Susan Schulman

[thereishope]

There is a lot reference to Susan Schulman and her videos lately. But who is she? I hadn't heard of her prior to the you tube mentionings on here and she's being quoted often now.

Edited September 3, 2010 by Vickie

[kimballot]

Hi Vickie-

 

 

Yes, I know... it seems that Susan Schulman has emerged as a newbie, but she seems to have lots of experience. From what I can gather, Dr. MDK found her. After lots of internet searches I have decided (determined) that Dr. MDK is a pediatrician in the New York city / New Jersey area who started interviewing other doctors and posting the interviews on his website. Dr. MDK was interested in PANDAS and interviewed a neurologist (actually, I found two different neurologists he interviewed) who gave the standard neurologist explanation of PANDAS (we don't know if it is a REAL disease... some kids might have it... even if they do we don't treat it any different than regular OCD or tics, so why bother looking").

 

It seems that some parents on this forum found these videos and were very proactive in posting information about PANDAS and posting resources for families to go to for help, and some parents sent PMs to Dr. MDK. I guess he took these seriously as he does believe that PANDAS is a treatable condition, and he found Dr. Schulman.

 

Dr. Schulman has written a book on chld health, and according to what parents have written on the AMAZON webiste for the book, she is an excellent pediatrician who primarily serves an orthodox Jewish population in Brooklyn (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Childs-Health-Susan-Schulman/dp/0979115558/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283604912&sr=8-1)

 

I don't think she claims to be a PANDAS expert - just a pediatrician who recognizes that kids have PANDAS. She seems to recognize it early on from what she says - she even recognizes irritablility and difficult behavior following a strep infection as signs of early PANDAS. She seems to be well-read on the literature and she seems to like zithromax as the drug of choice. She seems familiar with Dr. Ks work (though she does not name him in the videos -she talks about a doctor who has treated many kids with IVIG), and she seems to understand the benfits of IVIG for more involved kids, but she also seems to want to treat the condition early on in an effort to avoid the severe involvement. Dr. MDK has posted the zithromax protocol she generally uses.

 

I have never met the woman and I am really not her PR director... but if I lived in Brooklyn, I would already have made an appointment with her.

 

If there is anyone on this site that has actually seen her as a pediatrician.... please write in and tell us about her!

[thereishope]

Thanks for responding. For some reason my audio doesn't work great on her you tube videos so I haven't been able to watch them. I'm just always cautious about promoting someone when their main connection to the PANDAS community is you tube. I don't want to aid in thrusting anyone into a spotlight or push patients her way when I truly know nothing about her. But according to what you wrote, we as a community should give her chance and, like you said, any PANDAS families that have seen her, I would love to hear their experiences. I think I will warm up to referencing her more once we start to hear first hand accounts by parents on this forum or elsewhere.If those parents wish to remain anonymous, feel free to pm me and others (like kimballot) and let us know.

 

Maybe you can answer one more question, who is Dr MDK? I see the website but that's the extent of it. Never hear references outside of his website and those reference are rather recent. If he's seen over 50 PANDAS kids, are any on here?

Edited September 4, 2010 by Vickie

[kimballot]

I don't think Dr. MDK has seen 50 PANDAS kids. I think he has only had one child with PANDAS. (I think the 50 kids may have been referring to Dr. Schulman's experience, but I am not sure)

 

I was one of the parents who was corresponding with DrMDK via PM. He has not told me his "real" name, but has provided me other information that allowed me to ascertain that he is a pediatrician in the new york / NJ area. Since he has not publicly posted his name, I am assuming he wants to be an annonymous MD. I am OK with that since HE is not recommending any treatment himself... just being the producer of these videos.

 

From my PMs with Dr. MDK... he did treat the child with PANDAS, the child got better with antibiotics, and the child and family seemed to make a impression upon him. He truly understands that PANDAS is a treatable disorder and he is willing to help us by finding physicians in the NY / NJ area and videotaping them. He asked me what else he could do. I think if others wanted to make a You Tube account and PM him they could make suggestions. I know I am not the only parent with whom he has corresponded, and I think he has responded to all of the input he has received from parents on this forum. The fact that he made an entire PAGE dedicated to PANDAS with links to the 3 PANDAS organizations is huge.

 

At this point, I consider him a friend to PANDAS and someone who is willing to offer his time and talents to furthering our cause. Yes YOU TUBE is not rocket science.. but it does reach the general population and, in this case, it now has good information!