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EW IN OTHER NEWS 142 September 2015 time, he was recovering from back surgery and was just returning to his activities. "It was nice because a lot of the industry people flew in and it wasn't even an eye meeting," he said, adding that one of his friends even asked him if there was an ophthalmology conference going on at the time. "I said, 'No, I just have a lot of good industry friends who decided to fly in to celebrate my half century." Ophthalmic following Dr. Jackson's patients routinely show up at his events. "Every gig I do, at least 20–30 of my patients show up," he said. This includes corneal transplant as well as cataract and LASIK patients, who he finds have become like a fan club. "They all know because in surgery I always play music," he said. He finds that it puts patients at ease. Despite the fact that he puts a lot of effort into his gigs, Dr. Jackson wouldn't have it any other way. "People say, 'You're always work- ing,'" he said. "My music is my release, though. That's the thing that takes the edge off what I do for my real job." He finds that there is a transformation that takes place when he starts playing his music. It is as though his alter ego, DJ MJ, takes over. "[Often when I'm performing] one of my security staff looks at me and looks at my wife and says, 'The switch is on, we won't see him for about 6 hours,'" Dr. Jackson said with a laugh. "I get into a zone, using both sides of my brain." These days wherever he goes, Dr. Jackson continues to think about music. This is perhaps most true when he travels to far-flung locales like China, Hong Kong, and Italy for ophthalmic meetings. He finds that they always have interesting DJs of their own and that he can get new ideas to incorporate into his sets. Dr. Jackson hopes to continue with music for a long time and to ultimately expand in a new direc- tion. "The next thing that I would like to do is produce," he said. "As I retire from ophthalmology, probably in the next decade, I would like to go down to Florida and maybe pro- duce music for some of the younger guys—that's the next stage." For now, Dr. Jackson continues to spin in ophthalmic circles and beyond and to enjoy his role as DJ MJ. EW Contact information Jackson: mjlaserdoc@msn.com Dr. Jackson celebrates his 50th birthday at the House of Blues Chicago. Dr. Jackson performing cataract surgery Source: Mitchell Jackson, MD Rocking it continued from page 141

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