To go into neuro-optho, do you do neurology, or opthalmology first? Do you have any info on this field?
neuro opthalmology
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You can go into neuro-ophth from either neuro or ophtho. It is generally a one-year fellowship after completing a neuro or ophtho residency.
The specialty deals primarily with abnormalities of the pupil, eye motility, and the optic nerve. You also see a lot of weird "functional" stuff. There is a huge amount of incredibly detailed neuroanatomy that you have to know to be any good at this specialty.
From what I have seen of it, I have formed the following two opinions about neuro-ophth:
1. It's next to impossible to have a practice solely devoted to neuro-ophth. Most practitioners are primarily ophthalmologists or neurologists who do some neuro-ophth as well.
2. It's largely a diagnostic specialty. The docs I've seen in this subspecialty seem to do a lot of "investigating" and "following" of patients and very little in the way of actual treatment. I think of it as primarily an intellectually stimulating field for the doc but not particularly geared toward delivering much to the patient in the way of making them better.
Go to the American Academy of Neurology website link below to check out descriptions and links to neuro-ophth fellowships.
http://www.aan.com/students/awards/fellowship.cfm
The specialty deals primarily with abnormalities of the pupil, eye motility, and the optic nerve. You also see a lot of weird "functional" stuff. There is a huge amount of incredibly detailed neuroanatomy that you have to know to be any good at this specialty.
From what I have seen of it, I have formed the following two opinions about neuro-ophth:
1. It's next to impossible to have a practice solely devoted to neuro-ophth. Most practitioners are primarily ophthalmologists or neurologists who do some neuro-ophth as well.
2. It's largely a diagnostic specialty. The docs I've seen in this subspecialty seem to do a lot of "investigating" and "following" of patients and very little in the way of actual treatment. I think of it as primarily an intellectually stimulating field for the doc but not particularly geared toward delivering much to the patient in the way of making them better.
Go to the American Academy of Neurology website link below to check out descriptions and links to neuro-ophth fellowships.
http://www.aan.com/students/awards/fellowship.cfm
Andrew_Doan
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To go into neuro-ophthalmology, you may take either route.
If you do neurology first then a neuro-op fellowship, then you will not be qualified to do surgeries (e.g. cataracts, muscles, etc...)
If you do ophthalmology first then a neuro-op fellowship, then you will be qualified to do all of the above.
Many neuro-ophthalmologists continue to practice general ophthalmology along with their sub-specialty.
Regarding treatments, neuro-ophthalmologists will treat various disorders: pseudotumor cerebri, optic neuritis, AION, strabismus secondary to thyroid ophthalmopathy, tumors, and auto-immune/inflammatory disorders, such as sarcoidosis and giant cell arteritis. Additionally, if you're trained in orbit surgery, then some will venture to perform orbital decompressions for thyroid eye disease or optic nerve sheath fenestrations.
Depending on the disease, diagnosis and treatment will be life saving or vision preserving. Therefore, my experiences with neuro-ophthalmology have demonstrated that this specialty can make a big difference in the care of patients and "making them better".
http://www.eyemdlink.com/Specialty.asp?SpecialtyID=7
If you do neurology first then a neuro-op fellowship, then you will not be qualified to do surgeries (e.g. cataracts, muscles, etc...)
If you do ophthalmology first then a neuro-op fellowship, then you will be qualified to do all of the above.
Many neuro-ophthalmologists continue to practice general ophthalmology along with their sub-specialty.
Regarding treatments, neuro-ophthalmologists will treat various disorders: pseudotumor cerebri, optic neuritis, AION, strabismus secondary to thyroid ophthalmopathy, tumors, and auto-immune/inflammatory disorders, such as sarcoidosis and giant cell arteritis. Additionally, if you're trained in orbit surgery, then some will venture to perform orbital decompressions for thyroid eye disease or optic nerve sheath fenestrations.
Depending on the disease, diagnosis and treatment will be life saving or vision preserving. Therefore, my experiences with neuro-ophthalmology have demonstrated that this specialty can make a big difference in the care of patients and "making them better".
http://www.eyemdlink.com/Specialty.asp?SpecialtyID=7
