Decisions, Decisions

11/15/2021

During this past week, I continued to explore the pediatric ophthalmology field through an interview with Dr. Nathan, an ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma and cataract surgery. He emphasized how the ophthalmology field is unique in its high volume of patients and quick thinking skills. Ophthalmologists must be able to think and move on their feet without sacrificing the ability to connect with patients or the time needed to be thorough. I think this is an important takeaway of what working in ophthalmology is like. I was curious to see what type of decisions are made in the field and learned from Dr. Nathan that he commonly makes decisions about what to let learning surgeons do. Additional choices made include the best technique to divide lenses and the best approach for a patient, such as an anesthesia approach. Complications lead to other decisions that can have a large impact on the rest of the surgery or even the long-term outcome. Thus, making these decisions can be stressful but is crucial for success. I also learned from Dr. Nathan about advancements in microinvasive glaucoma techniques and how children often have to have an external approach instead of a minimally invasive one because of cloudy corneas. Through the interviews I have conducted, I have learned much about the work-life, procedures, and research of different specialties within ophthalmology. As I compile my research for my research speech, I am seeing the important takeaways from each source that I can apply to my understanding of ophthalmology and to my original work.