Expanding Knowledge

11/2/2020

This past week I had an interview with Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a autoimmune neurological disorder specialist that works at UT Southwestern. From our time together I learnt more about the diagnostic medicine used within the medical field, while also pushing my thinking towards the condition of the patient before, during, and after treatment. One idea that seemed to connection to all my previous interviews was the constant growth of the medical field, especially neurology and the benefits new techniques could provide to patients. For example, in Dr. Greenberg's practice, the field has been working on a new type of treatment for autoimmune neurological disorders that targets the specific part of the immune system responsible for attacking the central nervous system neurons. This is unlike conventional medicine used for these disorders that suppresses the immune system entirely making the patients susceptible to infection and complications. In order to understand how to treat patients, one must also understand the possible consequences of treatment and how they could affect the patients. Although, this idea of consequences is not as prevalent in the field of headache medicine, the idea of growth within the field could not be stressed further. I believe that these innovative techniques now being introduced into the field of autoimmune neurological disorders could provide as inspiration to other field, including headache medicine. As I continue to study the field of headache medicine I will continue look for inter-field similarities, such as the use of antidepressant and anti-seizure medications to provide the best relief for patients.