Getting Lasik before/during med school

[TobiasFunkeMDFACS]

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I'm considering getting Lasik either before or during medical school. Has anyone here undergone the procedure? One thing I'm concerned about is that people say that your vision changes a lot during medical school. With that in consideration, when should I get it? Or should I wait until after medical school? Also, I'm pretty convinced about the safety of the procedure..I know it's not a 100% perfect, but I feel the risk is minimal with all the latest technology. Is there sometime I don't know that I should maybe reconsider?

 

[Shadowmoses]

I'm considering getting Lasik either before or during medical school. Has anyone here undergone the procedure? One thing I'm concerned about is that people say that your vision changes a lot during medical school. With that in consideration, when should I get it? Or should I wait until after medical school? Also, I'm pretty convinced about the safety of the procedure..I know it's not a 100% perfect, but I feel the risk is minimal with all the latest technology. Is there sometime I don't know that I should maybe reconsider?

Get it before medical school, but it depends on a few things. If you are young (like early 20's), you may not be allowed to get Lasik as your eyes are still undergoing changes. I got my Lasik surgery done when I was around 23 years old and my doc told me my eyes were stable so I was good to go. My other friend who wanted Lasik was told by her doc her eyes were still not done fully developing or something, even though she was also 23.

Right after my surgery was over, I remember I had to put on these goggles to keep light out of my eyes, and I was supposed to wear that for about 6 hours. Let me tell you though, right after they got done shooting that laser beam into my eye and before strapping on the goggles, I quickly looked around the room. Everything was hazy like crazy but I could tell right away that my vision was better. It was a great feeling to see so clearly without glasses. Later that night I watched the transformers movie with my brother. The next 2 weeks after surgery you might your vision may be blurry in one eye or or the other, but that is normal because your eyes are healing, and it goes away.

I can't comment on my vision changing during med school, but i'm also M1 so maybe I didnt spend enough time with my nose in the books. I say get it done early if possible, and at least find out if you are a good candidate for the procedure when you speak with your doctor. Your eye doctor can answer all your other questions too.

 

[Yope]

I would first clear it with my school's honor board.

 

[bruinhd]

How about lasik never? I am just saying, cuz I worked in a Retina office for a couple years, and all of the doctors I worked with still had contacts or glasses.

So I would usually ask them, "you're an ophthalmologist, and you wear glasses, why not get lasik?"

They all had various reasons for not doing it. But the point I basically got was...that eye doctors don't get it.

So I dropped the idea of ever getting it myself.

 

[Seven of Nine]

How about lasik never? I am just saying, cuz I worked in a Retina office for a couple years, and all of the doctors I worked with still had contacts or glasses.

So I would usually ask them, "you're an ophthalmologist, and you wear glasses, why not get lasik?"

They all had various reasons for not doing it. But the point I basically got was...that eye doctors don't get it.

So I dropped the idea of ever getting it myself.

+1


lasik is popular because it is possible to get really good results. however, there is the potential to get very, very bad results. personally, i'd rather just deal with possibly heavy loops than risk significant dryness, corneal scarring, poor night vision, halos, etc etc, my livelihood. i'm also wary of something for which you get coupons/advertisements with your sunday comics/diversions, if that is an indicator of another reason why it is so popular/widely advertised.

just make sure you are thoroughly informed and educated about the procedure should you decide to pursue it. google its negative outcomes. as for when would be an ideal time in your training to get it, i can't speak to that 😳

 

[clifftacopter]

I had LASIK done earlier this year. Best money I've ever spent, hands down. I had a complication where the epithelium came off from my eyes during the procedure (I had something called map-dot fingerprint dystrophy that they had missed in pre-op). This really sucked and was very painful and made me bomb a physiology test because I could not really study the days running up to the test when I was recovering. However once it healed the quality of vision was miraculous. Totally worth the pain and inconvenience of the complication I had. I don't have halos, dry eyes, glaring. I should note though, that according to the cornea fellow, I was a near perfect candidate for the procedure (very thick corneas, stable vision, etc), so perhaps I just experienced the optimal results.

As an added bonus the procedure "fixed" my map-dot fingerprint dystrophy which had been causing my eyes a lot of irritation (which I had assumed were due allergies or something). My eyes have never felt so good!

Also, if you do decide to get it, I would highly, highly recommend spending the extra money to get custom waveform lasik rather than the normal procedure. Rather than just plugging in your prescription to the computer it does a very detailed scan of your eye and uses that information to create a very precise reshaping of the cornea. The attending I talked to said he has never had a patient with worse than 20/40 after having custom waveform and the vast majority have 20/20 or 20/15. I don't know if the same could be said about traditional LASIK.

