There are big differences in what a neurologist does and what a neurosurgeon does. There are also big differences in what they know. neurologists diagnose and treat epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, headaches, peripheral neuropathies, muscle disease, dementias, encephalitis, and more. Neurosurgeons perofrm surgery for trauma, aneurysm repair, tumors, hydrocephalus, spine conditions, and "functional" surgeries for epilepsy and deep brain stimulaton for parkinsonism. While there is certainly a lot of overlap in knowledge, such as neuroanatomy and neuroimaging. But there are specific diseases that neurologists need to know a lot about, including those listed above, that neurosurgeons know little about. Likewise, a neurosurgeon knows about using a few medications like Dilantin and Keppra for their patients with seizures, but they generally dont know much about reading EEG's and the many other antiepileptic medications. Neuromuscular diseases and performance of EMG (electromyography) and Nerve conduction studies are another area that is primarily the area of neurologists, wich neurosurgeons dont generally know about. THere are several other examples, such as multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating disease, long term management of Parkinson's disease, etc. Now, Neurosurgeons do get some questions about these diseases on their boards so they do need some basic knowledge about these things but nowhere near the detail that neurologists need to know. Alternatively, there are many details about surgery, instruments, and procedural details that neurosurgeons know very well and neurologists do not know about. Hope this helps.
