Long-term care, treatment advances and community define glaucoma specialty
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Before choosing a glaucoma fellowship, consider the long-term nature of the subspecialty and the changing paradigms in management philosophy, according to a speaker at the virtual Real World Ophthalmology meeting.
The first thing Nina Goyal, MD, said she wished she knew before selecting a glaucoma fellowship is the fact that glaucoma management is more like a marriage than dating.
“You’re usually in it for the long haul with these patients,” she said. “You’re very much a part of theirs and oftentimes their family’s ocular history.”
The second thing Goyal wishes she knew was the shifting paradigm. Glaucoma has become more readily treated with surgery as opposed to medication.
“With the advent and adoption of MIGS — minimally invasive glaucoma surgery — we are now intervening much earlier,” Goyal said.
A third factor is that technology is an important tool for glaucoma specialists.
“As ophthalmologists, we have to be adopters of technology,” Goyal said. Tracking progression has gotten easier due to advances in OCT and improved visual field techniques, among other developments.
Being able to call on colleagues for assistance and advice is important.
“Glaucoma specifically does not exist in a bubble. You’re often working closely with other specialties, like with retina, to put a tube in the back of the eye or with my cornea colleagues, treating glaucoma in the setting of a Descemet. So, it’s really important to understand that you’re a critical part of a team,” Goyal said.
Finally, the number of patients with glaucoma, about 3.9 million in the U.S., provides job security.
“There is no cure, which means everything we are doing is furthering glaucoma research,” Goyal said.
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Goyal N. Taking the pressure down – glaucoma. Presented at: Real World Ophthalmology; Sept. 18, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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