EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/1261109
52 | EYEWORLD | JUNE/JULY 2020 O UTSIDE THE OR by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director I f you're out to dinner with Beeran Meghpara, MD, you might want to hand him the wine list. As a level 3 sommelier, he knows a thing or two about how to pick a good bottle. A few years ago, Dr. Meghpa- ra and his wife attended a 1-day crash course at the Wine School of Philadel- phia. "It is kind of a complicated world, the wine world. You go to a wine store, you see all these bottles everywhere, it's hard to know what you're supposed to do, then you go to a restaurant and try to go through the wine list and it's a lot," Dr. Meghpara said. "We thought that because we like [wine] so much, why don't we learn a little more about it." They enjoyed that course enough to start taking semester-long classes toward advancing as sommeliers. "You can keep taking as many [courses] as you want, and there are different levels of certification. It's an ongoing learning process. We're in the middle of that. We do it on a part-time basis, and it's a lot of fun," Dr. Megh- para said. For those who might have seen documentaries on becoming a somme- lier, Dr. Meghpara said the accreditation through the National Wine School is similar to the famous Court of Master Somme- liers. "That's more for people who are trying to get in the industry. It's based on knowledge and tasting and also service. The National Wine School is also knowledge and tasting, but there is no service component. … This is an attrac- tive option for those with non-wine related careers looking to expand their wine knowledge as a hobby." Dr. Meghpara went on to describe the five levels of sommeliers. "The highest level, five, that would be a master somm. That's what the people in Somm, the documentary, were studying for. We're not that. You need to take a year off of life and write a thesis to do that," he said. Dr. Meghpara and his wife, currently level 3s, are working toward level 4. "You have to take multiple classes … to get to that point, and you have to take six semes- Uncorked with Beeran Meghpara, MD About the doctor Beeran Meghpara, MD Co-director of Refractive Surgery Wills Eye Hospital Clinical assistant professor of ophthalmology Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dr. Meghpara with his wife, Shailee Viroja, at Palmaz Vineyards in Napa Valley, California