Eyeworld

64 | EYEWORLD | APRIL 2023 R EFRACTIVE by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director Contact Zhu: dagny.zhu@gmail.com About the physician Dagny Zhu, MD NVISION Eye Centers Rowland Heights, California Relevant disclosures Zhu: None YES CONNECT 2 years in practice were like a mini fellowship. I learned from the surgeon who I bought the practice from. She took me under her wing, and that's where I learned refractive surgery. I'm so grateful for that because I had not learned any of that in residency training. EyeWorld: What do you think of the current state of refractive surgery exposure for those in training? Dr. Zhu: Because we have so little exposure to refractive surgery in residency, I think most of us come out knowing little about refractive surgery and having little interest in it, at least in a typical, traditional residency program. … We almost have the feeling that refractive surgery isn't fixing real eye disease, that refractive error is not real eye disease. We want to take care of sick eyes. That's the mindset we have as residents, and our attendings are the same way. Many of them don't perform refractive surgery. I'm so grateful to be in this field because re- fractive surgery is what most patients consider eye surgery. The difference you make in people's lives is just tremendous. I'm fortunate to have gotten into this subspecialty. EyeWorld: If an ophthalmologist wants to incorporate refractive surgery offerings into their practice, and they think they need more knowledge in terms of preop counseling, postop care, and the hands-on components, how would you suggest they gain this experience? Dr. Zhu: I think we still have a major shortage in the area of providing adequate and sufficient How to break into refractive surgery In this YES Connect column, we wanted to highlight the webinar "Refractive Surgery 101" moderated by Dagny Zhu, MD. In the webinar, the speakers will discuss how to learn refractive surgery after training. Attending refractive fellow- ships, joining like-minded groups, and attending virtual and live meetings are important tools. It has become much more important for young eye surgeons to learn refractive surgery because cataract surgery at times will require corneal refractive procedures postoperatively (such as LASIK, PRK, or PCRIs) to achieve excellent visual outcomes, especially in the premium population. –Zaina Al-Mohtaseb, MD, YES Clinical Committee Chair W hile Dagny Zhu, MD, is well entrenched in refractive cataract surgery and refractive surgery in her practice now, this was not always the case. In fact, she had zero refractive surgery experience in residen- cy, and her experience with refractive cataract surgery was limited. She said this experience is common for most coming out of training. How to break into refractive surgery as a young eye surgeon is the topic of the April YES Connect Webinar, and EyeWorld spoke with Dr. Zhu to hear her personal experience and insights ahead of the online event. EyeWorld: If you didn't have refractive surgery experience in residency, how did you decide to get into this area in practice? How did you gain experience? Dr. Zhu: I fell into the world of refractive surgery by chance. It was never anything I had intended for my career. I thought I was going to do a cornea fellowship, and I was going to prac- tice either in academia or private practice doing mostly comprehensive ophthalmology, cataract, and cornea transplants. I got into refractive surgery because when I was looking for a job, there was a large practice in my hometown that was for sale. It happened to be a high-volume refractive cataract and re- fractive surgery practice. By taking the risk and buying into that practice as a new grad, I had to learn refractive surgery from day 1. My first 1 or Dr. Zhu at the excimer laser Source: Dagny Zhu, MD

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