Hoag Neurobehavioral Medicine Program

Through a multidisciplinary team of neurologists, pain specialists, a psychiatrist/neuropsychologist team and interventionalists, Hoag’s vision is to care for chronic and complex neurobehavioral problems that traditionally have been abandoned by conventional medicine. The new program will not replace conventional neurology, but act as an expansion of the concept of neurologic care to embrace patients and offer them hope.

“Our goal in creating this neurobehavioral medicine program is to complete the circle; to take what has traditionally been ‘soft,’ or neuropsychiatric disease, states and bring them under the roof of neurology,” explains C. Philip O’Carroll, M.D., medical director of Hoag Neurobehavioral Medicine Program. “Neurology deals with the brain whether it is a brain tumor, a stroke, or a neurochemical disorder. It’s all in the domain of the brain specialist.”

C. Philip O’Carroll, M.D. Medical Director, Hoag Neurobehavioral Medicine Program As medical director of Hoag’s Neurobehavioral Medicine Program, Dr. O’Carroll has not only been instrumental in establishing a comprehensive neurobehavioral program at Hoag, but is regarded as a pioneer in his work to integrate conventional neurology with psychiatry. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Neurology/Psychiatry and Pain Medicine. He began his private practice 27 years ago in Newport Beach and has been actively involved in the community. Dr. O’Carroll has participated in over 35 research projects, has authored several articles in professional journals, and has extensive experience teaching and lecturing to hospitals, conferences and universities.

Expert care for a variety of conditions

• Attention-deficit disorder (ADD)
• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism
• Memory disturbances
• Behavioral and mood disorders
• Mind-body disorders
• Headache
• Neuropathy
• Chronic pain
• Facial pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Bi-polar disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Neuropsychological disorders

These are just a few examples of neurobehavioral disorders that are the focus of the new program. Rather than receiving a shoot-from-the-hip diagnosis and a prescription, patients should receive a comprehensive evaluation by a team of specialists to highlight the true underlying nature of these disorders – disrupted brain function, abnormal neurochemistry, pathologic wiring, absence of anatomical lesions, etc.

The mantra for this new model is care, not quick cure. The idea is that healing is not an overnight event, but a process that occurs over a lifetime. “We deal with difficult, ill-defined entities for which there is no overnight fix. This is managing human behavior at the interdisciplinary level,” states Dr. O’Carroll.

Contact Us

For more information or to make an appointment, please contact Hoag Neurosciences Institute at 949/764-6066.