When I got a call asking if I’d like to be the guest editor for this month’s issue, I really had no idea what I’d signed up for. Editor extraordinaire Zack Tertel and I had a really fun chat about the original and interesting angles we could play with an issue about the ever-changing practice landscape of the comprehensive ophthalmologist.

Months later, Zack casually mentioned plans to celebrate Ophthalmology Management’s 25th anniversary in this issue. No pressure there!

START AT THE BEGINNING

It goes without saying that it is an honor to have any part whatsoever in such a big deal issue. To prepare for this adventure, I looked at snippets from OM Volume 1, Number 1. First, while the ads aren’t quite as engaging as Super Bowl commercials, it’s funny to see some that sound wrong (“Punctum Plugs”), others for drugs that were such a brief flash in the pan that they didn’t even survive as generics (Livostin) as well as for IOLs that ruled the planet (Staar) — to say nothing of seeing a 25-year-old picture of Mitch Jackson along with his advice on starting up a laser refractive practice!

OPHTHALMOLOGY’S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

In this anniversary issue, we have assembled 25 ground-breaking developments that have shaped ophthalmology since 1997. It’s amazing how many of these topics were addressed in that first issue. We confirm Mitch’s optimism about adding refractive services to your practice with refractive laser updates from Eric Donnenfeld (tracking during LASIK), George O. Waring IV (femto flaps) and Scott MacRae (wavefront imaging). State-of-the-art cataract surgery with Staar IOLs in 1997? Who would have believed 25 years later we would use lasers to do cataract surgery (Kendall Donaldson), measure axial length without touching the eye (Bill Trattler), use AI to choose our IOL power (Uday Devgan) or render our patients spectacle free post-op (John Hovanesian)?

One of my interests, dry eye, is well-represented. Patti Barkey reviews the developments in diagnostics over the quarter century, while Preeya Gupta (medications) and Alice Epitropoulos (devices) catch us up on treatments. The back of the eye gets in the game, too. One could argue that the explosion of anti-VEGF use (David Eichenbaum) may be the biggest story of all.

Perhaps the funniest “how it started” and “how it’s going” story is on the business side of things. That first issue had an article lauding the efficiencies and time savings that would be generated from installing an EMR in your practice. Hmmm ... about that! David Glasser reviews “meaningful use” among the effects in the Affordable Care Act.

We also list 25 leaders in innovation, a veritable “who’s who” of ophthalmology’s last 25 years. Chosen by the Ophthalmology Management editorial staff and a survey of readers, we could easily have included 50 names. All of them are awe-inspiring, and each person on this list has changed our professional world for the better.

As guest editor, it gives me immense pleasure to see Marguerite McDonald on this list. I first encountered her during my residency, and her career has been an unending inspiration for me. She is my professional hero.

What would a “look back” be like without a few predictions? Contributing editor Karen Appold has rounded up a few of our contemporary thought leaders (including Mitch) and coaxed them into sharing the view from their crystal balls.

And, in case you haven’t had your fill of me here, I have a few thoughts on how far comprehensive ophthalmologists have come over these last 25 years.

FROM ONE OCEAN STATER TO ANOTHER

Amazingly, only three individuals have held the post of Chief Medical Editor in 25 years. Alan Aker, Paul Koch and Larry Patterson have done an outstanding job turning this journal into a monthly must read.

In my heart, I am still just a kid from Rhode Island. The main reason I picked up an issue of OM was because my fellow Ocean Stater was editor. For years, the first thing I read each month was Paul Koch’s musing on our world. Through him I came to love OM, and now I have the honor of being the guest editor of the 25th anniversary issue. Thanks, Paul. OM

Darrell E. White, MD, is an anterior segment surgeon and founder of SkyVision Centers in Westlake, Ohio.