16 PPMIonline . org
A Clinician ’ s Perspective : The Power of Better Care
By Rachel Dolhun , MD , MJFF Senior Vice President of Medical Communications
Rachel Dolhun , MD , is a movement disorder specialist , board-certified neurologist and senior vice president of medical communications at MJFF . Follow her on Twitter @ RachelDolhunMD .
People become doctors because they want to help others . At least that ’ s why I did . While training as a neurologist , I was drawn to helping people and families living with Parkinson ’ s . For many years , I had the privilege of caring for them and others with brain disease .
As a movement disorder specialist , I happen to believe there is no better time to choose this field of medicine . Because even over the relatively short course of my own career , I have witnessed a remarkable change and expansion in the number and variety of treatments available to Parkinson ’ s doctors to help their patients . Today , clinicians in our field can do more than ever for people living with the disease . And since 2010 , PPMI has been a major force behind this positive change .
Don ’ t get me wrong — for decades , we ’ ve had some good options , thanks to the drug levodopa , around since the late 1960s , and to deep brain stimulation ( DBS ), approved for PD in 1997 . These treatments continue to be life-changing for many . But we don ’ t yet have a cure , nor do we have a disease-modifying
Visit michaeljfox . org / ask-the-md to learn more about living well with Parkinson ’ s and recent Parkinson ’ s research topics .