Accommodative Esotropia: Surgery out?

[AnAccount]

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Hey all,

I have accommodative esotropia with amblyopia. My "lazy eye" sees great, I'm at 20/20 with correction, and 20/20 in my dominant eye. I'm lacking fine stereopsis, but I have great vision. I have gross stereopsis, but even things like 3D movies are difficult for me. I can fuse images only occasionally (the fact that I can fuse them at all is encouraging).

I want to do neurosurgery after shadowing it a substantial amount--yeah I know it's early and my mind will change (and with any luck, it will!), but I'm interviewing schools right now and I'm considering where I want to end up. For example, I interviewed with Kaiser Permanente, which will not place many surgeons, but it's free. I also interviewed with WashU, which will place many surgeons, and is highly prestigious. Looking toward my future interviews, I'm thinking where to allocate my hopes/interests given my poor stereopsis, and whether I should abandon my hopes of surgery now before I make important decisions where I want to go to school.

I think I'll be especially disadvantaged in neurosurgery, given it is already so competitive, and I'm wondering what PD in the right mind would take an applicant who has even a hint of depth perception issues. It really is my passion and has been for a long time, but I'm afraid that I'll do all the work, and get stopped at the door.

I think if anyone has done microsurgery with poor depth perception and been a great surgeon, I can do it, but I need to know whether this could sink me entirely or not.

Bonus question: Ortho? Uro?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

FWIW

Can Surgeons Be Amblyopic?

I'm currently studying medicine with an interest in pursuing surgery. However I have amblyopia with 20/20 in one eye and 20/40 in the other eye. I know this impairs your depth perception. My question

www.aao.org

Does having a lazy eye prevent me from becoming a surgeon?

I know SDN is not intended to be medical help forum but this thread doesn't really fall under that category. Basically I have 20/20 in my right with glasses but my vision in my left is pretty bad. I mean, I can see everything CLEARLY, it's just weak, and it isn't one of those things that can be...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Turning a blind eye: physical standards for surgeons - PubMed

Requiring professionals in high-risk industries to regularly meet minimal physical standards is a well-accepted principle. Pilots in both civil and military aviation must meet rigorous physical standards, including visual acuity, colour and peripheral vision. Australian medical practitioners...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[AnAccount]

FWIW

Can Surgeons Be Amblyopic?

I'm currently studying medicine with an interest in pursuing surgery. However I have amblyopia with 20/20 in one eye and 20/40 in the other eye. I know this impairs your depth perception. My question

www.aao.org

Does having a lazy eye prevent me from becoming a surgeon?

I know SDN is not intended to be medical help forum but this thread doesn't really fall under that category. Basically I have 20/20 in my right with glasses but my vision in my left is pretty bad. I mean, I can see everything CLEARLY, it's just weak, and it isn't one of those things that can be...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Turning a blind eye: physical standards for surgeons - PubMed

Requiring professionals in high-risk industries to regularly meet minimal physical standards is a well-accepted principle. Pilots in both civil and military aviation must meet rigorous physical standards, including visual acuity, colour and peripheral vision. Australian medical practitioners...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Thank you! I did neurotic Googling and saw similar reports, ranging from "sure, why not" to "you are a danger to everyone you operate on" (unsure if that second one is totally warranted, but I understand the concern).

I'm worried that I'd get screened at the level of matching, but I suppose it's been done before, so I shouldn't assume it isn't possible.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Anecdote, but there's a student in my class wit surgery aspirations. I don't know what his diagnosis is, but he has a "lazy eye" to what I would consider a severe degree. He has to actively open up his eye to hold it open and I've never seen him open it more than a few seconds at a time, otherwise it remains almost fully closed. Obviously he's not a surgeon yet but he was admitted to an MD school and is at the top of our preclinical class at the moment.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

I am honestly unsure. Consult surgeons if you can. You may also want to look into getting it surgically corrected; not sure how viable that is for you.

How would you feel if you weren't able to be a surgeon? Would you go to medical school at all? It might be a good idea to be honest with your goals and desires, if you'd rather pursue a different path if surgery was off the table. I was the same way - I went to medical school for psychiatry and am now in family medicine. Had I known what would have happened, I am not sure if I would have attempted med school. However, the jury is still out: I might transfer to a psychiatry residency...

 

[AnAccount]

I am honestly unsure. Consult surgeons if you can. You may also want to look into getting it surgically corrected; not sure how viable that is for you.

How would you feel if you weren't able to be a surgeon? Would you go to medical school at all? It might be a good idea to be honest with your goals and desires, if you'd rather pursue a different path if surgery was off the table. I was the same way - I went to medical school for psychiatry and am now in family medicine. Had I known what would have happened, I am not sure if I would have attempted med school. However, the jury is still out: I might transfer to a psychiatry residency...

I'd probably be reasonably happy without, but I think I would pine away for it. Hopefully that would go away, but I think I would be bothered by moments of "oh hey, let me refer to this guy who is doing what I wish I was doing". I know that's juvenile, but it would be hard to get past.