Would you risk LASIK if you're in Radiology???

[bigserve99]

Hello,

I just wanted to get your opinion on this.....

First Question:
If you are already in Radiology, would you risk getting LASIK performed to correct your eyes if possible. I know that each person is different and that LASIK carries with it a varied spectrum of risks; however, my brief research into the whole process has shown that one big concern is a lack of well defined contrast resolution in some cases. Is this a big concern for reading images effectively. I mean, how truly important is vision in Radiology.

Second Question:
Now, I'm not even in med school, but I have wanted to get Lasik for sometime....and I do want to do radiology (only a longterm goal at this point). Though I may end up in another field when all is said and done, I still want to keep my options open for rads. Would side effects of the surgery be to risky for a future Radiology hopeful???

Some have cautioned me not to get corrective surgery yet, because they claim that the strain of med school may alter my eyesight anyway. Other's disagree and say that will not happen as I'm already 25 and my eyesight has not changed in the last 6-8 years. What do you think?

Thanks for your input!

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[f_w]

Is this a big concern for reading images effectively. I mean, how truly important is vision in Radiology.

Ahem, very important.

Would side effects of the surgery be to risky for a future Radiology hopeful???

'too' risky is relative. Complications worsening your vision (in the longterm) after LASIK are in the single digit percent range. If you where a surgeon and a cosmetic procedure on your hands would leave you with a similar chance of loosing function, would you do it ?

Some have cautioned me not to get corrective surgery yet, because they claim that the strain of med school may alter my eyesight anyway. Other's disagree and say that will not happen as I'm already 25 and my eyesight has not changed in the last 6-8 years. What do you think?

Funny enough, I had a about 1/2D a correction before I started medschool and could live well without glasses. Halfway through school, I developed a considerable astigmatism that required me to wear glasses. So yes, your eyes can still change at age 25.

 

[RadGirl]

Ditto, when I started med school I could drive, read the board, do everything without glasses. Mid to late first year, I started having to wear glasses to class, by end of second year I was wearing contact every day. I also developed an astigmatism. Now, in the middle of my fourth year, I can barely function without glasses or contacts in. I have to put them on as soon as I wake up. I am going into radiology and am not prepared to risk my career on lasik, as tempting as a life without glasses may sound.

 

[hans19]

F--- NO!!! I wouldn't do it!

 

[bigserve99]

Thanks for your input everyone! The more I read about it, the more I'm going to hold off on it. Perhaps the technology will improve and such, who knows. But as of now, I'm ok with with it.

~ Bigserve99

 

[hans19]

F--- NO!!! I wouldn't do it!

None of my friends in Ophtho have gotten it done for themselves...
Nuff said!

-H

 

[Warbucks]

F--- NO!!! I wouldn't do it!

same here. last year i was considering having it done, mostly bc my current vision is -5.25 in one eye and -6.75 in the other. so i did some research to see if you had the surgery done if there were any restrictions after in means of career. mostly i wanted to see if the boards would still pass me, parinoid i guess lol. but i found that the air force would not hire you as a pilot if you had lasik done. that was it for me haha. ofcourse its just my opinion, but if the government felt that the procedure was unsafe for there employees then i dont care if the fda approved this. or any advancements, its just not right for me. hans summed it up much nicer though ^_^

 

[Apollyon]

None of my friends in Ophtho have gotten it done for themselves...
Nuff said!

-H

I asked the eyeballs at Duke about it, and 3 ophtho residents had LASIK at Duke - 'nuff said!

I asked one of the rads residents about it, and he echoed the above - that rads is all about seeing, and he couldn't justify the risk.

 

[f_w]

but i found that the air force would not hire you as a pilot if you had lasik done. that was it for me haha. ofcourse its just my opinion, but if the government felt that the procedure was unsafe for there employees then i dont care if the fda approved this.

Actually, the 'goverment' has a high-volume LASIK surgeon at the Bethesda naval hospital who performs lasik for navy personnel, including the students from Annapolis.
In the old days, a certain refraction would disqualify you from the flying service in the Navy and the marines. Now, with lasik many officer candidates who where limited to surface and submarine service now have the option to apply for flying jobs (according to an article I read about it recently this leads to a shortage of submarine officers). I don't know what the airforce policy is, but there seems to be some variability within the 'goverment'.

The military considering a procedure 'safe' for their staff would make me think twice. They also considered 'agent orange' to be safe.

(my wife is a practicing cornea and refractive surgeon, still she plops in her contacts in the morning and wouldn't have lasik done herself. wearing contacts just doesn't create enough of a nuisance for her to consider surgery)

Btw: There are alternatives to LASIK. Anyone in a specialty that requires use of the eyes should look into the alternative procedures: LASEK and PRK. Also, anyone considering LASIK should talk to a surgeon who can offer more than the 1 size fits all type LASIK that most of the commercial centers offer. There are factors like 'customized ablation' 'wavefront' and 'femtosecond laser' that only a minority of centers offer. So, please, if you decided to go ahead, don't go to the $299 place at the mall.

 

[Apollyon]

Actually, the 'goverment' has a high-volume LASIK surgeon at the Bethesda naval hospital who performs lasik for navy personnel, including the students from Annapolis.
In the old days, a certain refraction would disqualify you from the flying service in the Navy and the marines. Now, with lasik many officer candidates who where limited to surface and submarine service now have the option to apply for flying jobs (according to an article I read about it recently this leads to a shortage of submarine officers). I don't know what the airforce policy is, but there seems to be some variability within the 'goverment'.

On the contrary, the military considering a procedure 'safe' for their staff would make me think twice. They also thought that agent orange was safe.

