EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/1054373
81 EW IN OTHER NEWS December 2018 by Ellen Stodola EyeWorld Senior Staff Writer/Digital Editor Dr. Wang discussed his childhood in China, how he became involved in the ophthalmic profession, and the evolution of his interest in ballroom dancing D uring his time at Harvard and MIT, Ming Wang, MD, PhD, Wang Vision Cataract & LASIK Center, Nashville, Tennessee, was training to eventually become an ophthalmologist and also picked up ballroom dancing. He and a few fellow students started the Harvard and MIT Ballroom Dance Club, which he said ended up winning the U.S. National Collegiate Champi- onships. "I learned ballroom dance, and it quickly became a life-long passion," he said. Dr. Wang continues ballroom dancing today, practicing two nights a week for several hours each night. He also participates in regional and national championships. "Several years ago, I was a finalist in the United States National Champion- ships in the Pro-Am International 10 Dance," he said. Dr. Wang's story of how he became an ophthalmologist and an avid ballroom dancer begins in Hangzhou, China, where he was born in 1960. His family, which in- cluded himself, his parents, and his younger brother, was very poor; his parents' combined monthly income was only $15. "Education was everything—it was the only way to escape pover- ty," Dr. Wang said. "I remember my dad used to tell me, "Ming, if you can master mathematics, physics, and chemistry, you can go anywhere in the world.'" Despite striving for an edu- cation, in 1966, at the beginning of China's Cultural Revolution, all colleges and universities in the country were shut down and high school graduates were deported to the poorest part of the country. "Each of us would therefore be con- demned to a life sentence of poverty and hard labor, earning only $2–3 a Ophthalmologist shares his passion for ballroom dancing Dr. Wang continues to practice ballroom dancing weekly and competes regionally and nationally. Dr. Wang plays the erhu (the Chinese violin) alongside Carlos Enrique on the guitar. Source (all): Ming Wang, MD, PhD continued on page 82 Outside the OR