Kids-- Just Small Adults?

10/24/2021

I had the great opportunity to interview two more professionals this week who work at UT Southwestern medical center. Dr. Thayer, a pediatric ophthalmologist, provided great insight into the complexities of her specialty. Commonly working with strabismus, retinopathy of prematurity, and pediatric cataract, she taught me much about the details of the procedures. I was able to apply the research I have conducted about these topics to the interview to further my understanding. Dr. Thayer also provided insight into the technology in her specialty, one being a virtual reality that tracks eye movement and usage for amblyopia. I find this really interesting and hope to look into it further, along with other areas of advancements she discussed. I also was able to interview Dr. Dogan, an ophthalmologist who focuses on the cornea. I learned more about the artificial lenses involved in cataract surgery, and how the application of such lenses differs in children. As Dr. Dogan has had training in pediatric ophthalmology, he emphasized how children are not small adults but have completely different biology and physiology of the eye, which changes the approach of cataract surgery. This helps put into perspective how pediatric ophthalmology relates to adult ophthalmology for me. Dr. Thayer and Dr. Dogan's passion for their specialties inspires me to see the joys of the medical field. Both professionals helped introduce multiple areas of research that are important for the improvement of their specialties, and I look forward to researching more about them as I work on my original work.