EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
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March 2012 EW IN OTHER NEWS 165 Racing toward ophthalmic success by Maxine Lipner Senior EyeWorld Contributing Editor For one refractive surgeon, barreling down the race- track is his way of relaxing W In his racing suit, you'd never know that Dr. Robbins is a pioneering refractive surgeon hen most ophthal- mologist are powering down for the week- end, one refractive surgeon is revving his engine. Allan M. Robbins, M.D., in private practice, Rochester, N.Y., spends much of his free time on the amateur racecar circuit. Dr. Robbins, who is originally from northern New Jersey, has been fascinated with cars since he was just 2 years old and even contem- plated pursuing this as a possible career, while paradoxically also fol- lowing a pre-med track. "My family was relatively poor, and my mother always said, 'If you like fast cars, you better have a good career and maybe become a physician,'" he said. Since he also enjoyed science, after some vacillating in college, he ultimately decided to follow her advice and opted to relegate racecar driving to hobby status. Even so, his mother still wasn't happy about the idea. "She'd always say that's not 'classy,'" Dr. Robbins said. "But her matinee idol was Paul Newman, and he actually was a very successful racecar driver. I'd always say, 'Well, Paul Newman races,' and she never had an answer for that." Starting his engines After getting into practice in Rochester, Dr. Robbins initially was satisfied with participating in car club events in Watkins Glen, in which those with elite vehicles could drive the track. "For awhile that's kind of fun, but then you think, it would be much more fun if I could actually race and have a fin- ish line and a start and a grid posi- tion," Dr. Robbins said. Dr. Robbins quickly found that racing was a different animal than simply being on the track. In his first real race, at the Mosport Inter- national Raceway in Canada, he ended up in an unceremonious crash due to what racers term the "red mist." "What happens when you start driving and your adrena- line gets pumping [is] you start los- ing sight of the fact that you're not that good of a driver, or the car can't really take the corner at that speed," Dr. Robbins said. "My friends, fam- ily, and crew chief always kind of laugh because I'm much faster in the race than I am in practice or in qual- ifying." In simply qualifying for grid position, he finds that he's typically not that motivated—it is the adrena- line rush that gets him going. "The green flag starts and it's an actual race, and I'm like a speed demon because I get that red mist," Dr. Robbins said. Despite this competitive zeal, it is not the win itself that motivates Dr. Robbins. While Dr. Robbins, to- gether with his SharpSight Motor- sports team, captured the New York State Road Racing Championship in G Production and GT-2 in 1995 and 1996, and he has also won a myriad of individual races, he terms his best event as one in which he placed 6th in a field of 17. "I passed a lot of cars and I beat cars that were quicker than me, and my wife said, 'That was your best race ever,'" he said. "So even though I didn't win and I finished a lowly 6th, I was actually pulling up on the other cars; as the race progressed I was actually doing better and better." For Dr. Robbins, who now drives one of Paul Newman's old Nissans as well as a Ferrari, capturing the tro- phy is not the main goal. "It isn't about winning or losing at this level, it's a feeling that you did a good job and you drove well and you were safe and you didn't do anything stu- continued on page 166 During off-hours, Dr. Robbins motors around the racetrack in his car with its own pair of eyes and LASIK license plates Source (all): Allan M. Robbins, M.D.