Insights from the Frontlines: Dr. Zehra Uysal Kocabaş on Stroke Care, AI, and Gender Equality in Turkey
Q&A:
1. Introducing Dr. Kocabaş: Role and Experience
Dr. Kocabaş: My name is Zehra Uysal Kocabaş, and I work as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Eskişehir Osmangazi University. I have been serving as an interventional neurologist for approximately 8 years.
2. Inspiration for Specialization: Why Interventional Neurology?
Dr. Kocabaş: As a neurologist, stroke patients make up a large portion of our patient population. Unfortunately, the number of patients left with permanent deficits due to stroke is not low. Observing how much the permanent damage in patients evaluated with acute ischemic stroke can be reduced through appropriate treatment approaches has been a turning point even for me as a physician. To be able to personally offer this service to my patients and to enable more people to access this treatment, I have decided to pursue the field of interventional neurology.
3. Rewards and Challenges: The Life of an Interventional Neurologist
Dr. Kocabaş: As an interventional neurologist, seeing the clinical improvement in my acute stroke patients, whom I diagnose, treat, and manage throughout their follow-up process, is the greatest reward for me. However, working in such an intense environment is, of course, challenging.
4. AI and Stroke Care: Brainomix's Impact
Dr. Kocabaş: Especially in patients with uncertain onset times or low NIHSS scores but with large vessel occlusion, assessing mismatch and clarifying the treatment plan using AI-driven tools like Brainomix definitely makes the process more comfortable.
5. A Case Study: Brainomix in Action
Dr. Kocabaş: We have many patients where Brainomix plays a large role in the treatment outcome. For example, we have a 75-year-old patient who presented with proximal occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery, with an unknown symptom onset time and an NIHSS score of 15. We detected a significant mismatch through Brainomix imaging and performed mechanical thrombectomy, resulting in clinically significant benefit.
6. Gender Inclusivity: Progress and Perspectives
Dr. Kocabaş: As a female interventional neurologist, I can say that I work in perhaps the most advantageous country and institution. We are celebrating the 101st anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, where women and men have equal rights. How lucky we are to have received our training from mentors who have embraced these principles to become interventional neurologists. Looking at the numbers of interventional neurologists worldwide, Turkey may be one of the countries with the highest proportion of female interventionalists. Our mentors, aware that being a woman, being a mother, and having responsibilities may differ from those of men, never saw these as obstacles but rather as motivating factors, always supporting us. We want to honor our mentors by doing our jobs to the best of our abilities, as they have invested their efforts and support in us.
7. Work-Life Balance: A Woman's Perspective
Dr. Kocabaş: We work in a very demanding environment, just like all interventional neurologists around the world. I believe that as women, mothers, and partners, we have more responsibilities than men. However, the harmony, peace, and trust in the work environment enable us to overcome everything.
8. AI and Geographic Disparities: Bridging the Gap
Dr. Kocabaş: Although there are interventional neurologists in most provinces of our country, there are still provinces without any interventional neurologists. In these provinces, services are provided at the nearest comprehensive stroke centers. As it is necessary to evaluate patients and direct them to a comprehensive stroke center, their imaging and medical histories are communicated to us from social environments. However, with the development of artificial intelligence applications and technologies like Brainomix, these processes can be carried out more quickly and seamlessly, reducing the time in between.
Dr. Kocabaş's insights highlight the transformative impact of AI in stroke care and the importance of gender inclusivity within the field.
Stay tuned for more editions of Stroke Visionaries – Women at the Forefront.
