A recent patient, who had seen several other eye doctors before seeing me, had extreme nearsightedness and cataracts, and desperately wanted to improve her vision while achieving some independence from the glasses she had worn since childhood. Her case was complex, and I spent a fair amount of time explaining her options. At one point she asked me why I was devoting so much time to her. She had never had a physician do that, and she was skeptical. She ultimately allowed me to remove her cataract and implant a new multifocal lens. In the recovery room several minutes after her surgery I checked on her and removed her eye shield. She could immediately see both far and close for the first time in her life, and the look on her face and in her eyes said it all. I reminded her of her question to me before the surgery, and explained that being allowed to participate in this moment with her was the reason I spent so much time with her.

Although a bizarre facial injury during med school is what forced me out of my orthopedics rotation and led me to specializing in ophthalmology, today, I can’t see myself doing anything else.  The progressive nature of this field, with rapid improvements underway in vision correction through my own efforts and those of my colleagues, make my practice extremely gratifying, challenging, and humbling.