The field of medicine known as neurology deals with the nervous system and its disorders. Neurology jobs can be classified in a variety of ways. One way is to look at the person’s job title if they work in the field of neurology. Another way to look at it is by the type of work that is being done, and finally, by the subspecialties that make up the field.
People who work in neurology usually have one of four or five different job titles. A neurologist, for starters, is a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the nervous system and nerves. A neurology nurse, on the other hand, is a licensed health professional with specialized training in neurology as well as knowledge and skill in health promotion and restoration services. A neurology nurse practitioner, on the other hand, is a nurse who has received advanced training in health assessment as it pertains to neurology. Fourth, a neurology physician assistant (PA) is a health professional trained in a portion of a physician’s duties and capable of assisting in taking patient histories, physical examinations, blood draws, and other routine procedures under the supervision of the physician.
Neurology jobs classified by type of work provide a unique perspective on the field. There are jobs in clinical practice, for example, where the primary goal is to treat patients. This is frequently combined with teaching, whether at a medical school, a college or university’s neuroscience department, or both. It is also possible to teach neuroscience without involving clinical practice. Research is another aspect of the job that can be done alone or in conjunction with teaching and/or clinical practice. According to the American Association of Neurologists, at least 40% of neurologists practiced both clinically and in clinical research in 2000.
Finally, we can classify neurology jobs by subspecialties, using either the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) subspecialties—that is, the specialties that are eligible for certification—or the subspecialties that appear in the field, such as in medical schools. Child Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Neuromuscular Medicine, Pain Medicine, Sleep Medicine, and Vascular Neurology are the subspecialties of neurology in the first case. Epilepsy, Neuro-oncology, Multiple Sclerosis, Dementia, Neuropsychology, Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Neuro-Opthamology, Neurogenetics, Headache Medicine, Autonomic Disorders, Behavioral Neurology, Geriatric Neurology, Neurocritical Care, and Neuroimaging are all subspecialties that appear in medical schools and are thus linked to neurology jobs. Neurology is a rapidly changing field, and new subspecialties, and thus new types of neurology jobs, are likely to emerge in the future.