Baptist Medical Group adds epilepsy specialist

Baptist Medical Group recently welcomed Dr. Pawan Rawal, a neurologist, to its team. He will also serve as director of Baptist’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, overseeing growth and planning for all epilepsy services provided within the organization.

Dr. Rawal served as chief neurology resident at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, then completed his epilepsy fellowship at Vanderbilt University. He also was actively involved in epilepsy research and published numerous manuscripts. Dr. Rawal is a member of the American Epilepsy Society, the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society and the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. Rawal is part of BMG-Neurology Specialists, located at 6029 Walnut Grove Rd., Suite 210 on the Baptist Memphis campus. For more information, please call 901-226-4910.

Dr. Rawal took a few minutes to answer the following questions about epilepsy.

[toggle title=”How common is epilepsy?” state=”open”] Epilepsy is a fairly common disease; approximately 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some time in their life. This risk is even higher in individuals with a history of stroke, traumatic brain injury, autism and various neurobehavioral disorders.
[/toggle] [toggle title=”Does everyone who has seizures have epilepsy?” state=”close”] Seizures and epilepsy are related but not the same. A seizure is an isolated episode of a disturbance in the electrical activity of the brain leading to abnormal movements or behavior. On the other hand, epilepsy is characterized by a tendency for recurrent seizures. Careful evaluation by epilepsy specialists with specialized epilepsy protocol MRI and EEG can help determine the best treatment strategies and long-term prognosis.
[/toggle] [toggle title=”What are the components of Baptist’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Program?” state=”close”] Baptist’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Program consists of a specialized epilepsy clinic, routine and long-term video EEG (brain wave test) and the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, with the ability to perform epilepsy surgery and device implantation in appropriate cases.

The epilepsy clinic provides care for any patients with seizure disorder and specializes in evaluating new onset seizures, women with epilepsy and refractory seizures. The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit is the best option for accurate diagnosis of epilepsy and will be the only monitoring unit available in the Memphis area, with an anticipated opening date of January 2016.

At Baptist Epilepsy Center, a team that includes an epileptologist (neurologist with special training in epilepsy), a neurosurgeon, nurses, a neuropsychologist and a psychiatrist work closely toward the goal of seizure freedom and improving the quality of life for patients and caregivers.

[/toggle]