Radial keratotomy is still disqualifying - LASIK has changed things. I don't know where the Department of Defense falls on LASEK and PRK.

edit: you edited your comment as I was typing my response. For me, the LASIK was for convenience - not cosmesis. As I was at Duke, and could get CustomVue, that is what made me decide. I was satisfied with the level the service was at. To (again) echo the above - you pay $299/eye, you get what you pay for (and, in that case, DON'T DO IT!).

 

[f_w]

Radial keratotomy is still disqualifying

No big suprise here. RK has a high risk of significantly worsened vision many years out. I can understand that the goverment doesn't want to take the risk of loosing millions worth of flight training on someone who has that type of damage to their cornea.

 

[f_w]

same here. last year i was considering having it done, mostly bc my current vision is -5.25 in one eye and -6.75 in the other. so i did some research to see if you had the surgery done if there were any restrictions after in means of career. mostly i wanted to see if the boards would still pass me, parinoid i guess lol.

Funny enough, while you need to pass an eye exam to get a drivers license, nobody tests the vision of radiology residents. There was an editorial in the yellow journal suggesting such an exam early during residency, but I don't think there is any serious movement afoot to implement this. (some ophtho residencies in the past checked people during interviews for stereoscopic vision and visual acuity, both key skills for ophthalmic microsurgery. i know one girl who is amblyopic and had to drop out of an ophtho residency bc she couldn't work with a stereoscopic operating scope. i think she makes a good internist now)

 

[Apollyon]

I can understand that the goverment doesn't want to take the risk of loosing millions worth of flight training on someone who has that type of damage to their cornea.

Hell, money is why the service academies gutted their honor codes - it was too expensive to invest so much money in people to kick them out for honor violations, so, now, you can violate the honor code, disgrace yourself, and still ("proudly") wear the insignia of an officer in the United States armed forces.

 

[Warbucks]

I don't know what the airforce policy is,

"At this time, WFG-LASIK is not approved for those aviators in high-performance aircraft (such as fighters and trainers)" "Conventional LASIK was not approved for any aviator." http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123009161

The military considering a procedure 'safe' for their staff would make me think twice. They also considered 'agent orange' to be safe.

The military also considers Recombinant Activated Factor VII to be safe, not lasik however.

There are factors like 'customized ablation' 'wavefront' and 'femtosecond laser' that only a minority of centers offer. So, please, if you decided to go ahead, don't go to the $299 place at the mall.

It would be best to go to an established private practice. The excimer laser's that are offered are amazing now, with wave front and iris registration. it makes the whole procedure custom to each patient. Major factor though is really finding a competent surgeon to not only perform the procedure, but also make sure that you are deemed fit for it. I've read a lot that refractive surgeon's can lazy with the selection process.

 

[f_w]

Major factor though is really finding a competent surgeon to not only perform the procedure, but also make sure that you are deemed fit for it. I've read a lot that refractive surgeon's can lazy with the selection process.

The word is greedy, not lazy. Often the 'informed consent' is done away with by having the customer watch a video and a 'consent technician' countersign the form.
A one on one discussion between surgeon and patient about
- expected risks (loss of eye, glare, corneal ectasia, need for further procedures),
- expected benefits (not having to wear glasses/contacts, better than 20/20 vision),
- alternatives (LASEK,PRK,phakic IOLs, refractive lense exchange) including 'the alternative of no procedure at all'
is often omitted.

So yes, you want to find an ethical refractive surgeon, and you want to PAY for your initial consultation (if you don't pay for a consultation, it is a sales pitch). Whether that person is in private practice, a university setting or elsewhere (e.g. Bethesda naval) doesn't matter. You don't want to fall into the 'commodity LASIK' mill that markets surgery like it is another set of contacts (including unethical systems of per-case kickbacks to referring optometrists).

 

[hans19]

I asked the eyeballs at Duke about it, and 3 ophtho residents had LASIK at Duke - 'nuff said!

I asked one of the rads residents about it, and he echoed the above - that rads is all about seeing, and he couldn't justify the risk.

Its not worth the risk for me, none of my good friends in ophtho have gotten it done for themselves either. Its ultimately your choice, but if you have a 1% chance of it effecting your livelihood, its simply not worth it to me.

Just curious did the Duke guys have it done in the middle of residency? or in Medschool?

 

[Apollyon]

Its not worth the risk for me, none of my good friends in ophtho have gotten it done for themselves either. Its ultimately your choice, but if you have a 1% chance of it effecting your livelihood, its simply not worth it to me.

Just curious did the Duke guys have it done in the middle of residency? or in Medschool?

In the middle of residency. I think that Dr. Carlson being in the top 6 in the US that does LASIK is a big part of it. I know that he is the reason I did it (in conjunction with the CustomVue laser).

 

[studentdoc911]

bumping an old topic
been 6 years: surely more people have gotten LASIK by now

 

[dr seuss]

The surgeons at my school get PRK instead of lasik.

 

[colbgw02]

I got LASIK the summer between MS1/MS2 years...well before I knew I would go into radiology. I can say in retrospect that it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I had no complications, and I can still see about 20/15. If there is any halo effect with bright lights at night, then it's not noticeable. I also think it was a good age (I had just turned 23), because my eyes were not appreciably changing any longer but it gave me a long period before I would need reading glasses.

That said, I would never risk it now. I have too much invested in my career and too many people relying on me. Even if the risk is miniscule, it's some number greater than zero, and that's too high of a percentage for me. I'm glad I did it, but I'm only because 1) things turned out okay and 2) I made the decision when I was too young to understand what I had to lose.