EDIT: You may want to also look into PRK if you are worried about the side-effects. The procedure has a longer recovery time and tends to be more painful (due to the fact that they remove your corneal epithelium), but it tends to be less error prone than LASIK and there's no risk of corneal scarring. They use the same excimer laser, so the results are pretty much the same (just less risky, but more painful).

 

[MustangGtV894]

I read the topic as "Getting LAID before/during med school"for some reason.

I was disappointed. lol

 

[BigRedder]

I read the topic as "Getting LAID before/during med school"for some reason.

I was disappointed. lol

It certainly makes the first post pretty entertaining.

 

[bruinhd]

I'm considering getting laid either before or during medical school. Has anyone here undergone the procedure? One thing I'm concerned about is that people say that your vision changes a lot during medical school. With that in consideration, when should I get it? Or should I wait until after medical school? Also, I'm pretty convinced about the safety of the procedure..I know it's not a 100% perfect, but I feel the risk is minimal with all the latest technology. Is there sometime I don't know that I should maybe reconsider?

It would be nice for you to take care of this before medical school, since time becomes more of an issue and you may not be able to deal with the consequences that may shortly follow. With that said, this is definitely something you don't want to rush.

I think you should make sure you have at least a little knowledge of the subject before you get it done. Also, you want to make sure that the person doing it for you was chosen carefully. People often rush to handle type of thing with someone they barely knew, and were not fully aware of his or her credentials. This can create all sorts of issues for you down the line that you may not want to deal with.

Either way, you should rest assured that most people who get into medical school haven't taken care of this issue even in undergrad. I mean, they were probably always more focused on academics.

Hope this helps.

 

[MustangGtV894]

It would be nice for you to take care of this before medical school, since time becomes more of an issue and you may not be able to deal with the consequences that may shortly follow. With that said, this is definitely something you don't want to rush.

I think you should make sure you have at least a little knowledge of the subject before you get it done. Also, you want to make sure that the person doing it for you was chosen carefully. People often rush to handle type of thing with someone they barely knew, and were not fully aware of his or her credentials. This can create all sorts of issues for you down the line that you may not want to deal with.

Either way, you should rest assured that most people who get into medical school haven't taken care of this issue even in undergrad. I mean, they were probably always more focused on academics.

Hope this helps.

lulzz

 

[TobiasFunkeMDFACS]

Thanks for your input guys! I got my consultation last year and they said I was a good candidate. So, hopefully I don't get any complications. I kind of agree that there might be people out there with complications, but I feel like the technology has gotten a lot better over the past few years. And it really is weird that opthomologists don't get the surgery..makes me wonder.

(Getting laid is on my agenda too..so far my "i'm going to be a doctor" has not worked very well.)

 

[p30doc]

I got custom lasik during the first few weeks of m2 this past august. Had it done on thursday afternoon, went to few hours of lecture on the friday morning after. I see 20/20 now its great. Only downside is I still use eye drops a few times a day. My fiance got it done around the same time and she doesn't need drops anymore though.

 

[mrjohndaniels]

I think the key is to go to a good ophthalmologist (probably not one that advertises) and have a thorough discussion about your individual needs. It's expensive. If you're young (which most med students are), you have to have stable vision for the last 5 years or so (I think) to get it. Don't make a decision right away, and the complications are very real. A friend of mine's eyes get dry often, and she has to use eyedrops frequently.

 

[thechad]

Only downside is I still use eye drops a few times a day.

Aye, there's the rub. I tolerate my contacts very well (as in sleeping in them, never putting drops in, rarely even noticing they are in, etc). Should I risk that for being REQUIRED to put drops in my eyes a few times a day (as opposed to monthly maintenance)? Sure, there is the possibility I can come out with perfect vision (not guaranteed, hell, you can even go blind), or I can have good vision with side effects (dryness, halos, etc).

To the OP: you really have to weigh the risk/benefits for yourself. If you tolerate contacts/glasses very well, I would say forget the surgery. If they are the bain of your existence, then go for it. I know plenty of people who have had good results with the Lasik, and I also know one person who is blind in one eye because of it. It's not a perfect science yet, if it was, I would have it done no doubt.

 

[DoctwoB]

I was rotating with a corneal-fellow in ophthalmology who is about to get lasik this week, and I asked him about it. His reply was that the safety profile is extremely favorable, given that stringent pre-op screening is applied. His thoughts were that the vast majority of bad outcomes stem from operating on people who were poor surgical candidates to begin with.

