Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Physician PROFILE: NORTHWEST HEALTH
Northwest Health Welcomes Dr. Bonda, Neurologist to Northwest Arkansas
It was a high school biology teacher who inspired Dr. Chaitanya Bonda to study and practice medicine, a fascinating field with many innovations.
Dr. Bonda recently joined the active medical staff of Northwest Health System, practicing at Northwest Neurology – Bentonville in Suite 310 at 2900 Medical Center Parkway in Bentonville. He is currently accepting new patients.
Dr. Bonda is a board certified neurologist and is fellowship trained in neuromuscular medicine. He chose neurology because it is intellectually challenging, and achieving a diagnosis is satisfying. He considers the field interesting, and it is professionally satisfying to take care of patients with debilitating neurological conditions.
The normal perception is that there are no treatments for neurological conditions, he said. He wishes people knew that not all of these conditions are life-ending, and there are treatments available for most of them.
“You know, there’s so many things changing,” he said.
He explained that there is a lot of research being conducted for various neurological conditions.
Dr. Bonda believes that it is important for doctors in his specialty to reassure patients and be there for their families.
Outside of work, Dr. Bonda enjoys jogging, biking on trails and reading about history and politics. He also likes spending time with his family and speaking with his parents in India, where he grew up.
He spoke about the difference between practicing medicine in the U.S. versus India. The majority of people in India don’t have medical insurance, so he would have to be careful when ordering tests that are expensive for patients to pay out-of-pocket. He said it is relatively better in the U.S., where cost is not a major concern when ordering tests, because the expense is handled differently with many people insured. Though with rising health care costs here, physicians have to be mindful of what tests are ordered, he added.
Health literacy is also better in the U.S. than in India, Dr. Bonda said. It’s easier to explain neurological diagnoses to patients in the U.S. than in India.
The main procedures Dr. Bonda provides are electromyography (EMG) to assess the health of muscles and nerves, skin biopsies and botulinum toxin injections for migraines, he said. He commonly sees patients with stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, neuropathies, multiple sclerosis (MS) and epilepsy.
Dr. Bonda received his medical education at Padmashree Dr. D.Y Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre in India and completed his neurology internship and residency at University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Ky. He then completed his neuromuscular medicine fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.