Eyeworld

by Liz Hillman, Ophthalmology Business Senior Staff Writer The balancing act of a 12 Ophthalmology Business • July 2018 CMOs discuss what it takes to fill this role in industry H aving some sort of rela- tionship with industry might be relatively com- mon with ophthalmolo- gists—acting as a consul- tant, participating in clinical trials, educating at meetings—but taking on the role of chief medical officer (CMO) is a different ballgame. CMOs from a few ophthalmic companies met on stage at the 2017 OIS@AAO to discuss "Blended Ca- reers: Industry and Medicine." Rich- ard Lindstrom, MD, Minnesota Eye Consultants, Minneapolis, moderator of this session, described his first role as a chief medical officer a few decades ago as a fantastic experience. "What a business education it was to interact at a senior level," he said. "It got me started on 4 decades of exciting innovation in ophthal- mology. Now, we're seeing a large number of doctors joining compa- nies as the chief medical officers." Ophthalmology Business caught up with three of these CMOs who were also part of the OIS panel to gain more insights into what it's like to fill this role in a company. Jai G. Parekh, MD, MBA EyeCare Consultants of NJ, Woodland Park/ Edison, New Jersey Vice-president, Global Medical Affairs/Chief Medical Office, Eye Care & Dermatology Allergan, Dublin, Ireland Dr. Parekh said he has always had the industry bug in him; his father was part of this sector for 40 years with Roche (Basel, Switzerland). For awhile, he was "incredibly content as a physician," having a direct one-to- one relationship with patients, but eventually, he said he yearned to do something on the "macro scale." He had worked on numerous fronts with more than half a dozen differ- ent companies, but almost 3 years ago, Dr. Parekh decided he wanted to make a big difference with a single company. Now, the vice-president of Aller- gan's Global Affairs/Chief Medical Office for Eye Care & Dermatology, Dr. Parekh said he has never looked back. How do you balance being a company's CMO and your patient practice? I essentially juggle the time commit- ment needed to perform at a top lev- el for both; there is no room for any- thing less. My job here at Allergan is full time and my job as a physician is full time, whether I'm taking care of one patient or 100 patients. … I have tailored my surgical schedule and now focus on cataracts, ocular surface, and microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). In the office, where we have several other eye care phy- sicians, I focus on the ocular surface, glaucoma, and cataract/cornea. It has made my practice "boutique," and I've customized it to what I like do- ing. Much of what I do is commensu- rate with what we do at Allergan, and OPHTHALMOLOGIST

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