Eyeworld

48 | EYEWORLD | SUMMER 2026 R EFRACTIVE YES CONNECT by Ellen Stodola Editorial Co-Director About the physicians Sonny Goel, MD Goel Vision Towson, Maryland J. Morgan Micheletti, MD, FACS Berkeley Eye Center Houston, Texas I started my career at a private practice on a partnership track. Once it became private equity, I knew it was time to go. The question was where? Join another well-known private practice group in town, or consider solo? I spent months debating before settling on going solo. There is honestly not much written about the solo journey, which is why I have been speaking about it at meetings and why I think this article is so valuable. Drs. Sonny Goel and J. Morgan Micheletti represent two prime examples of the solo and group private practice models, respectively. Dr. Goel built Goel Vision into one of the leading solo refractive practices in the country, with two offices and his own ASC. He speaks can- didly about leaving a large LASIK organization, recreating a patient base, and the learning curve of billing, marketing, and hiring that residency never covers. Dr. Micheletti chose a large, physician-owned multispecialty group at Berkeley Eye Center and has thrived there, leveraging mentorship, scale, and infrastructure while staying active in research and innovation. If you are debating your career options like I did, pay attention. This is a gem that I wish I had. —Jeffrey Tran, MD, YES Connect Guest Editor C hoosing the right type of practice is an important decision for ophthal- mologists beginning their career (and also for those who choose to change paths mid-career). It requires physi- cians to weigh a variety of factors. Two surgeons discussed their career paths, important factors in their journey, and other considerations in the decision-making process. Sonny Goel, MD When deciding what type of practice to go into, Dr. Goel came out of residency training right when LASIK was getting approved, so he said a lot of it was timing. "[LASIK] was new, and it was delivering excellent outcomes to patients," he said. Refractive surgery is a unique setting in ophthalmology because the patients are younger and healthier. It's like a whole new paradigm for them, which you have to wrap your head around, he said. "I came out as a general ophthalmologist and did a little bit of laser vision correction surgery on the side," he said. "After 2 years, I had an opportunity to work for a large national LASIK company." Dr. Goel has worked in a variety of settings over his career, including on staff where he trained at Greater Baltimore Medical Center and in private practice. After this, he joined LasikPlus (formerly LCA-Vision), practicing there for 20 years, before leaving to open his own private practice in 2019. Initially, Dr. Goel liked the larger practice setup. "What I liked about the concept was that everything was contained in-house, meaning we did the eye exams in-house with our optom- etrists, and there was a nice surgeon-optome- trist partnership," he said, adding that he also enjoyed being able to focus on surgery, with a certain separation between the medical and business sides of the practice. Eventually, Dr. Goel desired a change in pace, particularly relating to efficiency and the number of procedures being done per day. He said he sees this a lot in ophthalmology, which can often lead to burnout when surgeons are performing so many procedures in a day. However, he noted that the decision to switch to private practice can still be a challenge because of reimbursement and compliance issues. It may be harder to navigate these factors alone, he said. Dr. Goel set up Goel Vision in 2019, noting the importance of learning how to do insurance billing. On the laser side, it's all fee-for-service. Patients pay cash, and there's no insurance to collect. This was a learning opportunity, partic- ularly in the marketing area. Additionally, he said that one of the biggest challenges with any practice is HR and hiring staff to do the job that you need them to do. Being in private practice, all those things now fell on his shoulders. Dr. Goel opened his second office in February 2020, as well as an ASC attached to it. Choosing an ophthalmology career path continued on page 50

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