Who was your mentor, and what did they teach you?
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Roger Ohanesian, MD
Roger Ohanesian founded Harvard Eye Associates, the practice that I am in, as well as the Armenian EyeCare Project, which are two massive forces in my life.
When I was doing my fellowship at UCLA, I met Roger, and we became friends through our volunteer work in Armenia. Our last names are very similar and common among Armenians, but we are not related. I ended up joining his practice because it needed someone in my specialty and because my wife-to-be was living and working nearby in Orange County, California.
When you go through training, you learn a lot about the technical side of practicing medicine, but what I learned from Roger was very much the human side. I learned the importance of relationships with patients and other doctors and how sometimes you have to make a choice between being right and being loved. I learned that building bridges to people is the most important thing that we do as doctors if we want to be effective and successful.
Source: John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS
Roger gave a thousand lessons throughout the years that I had the pleasure of working with him. He also shared my passion for helping in places where people were hurting. We made many trips to Armenia together, and we are about to make another one in October through the Armenian EyeCare Project. I continue to assist in his work in that program through my continued work with the nonprofit.
Roger always had an egalitarian approach to running a medical practice. He could have been the primary shareholder, decision-maker and profit taker. But he looked for partners for life, bringing in capable people who would expand on the offerings he had. He treated associates as equals in terms of both financial ownership and governance of the practice. I took that for granted back then but have since realized how rare it is to treat new physicians equally. Our practice has carried on that honorable approach, and we continue to grow with honorable physicians.
John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, is a Healio | OSN Associate Medical Editor.
Peter Kaiser, MD, Chrstina Weng, MD, Purnima Patel, MD, and Gaurav Shah, MD
As I have matured, I have changed my attitude toward mentorship. Early on, I believed that I had to find a single mentor who had the career I wanted. Instead, by interacting with the many people who I admire as I have embarked on my career, I have learned that mentors can provide different, individual aspects that come together to enrich our paths.
When I was in training, one of my mentors was Peter Kaiser, MD, at the Cleveland Clinic. He is such a wonderful surgeon and clinician who, frankly, intimidated me when I first met him because of his accomplishments. I think that intimidation showed in the beginning of me working with him as a trainee, and I would sometimes feel overwhelmed with trying to learn everything at once. Peter said something that stuck with me during one of those moments. He said something like, “I can teach you surgery, and I can teach you clinic. But what I look for in someone is how much they care about people or go the extra mile.” Seeing someone as accomplished as him focus on qualities like compassion and dedication made me realize how much I can do with those skills. I am incredibly lucky that he saw that dedication within me. Since residency, he has gifted me with incredible mentorship. Besides advice, he has also taught me the importance of sponsorship and opportunity, and he has avenues of involvement within retina and uveitis.
When I started as an attending, I also realized that mentors do not have to be those who are formally assigned to you. Three people who have provided phenomenal opportunities are Christina Weng, MD, MBA, at Baylor, Gaurav Shah, MD, at West Coast Retina Medical Group, and Purnima Patel, MD, at ORA Vision. Despite not being involved in my training, they all have thoughtfully discussed my goals and provided opportunities for involvement. Notably, Christina and Gaurav have provided opportunities for involvement within the American Society of Retina Specialists and Purnima within the American Academy of Ophthalmology. I have always been amazed at their generosity, and I have asked them individually what motivates them to be this charitable. They all have stressed the importance of bringing up the next generation. That generosity is inspiring and a mentality I intend to carry forward.
As mentees, I think it is important to soak up all the parts of mentors you admire the most and remember to integrate those into your career. And later, you can bring those pieces to the table when you become a mentor, too.
Sruthi Arepalli, MD, is a vitreoretinal surgeon and uveitis specialist at Emory Eye Center.
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