Thomas Steeves, MD

Dr. Steeves is board-certified in neurology and the director of movement disorders at the Neuroscience Institute. He completed his neurology and electromyography training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He also completed three years of movement disorders fellowship training, including dedicated training in deep brain stimulation and movement disorders electrophysiology at the Toronto Western Hospital in Canada.

Before moving to the Hudson Valley, he was an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and ran the Movement Disorders Clinic at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Steeves evaluates and treats all movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease, atypical Parkinsonism, dystonia, chorea, tics and tremors. He performs electromyographic (EMG) and ultrasound-guided botulinum toxin injections to treat dystonia and tremors and electromyography to evaluate neuromuscular disease.

Why should someone choose you to care for their health? 
Of all the neurologic subspecialties, movement disorders are among the most varied and complex. It is particularly dependent on the clinical understanding and judgment of the practitioner. I offer patients a skill set that ensures an accurate diagnosis and enough experience in the field to help them choose therapies that best align with their priorities and objectives.

What is the most important thing your patients should expect from their professional relationship with you? What do you expect from them? 
Mutual respect forms the foundation for any good physician-patient interaction. However, beyond this, patients can expect clinical excellence in their diagnosis and management from me. Patients benefit when they are truly aware of their symptoms and provide a clear description of the history of their problem – admittedly, not always an easy task.

How do you spend your valuable personal time when you’re not caring for patients?
In my free time, I enjoy trail running, Olympic weightlifting and equestrian sports. Although I completed degrees in physiology and molecular neuroscience before entering medical school, my very first undergraduate degree was in studio art and art history. I continue to derive much pleasure from studying the history and artisanal techniques of the decorative arts of 18th-century Europe and North America.

Why did you choose your specialty and what is its greatest reward? 
The brain is the ultimate organ, controlling who we are and how we think, feel and move. When a disease affects this system, the impact can be profound. Although the specialty is a difficult one, the magnitude of its rewards and, above all, its promise for the future are equally great. I know I get satisfaction from understanding, in an increasingly mechanistic way, how activity in the brain results in behavior, both in the normal and in the diseased state. I derive the greatest reward from righting a wrong, from using my skills to accurately diagnose a problem and then treating it, at times even curing it, with the most appropriate interventions.