Tips to put into practice for a rewarding career in ophthalmology

Whether you are a physician who is just starting your career or opening your own practice, it is important to make yourself available for your colleagues, medical community and the emergency room of your local hospital(s). If it is 4:30 p.m. on a Friday and a call comes in that a patient has an urgent or emergent eye issue — even if you would not consider it emergent or urgent — say, “Yes.”

In this article, I will discuss why making yourself available and being flexible and prepared are the most important things you can do to help build a rewarding career in ophthalmology.

SUPPORT YOUR COLLEAGUES

It is important to be available for your colleagues who may have a question — no matter the day, time or holiday — because they may view you as a subject area expert, or your skillset is such that they don’t do what you do and they have a situation of concern. You have to create an environment of safety and comfort where colleagues can call you to discuss a complication, and you can offer them advice.

BE AVAILABLE TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM

Many ophthalmologists don’t want to see patients who are not planned in their schedule because these add-ons can potentially create a backlog or slow down patient throughput. But making yourself available to the emergency room of your local hospital(s) or to stand-alone walk-in clinics can open entirely new sources of referrals and a new patient base. If that patient has a good experience in your practice and you encourage reviews, they can become ambassadors of goodwill and generate new sources of patients and referrals.

SAY ‘YES’ TO HOSPITAL CONSULTS

Sure, hospital consults are viewed as a nuisance by most ophthalmologists because they don’t want to go to the hospital to see a patient in an environment with limited ways in which they can examine them. But, using the hospital as a “marketing” venue can be beneficial.

For example, I would go into the hospital and introduce myself to the nurses who were taking care of the patient and hand them my business card and say, “If you have any problems, issues or need any further explanation about how to treat this patient’s eye condition, don’t hesitate to call me.” I would also leave a card at the patient’s bedside, saying, “If family members come to visit you and they have questions about your eye situation, please have them call me.” In addition, I would go to a unit secretary at the wing or hospital floor and say, “If there are any questions about the orders I’m writing, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

I viewed consults as an amazing opportunity to network with the hospital staff. I got to know many nurses, phlebotomists, unit secretaries, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, internists, hospitalists and cardiologists. As a result, they came to see me as their ophthalmologist, and I instantly grew my practice.

BE PREPARED FOR THE DAY AHEAD

You have to learn how to operate in a new environment. I would visit the OR ahead of time to learn about the staff — who would be my instrument and OR scrubs, circulating nurse and scheduler. I went over the equipment, the surgical instruments and the available backup options. I invited the microscope rep and/or the phaco machine rep to schedule an in-service with me ahead of the OR day to review nuances of the various pieces of OR equipment. I always arrived early and went through a morning “huddle” with the OR staff, giving them precise directives associated with each scheduled case.

I still put this into practice today, and my staff and I go through the number and types of procedures on my schedule. I encourage my staff to report to me at the end of the day on any pieces of equipment that are not operating ideally or that may need to be replaced or substituted.

CONCLUSION

It takes time to build your career as an ophthalmologist; as long as you are available to your colleagues and local hospital(s), see the value of in-hospital patient consults and plan for the day accordingly, you will have a most fulfilling career ahead. OM

Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS, is the founder of Matossian Eye Associates, an affiliate of Prism Vision Group, with multiple offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is also the president of American College of Eye Surgeons and the president of NY IOL Implant Society. She specializes in refractive cataract surgery and dry eye disease.