Well, it’s hard to believe, but there is about a month left in my time as a Knight-Wallace fellow at the University of Michigan. Some people are bemoaning time went so quickly. I feel like the time went just right. I did a lot, learned a crazy amount of stuff, and the time went where the time always goes when you are engaged in something you care about.
I get asked a lot about what I have learned by being a fly on the wall of the NeuroSport department. Hopefully, there will be a book coming out of that question. But in short, I’ve learned that neurology is not an exact science, as our brains are this amazingly complex, individual chemical, electrical, intellectual and even a bit spiritual form. Our brains are what makes us unique. We share anatomy, symptoms, injuries, illness, etc., but how our brains respond to treatment, or don’t, how we feel, can be predicted – but not ordained – by neurologists. People that seek a magic pill to cure the ills of a concussion are disappointed when they find the answers are a lot hazier. We just can’t give a blood test and tell you what kind of concussion lurks in your head. The test-driven world of medicine, where we give a blood test or a biopsy to find disease, doesn’t apply to brains. Which is good, because I’m not volunteering for somebody to take a chunk out of my cranium to see what’s wrong with me 🙂
I have been really lucky to have access, and develop lovely friendships, with some of the best in the world working on our brains. Their drive to be clinicians who care is a great thing to get to witness.
so onto the final lap here in Ann Arbor….
jcg