MD & DO Laser Eye Correction before Med School? Need older residents/M4’s to weigh in

[briankim163]

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Hi. I’m an incoming M1 starting this fall and in need of advice. I have the opportunity to have a SMILE procedure done in about a week. But my family is concerned that my eyesight will worsen during med school and that I’ll regret it. For context, I’m in my mid-30s and my vision hasn’t changed in 10 years (also haven’t been in school for 10 years). Should I wait until after med school to have the procedure done?

***I AM NOT LOOKING FOR ANYONE TO COMMENT ON THE SAFETY OF THE PROCEDURE (I already got plenty of that from Reddit which is why I came here).*** I’m an informed, consenting adult and am having the procedure done in Korea, where it has been rigorously tested for safety and is technologically advanced.

I am simply asking for any older residents’/M4s’ insight on vision decline during med school. Thank you all.

 

[LucidSplash]

I’m PGY 15. I’ve been an attending for 5+ years. I’ve worn glasses and contacts since 8th grade. I’m a surgeon. Wearing glasses and contacts has not affected me professionally. I guess I’m not sure what you’re asking?

 

[briankim163]

I’m PGY 15. I’ve been an attending for 5+ years. I’ve worn glasses and contacts since 8th grade. I’m a surgeon. Wearing glasses and contacts has not affected me professionally. I guess I’m not sure what you’re asking?

I’m asking if I should get the procedure done before med school or wait til after because my vision might decline while I’m in school. Has nothing to do with whether glasses will be a problem or not, it’s just something I personally want done. I just don’t want to light my money on fire in the case of my vision worsening right back again while studying in med school.

 

[LucidSplash]

Whether your vision will decline or not has nothing to do with being in med school. If your vision has been stable for years then med school won’t change that. Eyesight decline is generally a function of aging and genetics, not professional school.

 

[briankim163]

Whether your vision will decline or not has nothing to do with being in med school. If your vision has been stable for years then med school won’t change that. Eyesight decline is generally a function of aging and genetics, not professional school.

I’ve heard a lot of people say their vision declined while in med school from all the studying and looking at screens. Is this not the case? Maybe it was that they were young while in school?

 

[LucidSplash]

I’ve heard a lot of people say their vision declined while in med school from all the studying and looking at screens. Is this not the case? Maybe it was that they were young while in school?

Correlation does not equal causation. Everyone’s vision declines starting late 20s early 30s and accelerated thereafter. You do get eyestrain from screen time but that resolves with rest, and in this day and age it’s hard for me to believe that there’s a significant difference in screen time just because of being a student. Most people are glued to screens most of the time whether they are studying, watching TV, playing video games, at work in an office, reading on device, etc. Medical school doesn’t really change that.

Too much screen time might cause permanent changes in kids. But that no longer applies once you’re an adult, even if only a young adult.

 

[briankim163]

Correlation does not equal causation. Everyone’s vision declines starting late 20s early 30s and accelerated thereafter. You do get eyestrain from screen time but that resolves with rest, and in this day and age it’s hard for me to believe that there’s a significant difference in screen time just because of being a student. Most people are glued to screens most of the time whether they are studying, watching TV, playing video games, at work in an office, reading on device, etc. Medical school doesn’t really change that.

Too much screen time might cause permanent changes in kids. But that no longer applies once you’re an adult, even if only a young adult.

This is just what I needed to hear, thank you very much. A welcome change from all the noise and non-sequitors of Reddit comments. Last question: would you recommend against a laser eye correction at all or does it not matter in your opinion?

 

[LucidSplash]

This is just what I needed to hear, thank you very much. A welcome change from all the noise and non-sequitors of Reddit comments. Last question: would you recommend against a laser eye correction at all or does it not matter in your opinion?

I mean get it if you want it. I thought about it when I was younger but was put off by the possibility of declining near vision at the time. Now I’m in my 40s and my near vision is going anyway. But I’m a surgeon and the <very small> possibility of something going wrong during a purely elective procedure and threatening my livelihood was enough to make me decide against. But I’m more risk adverse in this area. It would be nice not to fool with contacts or glasses but it’s pretty far down on my list of life annoyances.

And with excuses to the disabled community, Reddit is generally the blind leading the deaf blind and mute, in the vicinity of a cliff.

 

[turtleai]

Sometimes they mess up and you become blind

 

[kamikaze1992]

Hi. I’m an incoming M1 starting this fall and in need of advice. I have the opportunity to have a SMILE procedure done in about a week. But my family is concerned that my eyesight will worsen during med school and that I’ll regret it. For context, I’m in my mid-30s and my vision hasn’t changed in 10 years (also haven’t been in school for 10 years). Should I wait until after med school to have the procedure done?

***I AM NOT LOOKING FOR ANYONE TO COMMENT ON THE SAFETY OF THE PROCEDURE (I already got plenty of that from Reddit which is why I came here).*** I’m an informed, consenting adult and am having the procedure done in Korea, where it has been rigorously tested for safety and is technologically advanced.

I am simply asking for any older residents’/M4s’ insight on vision decline during med school. Thank you all

Hi Brian, I'm a high myope here on the older end of the spectrum who is going into ophtho residency. I'm on the computer all the time (i.e. several hours per day, unfortunately). My vision has been steadily stablized after my high school years. So if ur vision has been stable for the last few years, it should stabilize, regardless of whether u go to med school or not.

For me personally, I'm extremely hesitant about doing elective refractive procedure. I'm sure it's super safe nowadayw with more technical advancements, but given the small risk of complications, and many of which can be debilitating (as it is for all procedures), I think it's not worth the small risk (for me personally), especially given that it is an elective procedure and I'm pretty happy wearing corrective lenses.

Perhaps it's good to talk to ur ophthalmologists about ur options. Keep in mind that if ur cornea is thin and u have long eyes, the refractive procedure likely won't help u as much, and if ur a high myope (like me), there is a good chance that u'll unfortunately have to deal with increased risk of conditions associated with the back of ur eyes due to longer eyes (eg glaucoma, amd), which surgery can't fix (for now)

 

[Lost in Translation]

I got SMILE done a year ago. Love it. Best advice is to go to a high volume doc. Though it’s the machine doing the lasering, the Ophtho still makes the lenticular incision and removes the lasered tissue.

I was worried about coming out blind but the tech is so good that it’s almost impossible to get messed up if you can hold still and focus on a green dot for 30 seconds.