I graduated from Tartu University Hospital in 1974 and completed my neurology internship in Tartu in 1975. This was followed by a two-year specialisation in neurosurgery at Tallinn Central Hospital. From 1980, the neurosurgery department moved to Mustamaee, where I worked as a neurologist until 2016.
Since Estonia’s independence was restored, I have had the opportunity to participate in various international events — in Athens, Paris, Bordeaux, Brussels, Lisbon, Stockholm, Helsinki, Berlin, Kassel, Wurzburg, Lausanne, Copenhagen, Istanbul and the Baltic States.
Neurology is a rapidly developing science, particularly in the field of genetics, and through the internet there are many fascinating topics to explore. Parkinson’s disease, restless legs syndrome and migraine have always been closest to my heart. I also occasionally give educational lectures, including at Tallinn Emergency Medical Services and the North Estonia Regional Hospital training centre.
Medicine has become overly dependent on imaging diagnostics, overly rational, and hospital activity has largely become urgent assembly-line work. Now that I work in outpatient care with a lighter schedule, I can devote myself to what I have always considered most important — humanity and a deep engagement with the patient as a person. Medicine is both a science and an art.
Professional memberships
All neurologists are members of the Estonian Society of Neurology and Neurosurgery. In addition, I am a member of the Society of Movement Disorders and the Estonian Medical Association.
Hobbies
Music, gardening, nature and the Estonian forests.
