing clinical neurosurgery.

[Guest]

The fact that he/she gives a whole essay justifying these positions incorrectly is a red flag for their program.
The US is a great nation, for sure. Nonetheless, this can be a source of manipulation by these so-called top programs under a devil administration. Those who have made it to top residency program had an outstanding mentor with unrelenting support. Their post is full of BS. Postdocs could have gotten into non-medical careers without working at these top places. Furthermore, MD IMGs (non-neurosurgeons) have matched at Harvard, BNI, Mayo (MN and FL), and MGH.

[Guest]

Programs need to post their stats of fellows matching to neurosurgery. That can provide more insight.

[Guest]

It's 2023 watch your words.

[Guest]

Daddy chill

[Guest]

An issue here is that people here are conflating pre-residency fellowships and research fellowships. These are two very different things, but in my humble opinion, both of them can be extremely beneficial to the IMG.

Research fellowships have been described here, correctly, as akin to post-docs. They offer a wide array of career development, educational opportunities, networking events, conferences to improve your skills, and the like. Many also offer clinical experiences.

Pre-residency fellowships have been described here--perhaps, by people with personal vendetta, for whatever reason--as predatorial, exploitive and the like, likely because in these positions the fellow does similar work as a resident. Furthermore, they point to the often lower match rate.

However, what these people forget is that many pre-residency fellows happily go back to their home countries and practice their. The training offered here is far superior to whatever is offered in their countries, so these fellows go back as superior surgeons. I have observed several who go back and practice at top private institutions in their home countries, living the life of a king. Based of online profiles at these hospitals, these surgeons often boast about doing a fellowship here in the USA, and use that experience to gain coveted positions in their home countries.

The issue, I think, is that people here myopically view everything through the lends of obtaining a PP spine position at a desirable location in the USA. Anything out of that narrow, self-center goal is dismissed here as "shit" "garbage" "exploitive" etc. That is why, these idiotic posters mock functional surgeons, peripheral surgeons, and cranial surgeons--as they earn slightly less because of Medicare bureaucracy. It should go without saying, surgeons who do research are routinely derided here. Unsurprisingly, the "International volunteering and educational opportunities" forum has just one thread.

My point isn't to laud these fellowships as golden tickets. Rather, it is to offer a more nuanced view that I have gained based on my personal observations.

[Guest]

^This would hold merit if Pre-reaidency programs didn’t recruit IMGs based on the promise of boosting their chances of matching in the US. Most international surgeons want to work in the US for increased pay/prestige, so they aren’t lining up for these fellowships just to go back home right after. You sound like a fellow who couldn’t match in the US and had to go back home and work there

[Guest]

They are also a great chance to get strong recommendations for someone who left a previous residency. I have seen a few successes.