To the Editor
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I enjoy reading Ocular Surgery News, and my favorite parts are Grand Rounds at the New England Eye Center and Dr. Lindstrom’s editorial comments about the cover story.
I have been practicing medicine for 55 years and ophthalmology for 45, and first met Dr. Lindstrom when he was a corneal fellow in Dallas about that long ago. He has a way of condensing, synthesizing and presenting complex scientific topics and literature in a concise, clear and trenchant style that summarizes the material in an easily digestible form. I have learned a great deal from his columns in a short time and thank him for doing the research and presenting it in such a clear and purposeful format.
His column in the Jan. 25 issue was a little different. The cover story was about diversity, inclusion and social justice in ophthalmology. The commentary was a thoughtful and provocative column, and his initial comments about writing it “with hesitation” struck a resonant chord. These days, it is not difficult to harm one’s career or lose one’s job by saying or writing publicly the wrong thing. Orwell warned us about this. I totally agree with his assessment that the United States is a racially diverse and inclusive country. Australia is, too. I have done medical missions on every continent, several times, and can attest to our diversity and inclusion. This impression is reinforced by my exposure to medical students at Florida State University, where I lecture, and our family practice residency program at our local Halifax Hospital here in Daytona Beach, Florida. Certainly, representatives from particular ethnic groups are underrepresented in ophthalmology, as Dr. Lindstrom noted, but that does not mean that there is lack of opportunity. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed, but some have more talent, intelligence, energy, motivation and charm; they will achieve more than those without. Equal outcomes are not guaranteed by equal opportunity. It is called life.
Our social and moral standards change with the times, and even the historiography of our country has changed significantly in my own time. People of different ages had different moral and social standards. Things evolve. Galileo was forced to recant his “error” that the earth was not the center of the universe. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
I was in the Army for 26 years, and it is perhaps the most “equal opportunity employer.” For 5.5 of those years, I was a POW in Vietnam. For 3 of those years, I was held deep in the jungle with a diverse group. We were Americans and were closer than brothers regardless of melanin content, religion or ethnicity. We few survivors remain close to this day. It was a course in inclusion and diversity that was far more meaningful than the hundreds of hours wasted in diverse culture and sensitivity training in the military and in the large HMO where I work now in this iteration of my practice.
So, thank you, Dr. Lindstrom, for tackling a difficult topic with honesty and industry and raising the questions, even if there are no perfect answers.
F. Harold Kushner, MD, FACS
Colonel (retired), U.S. Army
Daytona Beach, Florida
Dr. Lindstrom responds:
Hal Kushner, MD, received the Distinguished Member Award at the 2019 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting. He was the only U.S. physician captured by the enemy in the Vietnam War and spent more than 5 years in captivity with a racially diverse band of brothers attempting to survive a horrific environment. For those who want to learn more, his experience was captured and memorialized by Ken Burns in his 18-hour documentary The Vietnam War. Dr. Kushner sent me this letter to share some personal thoughts, and I asked that he allow me to share it with our readers. I am honored and pleased that he agreed.