bluegold said:
Anybody else absolutely torn between these two fields? I love neuroscience, but also the surgical scope and practice of Oto.
How much overlap is there in training between these two fields, are there opportunities for neuro research as an ENT?
Any thoughts at all would be really helpful...
These are WAY different fields. Kinda like being "torn between" pathology and psychiatry. ENT docs are first and foremost SURGEONS. They operate on people. When an ENT doc sees a patient, they are thinking "is there a surgical fix here?' It is a whole different mindset.
Neurologists are NOT surgeons. They don't operate on anyone.
There is some limited overlap and room for complementary evaluation and/or treatment in such issues as meniere's disease, vertigo, and headache, but generally, IMHO, an ENT doc should only be involved in these if there is trauma or some other surgical indication, or in cases of chronic sinus/ear infection. I see many more referrals flowing from ENT to neurology (i.e., "your 'sinus headaches' are really migraines -- go see a neurologist" or "your vertigo is central, not peripheral -- go see a neurologist) than from neuro to ENT.
