We are incredibly proud to share that Jos Bongers has passed her board exams and is now a qualified neurology specialist. A massive achievement and a testament to her exceptional knowledge and dedication.
With such great news, we thought this would be a brilliant time to officially introduce Jos:
Why did you choose to become a Vet?
Because it combines all the things I love! Working with animals, people, research and medicine.
What made you choose to pursue veterinary neurology?
I am fascinated by neurology; it is a great discipline and I love how it combines internal medicine with surgery. The physical examination is like a puzzle where you can gather many clues to form a provisional diagnosis.
What does a typical day look like for you?
We usually start our day checking on our inpatients during rounds followed by morning consultations. If we have to admit a patient, in most cases we can do the investigations on the same day to hopefully get a speedy diagnosis as we have an MRI/CT Scanner on site.
How many cases do you typically see?
This varies a lot, as apart from our routine cases, we are also an emergency service. This means that your day can look organised at the start of it, but you may end up in surgery or triaging emergencies by the end of the morning! This keeps the job unpredictable and exciting.
Do you have a memorable case or patient that you can share with us?
Oh loads… but the ones that really stick by me are usually due to a strong emotional connection with both dog and owner. Probably the most memorable patient would be Audrey, a little Border Collie that we’ve diagnosed with a disorder called congenital hydrocephalus.
She had surgery in which we placed a tube between the ventricles in her brain right down to her abdomen, to drain the excessive fluid. This system can be prone to complications, and I believe we ticked almost every single one of them in Audrey’s case. In addition, as Audrey grew older, we had to change the size of her valve (the gate that allows fluid to go through the tubes) a few times to ensure sufficient drainage. The owners have always kept a positive attitude and their dog is such a fighter, both which I admired during her treatment. Audrey is currently doing well, and we are in the process of writing up her case as part of a bigger research study.
What other services do you work with?
Almost all of them to be honest. That’s what’s so great about neurology, it has many connections with the other disciplines but mostly with internal medicine, radiology and emergency & critical care.
What are the most common cases that you see?
If I divide it up into neurology and neurosurgery, I would say epilepsy for medical neurology and intervertebral disc extrusion (‘slipped discs’) for surgical neurology.
Is there anything else that you want people to know about the service that you offer?
Actually, there are some interesting developments happening in our service!
We have launched a clinic focussing on patients with seizures or other abnormal neurological episodes. The aim of the clinic is to improve the classification of these episodes to promote appropriate treatment.