Interview with Prof David Neary (Neurology)

David Neary is a Professor of Neurology at the University of Manchester, UK, specializing in dementia. He started the Cerebral Function Unit (CFU) in Manchester with a multidisciplinary team of neurologists, neurospychiatrists, neuropathologists, radiologists and biochemists in order to tackle clinical and scientific research into the diagnosis, molecular pathology, pathogenesis and management of dementia. Prof Neary has authored more than 150 publications and three books, two of which are on dementia. In this podcast, we talk about dementia, its subtypes and general management. Finally, we address future challenges facing dementia research and patient care.

Listen to KMS's interview with him (conducted by Ayoub Dakson and Ali Mohsen) now by clicking on the play button in the podbean player below, checking out the podcast on http://kmsukir.podbean.com or searching for the 'Kuwait Medical Society' podcasts on iTunes (where you can subscribe to future podcasts).

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Find out more about dementia and its impact on the individual, family, society and scientific research by exploring the following sites;

http://www.hbo.com/alzheimers/

(The Alzheimer's Project contains lots of interesting educational videos about Alzherimer's dementia, the most common of all dementias)

http://alzheimers.org.uk/

(The Alzheimer's society is a large UK organization committed to support patient care and research in dementia, with a wealth of information in their website about the condition)

Selected publications and reading

David Neary.1999. Classification of the dementias. Reviews in clinical gerontology. 9; p 55

(Excellent review the clinical phenotypes and pathology of different dementias from a clinical point of view - highly recommended read)

H. Quefurth and F. LaFerla. 2010. Mechanisms of disease: Alzheimer's Disease.NEJM. 363: p329

(A recent reader friendly review of science's recent advances in understanding the pathogenesis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease)

Powerpoint Slides from Conference's Days 1

This is a link to our Slideshare page, which has the slides from the conference's first day's presentations:

http://www.slideshare.net/kmsukir

The slides are from the following talks:

-Comparing Programs from Different Countries by Dr. Altayyeb Yousef

-How to apply to the Canadian Exam by Dr. Mohammed Al-Bader

-USMLE and Canadian Exams by Dr. Ali Alali

-What to Do After the Exams by Dr. Altayyeb Yousef and Dr. Mohammad Ibraheem

-The Interivew by Dr. Sadikah Behbehani and Dr. Mohammed Al-Bader

-What's after the interview by Dr. Altayyeb Yousef

We plan to post videos from the conference and ethical case studies for the interviews so keep watching this space.

Again, we would like to thank all the speakers and KuMSA for their help.

Medical Interviews: Resources for Students and Doctors

January marks the beginning of the interview period for a lot of students and junior doctors so here is a run down of useful resources we've come across:

Residents:

Web

www.studentdoctor.net is a fantastic website and the forum has lots of insider information. There are articles dealing with residency interviews http://www.studentdoctor.net/2009/12/acing-your-residency-interview/ and http://www.studentdoctor.net/2009/11/the-successful-match-how-to-succeed-in-your-residency-interview/

Books

For residency applicants there is an excellent book that I highly recommend. It covers the interview very well and has specialty-specific tips. It also has other tips not related to the interview. You can get it from Amazon The Successful Match: 200 Tips to Succeed in the Residency Match by Rajani Katta

For UK applicants this book is good and also useful for general medical interviews with over 120 questions: Medical Interviews: a comprehensive guide to CT, ST and Registrar interview skills by Olivier Picard

Medical Students

Web

For medical students this forum has a wealth of information and you can find university specific past interview questions: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/

Books

I also recommend this book from amazon: Medical School Interviews by George Lee

Courses

If you are really not confident about your interview skills there are courses available in the UK (www.medical-interviews.co.uk) and USA (www.mededits.com), which cater for medical students and doctors.

Soon, we will also be posting videos, slides and ethical case studies from our Careers Day, which will have interview tips from junior doctors.

If you know about a good resource we have not mentioned please share it with us by adding a comment to this post. Good luck everyone!

Newsletter Issue 3: Discover a Researcher in Yourself

We have interviewed Prof McArdle for his views on research; he explains to medical students what it takes to be a researcher, and offers important practical advice. The following is the remaining part of an interview, which is first published in our newsletter

What do you think about MD and PhD programmes?

If you are going to do clinical sciences, you have to have proper research training provided as a PhD or, perhaps, as an MD. An MD is usually directed more to a clinical problem than to a scientific one - a disease-related question, for example. A PhD may be attempting to answer either. Because of this, I think an MD may not be not as good in terms of providing a rounded education as the PhD. Having said that, I know good clinician-scientists who have MDs not PhDs; generally, I think the main reason they don't want to do a PhD because it is a very significant time commitment - at least three and perhaps up to four or five years. But the reason it's a long time is that you are not making a trivial step. It is not a necessary logical extension of the medical degree to do research. Research requires different skills and to be able to do a scientific research, you need proper scientific training. An MD may give you that depending on how it's done and where it's done and who's it's done with, but a PhD certainly would.

Research can be time-consuming as much as medicine can be. Is it possible to do both?

I know many who do it in different ways. For example, in Australia and US, I know physicians using money from their private practice to fund their own research. They employ scientists to do research because they lack time to do it themselves and they're not scientifically trained. So they understand the questions and they know the clinical aspects of the question and they pose it to the scientist who answers it.
I also know some clinician-scientists who do not carry a full clinical load and they constrict research questions to ones related to clinical problems. So you can do it, but it’s not straight forward. You have to make some sacrifices.

Do you encourage medical students to consider a research career?

Only if they're interested. If they think you can use your clinical head inside a scientific lab, then definitely not. You have to learn to think like a scientist, which it is not the same as thinking like a clinician.
I would certainly encourage medical students to do something like an intercalated year. It would be worthwhile for people who are competent and interested. But if you're going to medicine to make people better, then you don't necessarily need to do research. This is not necessarily going to make you a better doctor. So, you have to consider why you are doing medicine, as to whether or not there is a value in you doing a science section in your clinical training.

For those students embarking on a research placement or a research degree, do you have any particular advice for them?

Remember that there will be scientists who are highly trained in science. And as a medical student, you're highly trained in medicine. So, humility is really important. Remember you don't know it all and you will be told things that are totally different. You will be expected to operate in a very different way. You're coming as a novice; people will be very tolerant and keen to help, but it can be difficult to keep reasoning and thinking that you feel awkward because you have a medical degree. That is not the case. So, it's important to remember that your colleagues have something to contribute to you. But also, don't be too shy because your medical training can be very useful. If somebody is talking about a physiological problem, you can say "Ah, that looks like Reynaud's disease or like diabetes…etc" That kind of insight that is derived from that generalist education you have as a clinician can be very useful. So both sides benefit from each other.