EW IN OTHER NEWS
82
December 2018
month for the rest of our lives," Dr.
Wang said. Attempts to escape could
lead to imprisonment.
When Dr. Wang was 14, he had
graduated from the 9th grade with
straight As, but faced a deportation
order and was not allowed to con-
tinue his education.
"In a desperate attempt to avoid
that destiny, I learned to play the
erhu and practiced dancing, since
those who could play music or
dance well had the chance of get-
ting into the communist song-and-
dance propaganda troupe," he said.
"Doing so allowed them to stay in
the city and be exempt from being
sent to labor camps."
Even though Dr. Wang's plan to
avoid the deportation through mu-
sic and dancing was discovered and
stopped by the government, he was
able to eventually make his way to
the United States. He had only $50
and a Chinese-English dictionary in
his pocket, but "an American dream
in [his] heart."
After coming to the United
States, Dr. Wang got a PhD in laser
physics and graduated with an MD
from Harvard Medical School and
MIT.
He completed his ophthalmol-
ogy residency at Wills Eye Hospital
in Philadelphia and a cornea and re-
fractive fellowship at Bascom Palmer
Eye Institute in Miami.
"I decided to pursue a career in
ophthalmology because I thought
that combining my training in
laser physics and ophthalmology
could make me a unique laser eye
surgeon," he said. "In 1997, I took
the job as the founding director of
Vanderbilt Laser Sight Center, and
in 2002, I started my own private
practice." Dr. Wang also has numer-
ous publications, several patents,
and nine ophthalmic textbooks; he
has worked as a panel consultant
to the U.S. FDA Ophthalmic Device
Panel. His primary research interests
are the amniotic membrane contact
lens, corneal topography for refrac-
tive corneal and lens surgeries, and
surgical correction for presbyopia.
Dr. Wang has also found a way
to incorporate his love for ballroom
dancing into his philanthropic
endeavors. The Wang Foundation
for Sight Restoration, a 501c(3)
non-profit charity, hosts the "Eye-
Ball," a medical charity gala event,
with proceeds supporting the foun-
dation patients.
"I came up with the idea for the
ball while trying to bring the sight
restoration efforts out of the four
walls of my medical clinic and into
the forefront of society's awareness,"
he said. "The EyeBall is a unique
event, merging music and medicine.
To date the foundation has helped
patients from more than 40 states in
the U.S. and 55 countries, with all
sight restoration surgeries performed
free of charge."
Dr. Wang thinks that being
involved in ballroom dancing has
helped him become a better doc-
tor. "Through learning ballroom
dancing, which requires connec-
tion and communication between
two human beings as they have to
move together synchronously, I
have learned to feel what a patient
feels, to listen to my patients, to
communicate better with them, and
to be more sensitive and aware of
their suffering and needs," he said.
"Ballroom dancing is not just about
music, movement, and exercise,
but more importantly, it is about
one's awareness of and sensitivity to
another human being—not only the
person's physical position but also
his/her emotional position." EW
Contact information
Wang: drwang@wangvisioninstitute.com
Ophthalmologist continued from page 81
Index to advertisers
APACRS
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Phone: 65-63278630
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BRASCRS
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Christian Ophthalmic
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Diamatrix Ltd.
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ESCRS
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EyePoint Pharmaceuticals
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EyePointPharma.com
Haag-Streit
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Phone: 877-628-1335
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Marco Ophthalmic Inc.
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Mastel
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Mastel.com
Nextech Systems Inc.
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Fax: 813-425-9292
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Omeros
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Phone: 206-676-5000
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Shire Pharmaceuticals
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Phone: 617-349-2020
www.shire.com
Stephens Instruments
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Stephensinst.com
Wills Eye Hospital
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Phone: 877-289-4557
www.willseye.org
ASCRS•ASOA
EyeWorld information
2019 ASCRS•ASOA
Annual Meeting
Page: 14 and 15
AnnualMeeting.ascrs.org
2019 ASCRS Subspecialty Day
Page: 30 and 31
www.ascrs.org
2019 ASOA Program
Page: 53
www.asoa.org
ASCRS Membership
Page: 9
www.ascrs.org
ASCRS Center for Learning
Page: 25
www.ascrs.org
Digital EyeWorld
Page: 67
digital.eyeworld.org
EyeConnect 365
Page: 33
www.ascrs.org
EyeWorld Website
Page: 43
www.eyeworld.org
EyeWorld Surgical Summit
Page: 46 and 47
surgicalsummit.eyeworld.org
EyeWorld Hub
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hub.eyeworld.org
EyeWorld rePlay
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www.ewreplay.org
YES Residents & Fellows
Page: 39 and 57
AnnualMeeting.ascrs.org
