David Y Hwang, MD, FAAN(Neurology), FCCM, FNCS

David Y. Hwang, MD, is a neurologist at Yale Medicine specializing in neuro-critical care. He received his medical training at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital; and arrived at Yale Medicine in 2012.

He became interested in neuro-ICU work early on because of his interest in the brain and the ability to care for patients in emergency situations. “I like the attention to detail and the availability of quantitative data from continuous monitoring on machines like EEGs,” he says. (EEG or electroencephalography is an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain.)

When on service as the team leader in the neuro-ICU, Dr. Hwang is thorough in his care. “We will not leave any stone unturned and will try everything to ensure the best possible outcome that’s acceptable to the patient,” he says. At the same time, he believes in honest conversations about the patient’s prognosis so that the patient and family can agree on the best course of action. “We're not afraid to have those conversations that serve the patients' best interests,” he says.

In addition to treating patients, Dr. Hwang studies the accuracy and thought processes of clinicians when predicting functional outcomes for neuro-ICU patients with severe diseases, and the experiences of family members of patients hospitalized in the neuro-ICU.