Is a career in ophthalmology advisable for me?

[Techmonkey]

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I'm currently studying medicine with an interest in ophthalmology. However I have problems performing slit-lamp ophthalmoscopy as I have a tremor when attempting to hold the lens in front of the eye. I also get a coarse tremor when I'm in front of a large audience presenting. I am considering seeking cognitive-behavioural therapy but would it be advisable to pursue a specialty in ophthalmology if it means I might have to be on beta-blockers, benzos or botox throughout my career?

 

[Jokestr]

The real question is how much do you love ophthalmology? Are you willing to do ANYTHING to be an ophthalmologist, or are there other fields that would make you just as happy?

 

[Techmonkey]

I find ophthalmology to be unique due to it's combination of

1. Visual diagnosis and relatively brief patient history. I want the option of working in Asia so a heavily language dependent line is out.
2. Treatment efficiency and efficacy leading to good levels of patient/doctor satisfaction. Patients tend to walk in and walk out unaided within hours/days not months but yet you provide full continuity of care for your specialty.
3. Combination of medicine and surgery. Again you provide full continuity of care.
4. Little social/multidisciplinary team issues.

Downsides are that one may be reliant on referrals from opticians/optometrists if one is in private practice, it's very competitive and microsurgery requires a steady hand.

It's not that I'm willing to do ANYTHING since that's a very open-ended statement not bounded by rationality. I'm not going to have a thalamotomy for example nor am I going to pursue ophthal if my patients will face substandard results. Am considering seeing a cognitive-behavioural therapist to determine the extent to which it's anxiety-based and try to remove the rest with beta-blockers.

 

[persikov]

I've only been in ophtho. for 2 days, so take my "advice" with a grain of salt.

I get nervous as well when i'm facing large crowds i have to perform infront of, as well as when I've done suturing etc. with several people around observing. It gets worse - my heart rate can go through the roof, sweating, you name it. The more I expose myself to those stressful kind of situations I know i react to, though, the better my performance gets over time. In other words, "if it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger", proves true once again. I'll probably be on beta-blockers at the very beginning when I start with surgical procedures, but I expect this to be a temporary situation. I had the very same doubts as you're having, but I reasoned I'd be a fool to let something like this stop me from persuing a career in a field I believe I'll like.