Strong people skills, teamwork helpful for career in oculoplastics
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The ideal oculoplastics fellowship candidate is a great ophthalmologist who can quickly build rapport with patients and develop unique ways to improve surgical and clinical care.
“This is truly ideal for people who hear the call of the oculoplastics OR,” Sandy Zhang-Nunes, MD, said at the Real World Ophthalmology meeting. “Whenever I had time, I would try to wander into the oculoplastics OR because I just felt at home there. I loved it.”
According to Zhang-Nunes, oculoplastics is a great subspecialty for physicians who are good with their hands, enjoy working with a diversity of procedures and like dealing with the eyelid or orbital conditions. Additionally, interacting with specialties outside of ophthalmology, such as neurosurgery, medicine, general plastics and dermatology, is common.
“We want someone who is a great ophthalmologist and clinician who can quickly develop rapport with patients [and has] great surgical hands,” Zhang-Nunes said.
Being people-oriented and able to work well in a team environment are other crucial skills for oculoplastics fellows, including the ability to work across other services, according to Zhang-Nunes.
Part of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery’s goals is to standardize the oculoplastic surgeon’s scope of practice to elevate the visibility of the specialty.
“A lot of people don’t know what we do in oculoplastics. They’ll go to, say, a cosmetic surgeon for ptosis, when really, they aren’t the best person to correct ptosis,” Zhang-Nunes said.
“We look for people who also have a keen way to contribute to improve surgical and clinical care, such as being involved in our society, doing research or improving practice patterns, and advocating for our field because there are always threats of later payments and being cut from Medicare and insurance companies,” she said.
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Zhang-Nunes S. Searching for the fountain of youth — oculoplastics. Presented at: Real World Ophthalmology; Sept. 18, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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