Ivo Božović

The main goal is to be a good doctor who is motivated to improve patients’ care and finally improve their quality of life, so I think that we should do everything to achieve these goals.

Ivo Božović, MD, is one of the youngest members of the Department for Neuromuscular and Spinal Cord Disorders at the Neurology Clinic of the University Clinical Centre in Serbia, where he works both as a physician and a final-year neurology resident. He is also a third year PhD candidate in the field of neurology.

His surroundings were never inclined to him becoming a doctor, but his choices during high school led him to a career in medicine no matter what. The biology classes showed him not only that he loves scientific research but also further motivated him to help other people through his studies.

Ivo Božović, MD, found his passion in conducting research in neuromuscular disorders, which, as he says, are not so popular in the neurology community and neuromuscular disorders are still an inadequately investigated area. However, this filed is significantly expanding nowadays, also with his help.

Neuromuscular disorders comprise a wide range of conditions that affect the muscular system and the peripheral nervous system. Presented typically with a chronically progressive course and faced with limited therapeutic options, long-term and multidimensional preservation of patients’ quality of life, together with new treatment development, are one of the main goals of current medical attention.

My collaborators and me dealt with a clinically important topic – long-term prognosis of patients with Myasthenia gravis (MG). We have showed that even though a significant number of MG patients was in remission after 10 years, their quality of life (QoL) was still reduced. Moreover, even those patients with superior control of MG have reported lower QoL scores, which correlated with the presence of depression, poor disease acceptance, retirement (or older age), and lower education level in our patients. This article showed the necessity for improving overall management of MG both in acute and long-term settings as well as better understanding of patients’ needs and beliefs.

His main driving force is gaining knowledge that makes him the best doctor he can be. He believes that a good doctor is defined by both research and the clinical part of their job. But despite his commendable work ethic, he still takes his time to hang out with family and friends and watch non-medical TV series.