Vascular neurology saves lives. Will you?

The untrained eye, the brain may look like just another squishy mass, but it is actually the most complex organ in the human body. Neurology is the healthcare field that provides diagnosis, treatment, and care for the brain. The broader term for “neurology,” however, is used to house a bunch of smaller subcategories.

Each sub-division accounts for a plethora of possible issues a patient may encounter. Doctors that enter into a specific division are called specialists. One such specialty is vascular neurology, and people that practice vascular neurology are often colloquially known as “stroke doctors”.

What is a Stroke Doctor?

As the name implies, vascular neurologists provide care for stroke patients. A doctor in this field sees patients who are at risk for stroke as well as those currently suffering from a stroke.

All neurologists should know how to diagnose a patient having a stroke, but vascular neurologists take on an additional training, which usually lasts between one and three months.

The extra learning time makes it possible for vascular neurologists to treat and diagnose the following scenarios.

• Brain abnormalities, such as brain aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations, which may need to be operated on or treated with blood thinners
• Blood clotting issues, a lifelong condition that puts patients at risk of stroke
• Early symptoms of strokes
• Unexplained strokes with victims needing additional diagnoses
• Repeat strokes, such as those that occur with multi infarct dementia
• Side effects that are not usual, such as emotional changes, vision, or language issues, that have nothing to do with the damaged area of the brain
• High-risk stroke patients, such as pregnant women or infants

Over 10 Years of Dedicated Training

The first step to becoming a stroke doctor is to earn your bachelor's degree from college. Those with an aptitude for science, chemistry, or physics are most likely to succeed. If possible, enroll in pre-med courses too. This includes biochemistry, microbiology, and human anatomy.

To get a leg up on your peers, take the Medical College Admission Test or MCAT, in your junior year and rack up as many volunteer hours as possible.

Those with loads of recorded service sessions have a higher probability of getting accepted quickly into med school. Another aspect medical schools look at is foreign language abilities.

Med students that are semi-fluent in more than one language are very valuable in the healthcare industry. Having this ace in the hole can reduce the odds of having to wait a year or two to get into medical school.

Once accepted, students enter a 4-year learning journey in medical school. The first half is mainly coursework, whereas the latter half is real-world experience. This typically includes clinical work, such as family medicine. Afterward, aspiring neurologists must take one of the following.

• United States Medical Licensing Examination, or USMLE
• Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination, or COMPLEX

Which one you choose to take on will solidify your options for what comes next - an internship of a year and/or a 3-year neurology residency. To ensure you can get into an internship and residency program you like, see what each one requires. Of course, you can also try to pass both the USMLE and COMPLEX.

From there, budding neurologists can enter into a 1-3 year fellowship in vascular neurology. Those that make it this far typically earn $173,000 a year on average.