You also have to weigh the costs/benefits (costs being money, moderate possibility of dryness/requiring lubricaiton, and extremely unlikely possibility of vision loss). Its not a miracle procedure. But wearing contacts does have risks as well. Half of what we saw in the corneal clinic was contacts-associated infections or corneal ulcerations, which can cause blindness as well or require corrective surgeries that are much riskier then LASIK.

 

[p30doc]

I had begun to develop bilateral corneal neovascularization from my contact lenses. I wasn't doing anything weird with my lens wear, I never even slept in them. The docs restricted my use to 4-5 days/wk 8hr max at a time for the rest of my life. This obviously wouldn't work on a hospital schedule. I didn't see that great with glasses because of my severe astigmatism. Also further vessel growth could jeopardize my future candidacy for lasik. The benefit way outweighed the cost in my case. My dryness could still resolve, but even if it doesn't i'll take my 20/20 vision + drops 3-4x/day over the alternative.

 

[beachblonde]

OP, I would ask your doctor about how getting Lasik might be affected by being in medical school. I've had friends who were advised against getting Lasik because people's eyesight deteriorates while in school. I know my own eyes have gotten substantially worse over the last two years. You might want to wait until you aren't reading 8 hours a day.

(and nerdy med school moment: I wrote "Lasix" instead of Lasik...who studied diuretics today? I did....)

 

[Girfaroo]

OP, I would ask your doctor about how getting Lasik might be affected by being in medical school. I've had friends who were advised against getting Lasik because people's eyesight deteriorates while in school. I know my own eyes have gotten substantially worse over the last two years. You might want to wait until you aren't reading 8 hours a day.

(and nerdy med school moment: I wrote "Lasix" instead of Lasik...who studied diuretics today? I did....)

I agree with this. I brought it up with my doctor last summer, and she told me I shouldn't even think about it until med school was over, because all that reading probably will make your eyes worse.

 

[Doctopus]

I agree with this. I brought it up with my doctor last summer, and she told me I shouldn't even think about it until med school was over, because all that reading probably will make your eyes worse.

Does reading make your eyes worse? I thought that was a myth, but do feel free to educate me if I'm wrong. Another reason to anticipate your prescription changing during med school is youth btw.

n=1 but I had wave-front-guided PRK and had poor results. I have residual astygmatism and some remaining myopia. My night vision nosedived. I don't believe I suffer from dry eyes, nor halos, but the night vision thing is honestly a huge burden (restaurants, bars, movies, your backpack--you'd be amazed how many low-light areas there are). I have some glare issues (difficulty seeing "the rest of the picture" when bright lights are coming at me). I wear glasses still.

It's not as bad as I'm making it sound; I'm still quite functional. My glasses are lighter, and when I get up to pee at night I'm not obligated to wear them to find my way. But I am undoubtedly worse than I was before the procedure.

I have since been told that the likely reason for my issues was due to my light eyes. Light eyes tend to dilate more. In low light situations, the relatively more scarred peripheral cornea comes into play as the pupil dilates. This causes my glare issues and difficulty in low-light situations, I am told.

 

[TobiasFunkeMDFACS]

interesting/scary. I've never heard that problem with light colored eyes. What was your vision before the procedure and was your astigmatism severe?

 

[Seven of Nine]

OP, when you say you are considering this procedure, have you met with your ophthalmologist yet? s/he will be intimately familiar with the ages and circumstances surrounding vision changes. s/he will also be able to evaluate you as a candidate and based on that, your risk for poor outcomes.

have a serious discussion with your doctor about different risk factors, outcomes, the procedure, technology, his/her familiarity and frequency with the procedure, etc. you need to be able to make an informed decision. even with the "latest" technology, the nature of the procedure lends itself to having the potential for great outcomes as well as the potential for poor outcomes. understand the statistics on outcomes and weigh the procedure's risks against your desired benefits.

i know i'm not a mod, but i'm just concerned because this thread is leaning more towards making a medical decision rather than discussing the impact of vision correction surgery on medical school. 😳

 

[Doctopus]

interesting/scary. I've never heard that problem with light colored eyes. What was your vision before the procedure and was your astigmatism severe?

I was fairly myopic. My vision was perhaps 20/200 and is now 20/40 or so. Some astygmatism was removed by the procedure but some (0.75 cylinder for your future ophthalmologists) remains.

But the deficits I suffered aren't well captured by a high-contrast chart viewed in darkness (the "E chart.") They have more to do with the aforementioned "dusk" lighting situation.