Dr. Jody Pearl – Neurologist – Netcare Sunninghill Hospital

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, in our series on women in medicine, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to neurologist Dr. Jody Pearl who is in private practice. The brain is one of the most complex organs in the body and several of its functions are still to be explained. We note that women are more predisposed to certain neurological conditions than men, sometimes hormonally related. These include headache disorders, migraines, multiple sclerosis, young strokes and Alzheimer’s. Dr Pearl’s practice sees patients from across the African continent and she highlights one of the Nigerian projects she is involved with to build up capacity in neurology with practical life saving interventions. We consider the fact that South Africa has a shortage of doctors, relative to global benchmarks, and remark that more efforts are needed to not only encourage young women to pursue careers in medicine, but to help develop their confidence and be able to make informed choices. Importantly, we highlight that through appropriate support structures, enabling environments and hard work it is possible to achieve everything. Tune in for more