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Always reinventing itself, ophthalmology remains an exciting field
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Twenty-five years ago, before I entered medical school, my uncle, John Piligian, who was a prominent pathologist in Michigan, advised me not to become a doctor. “They’re going to socialize medicine and treat doctors like a commodity,” he used to say. How right he was! Changes in health care continue to erode the sanctity of a physician’s role and prevent us from practicing medicine the way patients deserve, although it’s taken much more time than my uncle ever predicted.
But I’m glad I didn’t listen to my uncle. Ophthalmology is an amazingly resilient specialty in which exciting technologies come at a regular pace, and our field has seemed to reinvent itself about every 10 years.
In the early ’90s when I first entered the field, the sea change at the time was small-incision phaco, which became clear corneal surgery. This ushered in the next revolution in ophthalmology in the early 2000s, which was refractive cataract surgery and the emergence of new “premium lens implants.” Now, our field is again changing. This time femtosecond lasers and ab interno glaucoma implants are going to put a new face on cataract surgery, improving further this already great procedure.
And what about changes in the work of the vitreoretinal specialist? Posterior segment scanning laser imaging, small-incision vitrectomy and intravitreal injections have completely altered the life of our back-of-the-eye colleagues.
Life is exciting in ophthalmology, and no matter what regulatory and financial constraints are placed on our field, I continue to be very excited to practice in our ever-improving specialty. And as Ocular Surgery News celebrates 30 years of service to our field, informing us of these rapid changes in a timely, objective and accurate way, I’d like to join the thousands of my colleagues who have benefited for all these years from SLACK Incorporated’s faithful service.
Disclosure: Hovanesian is the OSN Cataract Surgery Section Editor.