A neurologist is a doctor who specializes in the medical treatment of neurological disorders. A neurologist does not perform surgery, but often helps to decide when surgery is necessary and what type of surgeon to request. Neurologist are called to treat critically ill patients with conditions such as stroke, seizures, infections of the brain, sudden nerve or muscle weakness, or unexplained confusion. Most neurological care, however, is delivered in outpatient clinics for conditions that can be stabilized and treated routinely, such as migraine headaches, back or neck pain, epilepsy, abnormalities of movement or frequent falls, multiple sclerosis, chronic nerve damage, muscle diseases, memory disorders, and many others.

A neurosurgeon is trained in surgical interventions to treat diseases of the brain and spinal cord, and rarely the small nerves of the rest of the body. A neurosurgeon also frequently cares for critically ill patients with brain bleeds, tumors, injuries to the brain or spinal cord, or many other conditions that have new and exciting surgical treatments that never existed before. For example, Parkinson’s disease is typically managed with medications, but in some cases a stimulator can be placed by a surgeon in the brain to improve the condition as well. Most neurosurgical care is directed toward deciding if surgery is necessary or not, and if so, a neurosurgeon will follow a patient for the duration of the operative course from planning the surgery to follow-up weeks later. A neurosurgeon will occasionally need to follow a patient in a clinic for years, for example to monitor the stability or growth of aneurysms or tumors.