Headache fellowship match shareholder insights

Abstract

Although headache disorders have the secondhighest disease burden worldwide, the field remains vastly underserved. Access to care is limited by lack of certified specialists, geographic distribution of specialized care, financial restrictions, and overall burden of disease. People with headache disorders receive care largely from primary care, neurologists, and headache subspecialists. Assessments, evaluations, and treatments vary tremendously based upon training and experience. Until recently, medical school training in headache has been limited. Most subspecialist education occurred as apprenticeship at centers of excellence or was fostered by clinical practice and supported by continuing medical education. In 2003 the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialities (UCNS) was incorporated. The first accredited headache programs and certification examinations occurred in 2006. This required standardization of program expectations, a basic curriculum, and core content. Currently, there are 46 fellowships available throughout the United States. The American Headache Society (AHS) National Fellowship Opportunities website features the most uptodate information about the application cycle, individual program details, open positions, names of applicants who have filled positions, and program contact information. Participating programs must abide by the unified application timeline and match process; any program deemed noncompliant may be suspended from the website. The last several years have seen an increasingly organized headache fellowship matching process (Figure 1). The Consortium of Academic Headache Program Directors voted to pursue the match and the AHS Board of Directors signed an agreement with the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) to sponsor the match in 2022 (timeline in Table 1). Immediately following the match, the