I am a neurologist in Massachusetts, USA, and have been in practice in this area for more than 20 years. For someone who may not know, a neurologist is a physician and not a surgeon, for anything related to the nervous system. For many reasons, neurology is considered a complicated specialty. Most medical specialties deal with one organ or an organ system, like a cardiologist with the heart. Every part of our body from head to toe has nervous system, and so a neurologist deals with every part of the body. To have an idea how complicated neurology has become in recent decades, I can count almost 20 sub-specialties of neurology, and some of them are even further divided into sub-sub-specialties. This level of sophistication has resulted in a large body of knowledge that is difficult to grasp for any one individual. Equally difficult is to bring this information to the patients, in a manner that may help them better understand their neurological conditions. On a very small scale, I try to do this every day, one patient at a time.
My life starts in Pakistan and I grow up in Islamabad. I graduate from the Punjab Medical College, in Faisalabad, Pakistan. I move to USA in mid 1990s. I have a Master’s degree in Applied Immunology from University of Southern Maine. My neurology training or residency is from Boston Medical Center, associated with Boston University. After that, I do a fellowship in Vascular Neurology from the Barnes-Jewish Medical Center associated with the Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Over the years, I have taken multiple other courses in different areas of neurology. I am board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
I have a busy neurology practice in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In my day-to-day practice, I am a general neurologist. I also direct the stroke center at Holyoke Medical Center. I am personally thankful to the hospital’s dedicated team of doctors and nurses. Over the years, their dedication and hard work has won numerous accolades for the hospital. I am especially grateful for my association with Dr. Mohammad Ali Hazratji, my professional partner, and the stroke nursing manager Angela Smith, both have been my longtime friends, associates and teachers.
The town of South Hadley in the Western Mass is our home. God has blessed me with a lovely wife and three lovely and intelligent children. Spending time with my family, and discussing anything that may come to mind is always fun and an inspiration. And our puppy Kish-Mish is always nearby, like a wise one, only interested in listening.
I enjoy multiple outdoor activities, especially hiking. At home, I like spending time with family, reading, writing, taking care of everyone including a collection of birds we have, and of course my garden. If I miss any lesson from my family, there are enough challenges in the garden to keep me abreast.
My impetuses for this blog are partly selfish; I hope to learn neurology while I am trying to educate others. I use this type of information for my patients when going over their conditions, but frequently this job gets tedious. I hope the information on this site may help to streamline and ease that process, and may help patients and their families.