Uday Devgan, MD

My residents were surprised when I explained to them that there are two distinct kinds of physician meetings and that the content of each is markedly different.

A patient presented to me recently with a history of cataract surgery in the left eye done a year ago.

While a medical student at USC, I was fortunate to interact with Stephen Ryan, MD, as both dean of the medical school as well as professor of ophthalmology. He will certainly be remembered as a giant as well as a gentleman in the ophthalmology world.

I had the pleasure of recently attending the Oregon Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting in Portland. I enjoyed connecting with many colleagues and friends, including Devin Gattey, MD, with whom I did a charity trip to Vietnam, and Yujen Wang, MD, who was a co-intern with me many years ago. I even managed to spend a few hours enjoying the city and visiting the Casey Eye Institute, but the highlight of the meeting was the content of the presentations.

Social media has become the new buzz in many businesses, which see it as an avenue for increased revenue. People trust their own social circle and friends, and if one of them makes a sincere recommendation in support of a product, an event, a business or even a surgeon, it carries a lot of weight. But the key here is a sincere recommendation — not a recommendation that a friend may be making in return for monetary compensation.

About 6 weeks ago, I wrote about a young man who suffered iris damage and developed an exotropia after a penetrating injury from a car accident.

Like many of you, my passion is ophthalmology, and I'd rather read Ocular Surgery News than the Los Angeles Times. During the long weekend, I was able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with my family and then attend a University of Toronto ophthalmology symposium where I learned more than I contributed.

This patient is a young man in his 20s with his whole life ahead of him. In an unfortunate car accident, he suffered a ruptured globe from a glass shard that lodged inside his vitreous cavity.

This patient is a 52-year-old man who developed cataracts a few years ago and underwent successful cataract surgery with implantation of accommodating silicone IOLs. He had a beautiful result and recovery of excellent vision, until a surfboard hit his right eye and caused a macula-on retinal detachment.

When operating with beginning surgeons, I’m often asked, “How can a surgeon tell if the IOL is upside down?”