At what age did you recognize you wanted to be an ophthalmologist?
During medical school, I knew I wanted a subspecialty that was procedure based. I spent time shadowing doctors and doing rotations, and found that ophthalmology resonated with me. I enjoyed the high-tech aspects of the work and the detail of the microscopic procedures. I also felt like my personality fit in with the other doctors in that specialty.
What excites you the most about advancements in eye surgery?
Looking back over the last 15 years, it is amazing how much ophthalmology has changed. One of my interests is the development of protocols and procedures for doing eye surgery in an office-based surgery suite. We are one of the leading practices in the country for these surgeries. We are able to save patients money by having the option of surgery in the office setting. I believe we are the first clinic in the country to do many glaucoma procedures and even a partial cornea transplant in-office. The future of eye surgery will be doing more procedures in the office, and we are on the leading edge of that trend.
Is there a particular surgery or patient experience that will always stay with you?
I remember doing a glaucoma surgery on a young girl in high school that had juvenile glaucoma, which is very rare. She did great with the surgery. Her eye pressures were perfectly normal and the surgery gave her a 100% cure from her condition. It was a memorable moment to realize that my training and surgical techniques had saved her vision and given her the gift of sight for the rest of her life.
How does your work with the Lions Sight Foundation affect our community?
I have worked closely with the Lions Club since my residency because they have a specific focus for vision-related community service in their charter. I would never want a patient to lose their vision due to an inability to pay, so we see a few free patients every day and do a free surgery every week or two. I’ve probably done over 200 free cataract surgeries over the past five years.