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#1. How do you explain your job to someone who asks, "What do you do"?
Neuro-ophthalmology is the field that straddles neurology and ophthalmology. Our field is understanding the neurology of vision.
#2. What is a surprising way that maybe the brain and the eyes work together that you know that not everyone else does?
Not everybody knows that the eyes are like a video camera, but the brain is what interprets your vision and makes you understand what you're seeing.
#3. What is one eye symptom that people should never ignore?
Sudden loss of vision of one eye that lasts a few minutes and then recovers, often looking like a black shade that comes down from the top or up from the bottom. That could be a warning of a stroke. That's really bad.
#4. What's the difference between an eye doctor or an ophthalmologist and, say, what you do with neuro-ophthalmology?
So I'm a neurologist, and I took extra training studying ophthalmology. There are also ophthalmologists who've trained in neurology, who do the same thing that I do. But ophthalmologists in general and neurologists in general don't have that special crossover training.
#5. Why did you choose to specialize in this field?
Neuro-ophthalmology was the most interesting field I was exposed to during my neurology residency. And to be honest, my mentor in neuro-ophthalmology, who I met in my second year of neurology training, loved his job so much that I said to myself, "I want to do what he does."
#6. What's the most common reason that someone gets referred to a neuro-ophthalmologist?
Probably the biggest two reasons would be unexplained vision loss and double vision.
#7. What is your favorite part about being a neuro-ophthalmologist?
Most of the patients that I see have seen other doctors. They may have seen ophthalmologists, or optometrists, or neurologists, or their primary care, and they're in a situation of a puzzle. What I love is being able to talk to a patient, examine a patient, and tell them what is going on, and being able to take the time to explain to them what I think is up and have them understand, good or bad, at least they know what's going on.
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