Director of the Retina Section, Assistant Professor
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science
University of Arizona College of Medicine
Tucson, AZ
Undergraduate: Cornell University (2000)
Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine (2004)
Internship (internal medicine): University of Wisconsin-Madison (2005)
Residency (ophthalmology): Yale New Haven Hospital (2008)
Fellowship (surgical and medical vitreo-retinal): Yale New Haven Hospital (2010)
Other than having strong educators and mentors, ultimately what determines what you get out of your medical education are the patients you see, and that's largely determined by the location and the community you're part of. When I was looking for a training program, I wanted to be at an institution that served a very diverse patient population — with regard to race, age, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. — which would then guarantee that I was going to be exposed to a broad variety of disease processes and pathology. Yale fit that description perfectly, and looking back on my training, I realize that Yale lived up to and exceeded my expectations.
Definitely. Once you're out on your own, you're still learning a lot, and I keep in contact with several attendings, mentors and Dr. James Tsai, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science. They've been more than happy and willing to serve as important resources, providing not only feedback on patient care or surgical issues but also questions about being in practice.
