David Podwall, M.D. is a managing partner of Neurological Associates of Long Island, and he currently serves as the President-Elect of the Nassau County Medical Society.
He is a graduate of Cornell University where he earned a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Biology.
While at Cornell, he spent a semester working on health care policy on the personal staff of Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) His Doctor of Medicine degree was granted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
After finishing his internship at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, he completed his neurology residency and Clinical Neurophysiology fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian. While at Columbia, he had multiple publications including two reviews of Diabetic Neuropathy. He is Board Certified in Neurology and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.
In 2004, Dr. Podwall joined Neurological Associates of Long Island, in Lake Success. His senior managing partner, Dr. Jeffrey Kessler founded Neurological Associates 40 years ago, and since then it has grown into the largest private neurological practice on the North Shore.
There are 11 neurologists providing both general and subspecialty neurological care. Extensive on-site diagnostic testing allows for same-day evaluation including both state of the art closed and open MRI machines.
As the director of Clinical Trials, Dr. Podwall serves as the principal investigator on multiple clinical trials in the area of Alzheimer’s. He was recognized for outstanding teaching by the Department of Medicine at North Shore University Hospital.
Dr. Podwall was recognized as one of New York’s “Top Doctors” by Castle Connolly as well as New York Magazine’s “Best Doctors.” He is an Attending physician at Northshore University Hospital, Manhasset, as well as St. Francis, Roslyn.
Since medical school, Dr. Podwall has believed in the importance of having physician input into state and national health care policy.
In various positions, in both the Medical Society of the State of New York as well as the American Medical Association, Dr. Podwall has strived to maintain the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship from undue outside interference or regulation. In 2015, he was also elected to the NCMS board.
In 2020, while the world was turned upside down by a pandemic, Dr. Podwall with his partners had to quickly reorganize his office and prepare for the looming shutdown. All physicians had to pivot to telemedicine.
Each component of the office from nurses to secretaries to billers had to find a way to work remotely and cohesively. This experience helped enlighten Dr. Podwall when working with the leadership of both the NCMS and MSSNY to inform lawmakers on the needs of health care providers in New York.
In order for telemedicine to work, insurance companies needed to start paying for these services. Like many physicians, he was treating sick patients, who refused to go the hospital without the ability to see them in person or obtain tests.
This was the rationale for historic medical malpractice protections. Even when he was able to start seeing patients again in the office, his office had difficulty obtaining adequate PPE.
The NCMS lobbied both state and local officials to create avenues for health care providers to obtain the necessary PPE. This advocating for physicians and patients was supercharged during the dark early days of the pandemic but is nothing new for the medical society. For over one hundred years, the Nassau County Medical Society has been in the forefront of physician and patient advocacy.
Dr. Podwall appreciates being an honoree of Blank Slate Media’s Top Business Leaders of Nassau County, he shares his achievements both with his partners at Neurological Associates of Long Island and the leadership of the Nassau County Medical Society.
Dr. Podwall lives in Great Neck with his wife Barbara, a radiologist at Northwell, as well as their two children.
