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For Candidates Who Complete Training On Or After May 31, 2021; impact on tracking to board certification or board eligibility status
Commencing with neurosurgeons who complete training on or after May 31, 2021, there are updated requirements for being considered by the ABNS to be “tracking toward Certification,” commonly known as “Board Eligible.” In addition to the prior requirements (successful completion of an ACGME-accredited residency and passing the ABNS' primary (i.e., written, in training) exam for credit during residency), the new requirements are as follows:
For Candidates Who Began Training On Or After July 1, 2019
All post-graduate training described must be acquired as a resident in a neurological surgery training program or programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). It must be under the ultimate direction and control of the resident's neurosurgery program director.
*Click here for the details on the Individual Case Minimum Requirement
Eighty-four months of neurosurgical residency training in ACGME accredited programs under the direction of a neurosurgical program director. This must consist of:
Fifty-four months of core clinical neurosurgery, including:
For Candidates Who Began Training Between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2019
All post-graduate training described must be acquired as a resident in a neurological surgery training program or programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). It must be under the ultimate direction and control of the resident's neurosurgery program director.
Eighty-four months of neurosurgical residency training in ACGME accredited programs under the direction of a neurosurgical program director. This must consist of:
Fifty-four months of core clinical neurosurgery, including:
For Candidates Who Began Training Between July 1, 2009 And June 30, 2013
All post-graduate training described must be acquired as a resident in a neurological surgery training program or programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). It must be under the ultimate direction and control of the resident's neurosurgery Program Director.
Seventy-two months of neurosurgical residency training in ACGME accredited programs under the direction of a neurosurgical program director. This must consist of:
For Candidates Who Began Training prior to July 1, 2009
All post-graduate training must be acquired as a resident in a neurological surgery training program or programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The training must be under the ultimate direction and control of the resident’s neurosurgery program director.
PGY-1, 12 months of fundamental clinical skills
Additional Training Requirements
All post-graduate training described must be acquired as a resident in a neurological surgery training program or programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). It must be under the ultimate direction and control of the resident's neurosurgery program director.
Training of any type, including research, done in institutions outside of the parent program and its affiliated hospitals will not count toward meeting these requirements unless credit is requested in writing from the board prospectively by the program director and approved in writing. As of July 1, 2013, rotations of six to 12 months in other ACGME accredited neurosurgical programs may be granted clinical neurosurgery credit that will count toward the required 54 months; otherwise credit is elective only. The ABNS may also grant elective credit for training in non-ACGME accredited U.S or foreign centers on an individual basis when undertaken with the advice and approval of the program director. Approval for training periods of less than three months will not ordinarily be granted since they are of questionable educational value.
Training devoted to neuroscience education, critical care or other disciplines related to neurosurgery may also be acquired as a fulltime resident in ACGME accredited training programs (such as general and orthopedic surgery) that are in the same institution as the resident's neurosurgery program. This training does not need the board's approval if it remains under the ultimate direction and control of the resident's neurosurgery program director.
Upon petition from a resident's program director, the board may grant elective credit for training done before entering an accredited neurosurgery program if the resident has substantially more than the prerequisite training in general surgery, neurology or the basic neurological sciences at acceptable institutions. If the training results in a PhD in a neuroscience field, one year of elective credit will be given. Neurosurgery residency training completed abroad, particularly if it concludes with certification in that country, may also merit retroactive elective credit if the ABNS is petitioned by the program director. Credit is not automatic. It must be requested by the program director and approved in writing by the board.
Training by preceptorship does not fulfill these requirements. Additionally, no credit is given for training done by fellows or other individuals not enrolled as residents tracking toward certification in ACGME accredited neurosurgery programs. Resident training cannot be obtained during repeated short intervals in a number of institutions. These provisions do not alter the basic minimum requirements.
Learn more about Enfolded Fellowships starting in July 2021.
For information on credit for electives and/or away rotations, click here.
Learn more about Family Medical Leave Act while in residency and post-residency.
Click here to learn more about ACGME Residency Programs
Click here for the list of Neurological Surgery Residency Programs accredited by the ACGME
Public data requests can be sent to ACGME using the following link https://apps.acgme.org/ads/Public/Request/PublicDataRequest
Demographic data for Neurological Surgery residency programming accredited by the ACGME can be accessed through the 2020-2021 ACGME Data Resource Book located at the link below: