Variety/longevity - an open ?.

[Primate]

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In speaking with several classmates who're also interested in or applying for Ophtho, a couple issues have recurred. I'd like to throw them out for people to consider and, hopefully, comment on. Here goes....

1) It's increasingly common in nearly all areas of medicine that specialization limits what one does/sees (hand or spine within ortho, retina or neuro in Ophtho, mohs or botox in derm - kidding there). As Ophtho is initially "limited" to the eye, do people think that this gets even narrower as one chooses a sub-Ophtho area? I realize there are two sides to this one (benefits of surgery and medicine in ophtho, diseases initially presenting with ophtho sx, etc.), so have at it.

2) On the surgical side, a steady hand is a good thing. Many of my compatriots hope to be able to enter semi-retirement (couple days a week) as ophtho's as a way to stay engaged later in life. Is one resigned to medical ophtho when the surgical touch fades? If one's career was as a more surgical type (retina, say), is it possible to be more medical later, or have you lost a step by that point? Are there surgeries which don't require such precision that one could do them even with a bit of tremor? 😉

Well, there you have it - the last two weeks of coffee shop chat among aspiring ophthos here. Apologies if these are naive questions, but you don't learn what you don't ask about.

Thanks,
P

 

[Andrew_Doan]

In ophthalmology, you can be as specialized as you desire. However, if you still want to practice general ophthalmology, then you can. Although a good number of ophthalmologists complete fellowships, many will still practice general ophthalmology too with an emphasis of their sub-specialty. We see general ophthalmology with neuro-op, ocular pathology, glaucoma, cornea, peds, etc... In fact, because there aren't enough specialty cases in certain private practices, fellowship trained ophthalmologist end up practicing some general ophthalmology.

In regards to the surgical question, I've seen surgeons become more medical later in their careers. Some have given up surgeries completely and see clinic patients. You can do whatever you're comfortable with. We have a retina specialist on staff who is now retired and see patients once per week. He manages retinal vascular diseases. Early in his career, he was performing surgeries and gave it up later in his career.

 

[SLO]

when i was in boston, Charles Schepens, regarded by some as the father of modern retinal surgery, was still in the OR in his early to mid 80's. that's right, 80's. When I left he was 87 and still seeing patients once every two weeks but was no longer in the OR. It was rumored he stopped at age 85.

so you might have that surgical touch longer than you think!

 

[Primate]

What can I say, but......

DAMN!

I hope I'm alive and healthy at that age.

Surgery at 85 . . . . man alive.

Very encouraging. 😉

P