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Sometimes I am asked why I went into neurology. The answer: in my third year of medical school, after having thoroughly enjoyed the basic science of the brain (when most students couldn't wait for it to be over!) I spent time in an intensive care unit. During those two weeks I took care of many patients in coma, on respirators and most were very ill indeed. It was during that rotation that I discovered that each patient had something to teach me. Something to teach me about their nervous system, how their brains functioned even during coma, and how they improved or worsened. Even though most could not speak to me or tell me about their ills, I could look into their eyes, examine their deepest reflexes and garner a wealth of information about the function of their brains and spinal cords. I will be forever grateful to those patients and what they taught me. It was during that period of my training that I began to understand the fantastic power of the human brain. I have spent the rest of my career learning and discovering the fascinating organ in our heads we call our brains.
My hope is that by reading my blog and seeing the periodic news items that I am part of, you will get a peek into who I am and why I do what I do. I am here to help the patient with 20 years of migraine and to hold the hand of the sick patient with an incurable neurological illness. In either case, and for all those in the middle, we want to provide a comfortable and welcoming place to provide what for most people can be a very anxiety-provoking experience: a visit to the neurologist.
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