Neurologist

Bodies are a lot like cities. At the core is a teeming downtown — the brain, which serves as the hub of all activity — from which radiates a system of highways and roads — nerves — that deliver people and services to other parts of town. If you’re a Neurologist, that makes you Mayor of Human Body USA.

A Doctor who specializes in the nervous system, as a Neurologist, you work at hospitals, clinics and private offices, where your job is diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord and nerves, including but not limited to: epilepsy, strokes, sleep disorders, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, meningitis, Tourette’s syndrome, comas, brain cancer, head trauma and spinal injuries.

You do all the usual tasks of a Physician as a Neurologist, including consulting with patients, maintaining patient records, evaluating symptoms, diagnosing diseases, prescribing medications and administering therapies. Because you deal with brain function, you more than most Doctors also study X-rays, CAT scans and MRIs.

It’s likely that you have a specialty, either in certain conditions, procedures or patient groups. If you perform brain or spinal surgeries, for instance, you’re a Neurosurgeon. If you treat children, on the other hand, you’re a Pediatric Neurologist. If you’re a researcher, meanwhile, you’re a Neuroscientist.

Regardless, you always have a laser focus on the human nervous system, which delivers electrical signals from the brain to the rest of the body in order to control everything from vision and language to movement and vital organ function. In a way, that makes you Mother Nature’s ultimate Electrician!