A LASIK Eye Surgeon’s Valentine’s Day

Submitted by Dr. Dean Dornic on Mon 02/14/2011 - 11:30

Medicine is a rapidly changing field. LASIK eye surgery has changed a lot since I was first trained in this technique 13 years ago. Back then, LASIK flaps were all made with bladed instruments either on gears or rails and surgeons had to be adept at centering the laser on a moving pupil with a joystick device.

Over the years the technique, technology, our understanding on who is a good candidate and management of side-effects have all evolved. As a result, the procedure has been made safer, side-effects have been minimized and the overall quality of vision along with patient satisfaction all have increased.

A LASIK eye surgeon who fails to keep up with the changes in the vision correction field does a disservice to his patients by cheating them out of the tremendous improvements in results and safety.

One of the ways of achieving continued competence is through reading: and there is a tremendous amount of articles written and available in books, professional journals and on line. On-line bulletin boards and forums are another way to share and gain valuable information.

One of the best ways to advance knowledge is through professional meetings or “conventions”. Such meetings allow innovators to present their work and allow attendees to question and challenge presenters.

View from our hotel window

But attendance at such meetings requires time away from the office. An efficient way to minimize practice down time is to combine continuing education with vacation time and that is precisely what I did this Valentine’s weekend. You see, Valentine’s is a special time for my wife and I. Our first date was on Valentine’s Day.

As a young college student, I finally got the nerve to ask my wife out. I prepared a home cooked meal and took her to a $2 movie on campus.

This weekend, we celebrated with a long weekend in St. Thomas where there just happened to be a great ophthalmology meeting: the Caribbean Eye Meeting. So I woke up early and attended courses and lectures from 7AM until noon, then spent the rest of the day enjoying the island.

I took home some great new information on LASIK and other eye surgeries plus I got my batteries recharged.

How did I find time to write this blog? Well, I’m writing this well waiting for my flight from Miami to Raleigh. Hope you enjoyed your Valentine’s Day as much as we did.