The Child Neurology Society (CNS) endorses A Statement from Child Neurology Residency Program Directors: Recommendations for Changes in Child Neurology Residency Training.
With this endorsement, the Board supports the statement’s recommendation of a four-year categorical child neurology residency with more curricular flexibility and a renewed emphasis on child neurology–focused training. The Board joins the statement in asking that these recommendations be considered in Shaping GME, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) national initiative to modernize residency training.
What the CNS Endorses
The Child Neurology Residency Restructuring Task Force wrote the statement. All child neurology and neurodevelopmental disabilities program directors were invited to take part during the 2025–26 academic year, and 90 percent of responding programs (69 percent response rate) approved the final curriculum. The Board endorses the statement’s key elements:
- 8 to 12 months of pediatrics, including at least one month each of pediatric and neonatal intensive care
- No more than 12 months of adult neurology, including 3 months of inpatient adult neurology
- At least 24 months of child neurology
- Required rotations in genetics, neurophysiology and EEG, and neuroimaging
- Flexibility for programs to shape training around their resources and residents
The statement notes that combined pediatrics and child neurology programs, with board eligibility in both fields, would most likely continue, pending ACGME approval.
Why the CNS Endorses the Statement
The Board considered the statement alongside the work of the CNS Training the Future Child Neurologist Task Force. CNS convened this Task Force in 2023 to review residency requirements ahead of the 2027 ACGME review, and it published its findings in Neurology® Education in June 2026. The Task Force found that child neurology has matured greatly as a field and that training should be reviewed, particularly in general pediatrics and adult neurology. It did not reach consensus on how much of each to require, and it called for a broader discussion before the ACGME review.
The Board finds the statement consistent with the Task Force’s work:
- It takes up the questions the Task Force left open, with input from program directors nationwide.
- It follows the direction most Task Force members favored: less required time in adult neurology and fewer than two years of pediatrics.
- It keeps the foundation the Task Force called vital. It reduces pediatrics and adult neurology training but does not remove either, and it recognizes the value of adult rotations for neurologic localization.
- It meets every Task Force consensus minimum that it addresses, including neurogenetics, child psychiatry, clinical child neurology, outpatient training, and electives.
- Both recognize the same next step for certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology certification requirements will need to be adjusted.
Approved by the Board of Directors of the Child Neurology Society on September 30, 2026.