During surgeries today in our Tysons Corner office, one of our patients told me that they found me by searching for the top LASIK surgeons in the area, and then they did more research and decided to have me do their vision correction procedure. I started thinking about this and how I came to be on a list of “top LASIK surgeons” in our area.
There are a lot of factors that go into what makes a surgeon the “best” or a “top” surgeon. Here are a few factors that I can think of :
1) Extensive training and experience– I do pretty well in this area as I am a Board-Certified Corneal Specialist and I have been performing and specializing in Refractive Surgery for almost 20 years. I have done over 50,000 vision correction procedures, this is a lot of experience! Experience leads to confidence, and everyone wants a surgeon who is confident. The more confidence a surgeon shows, the more comfortable and relaxed the patient can be.
2) Top notch staff — No question that I work with the best staff. I am surrounded by excellence in every position we have. Most of the staff has been with me and together for many years, some for over a decade. The doctors, counselors and admin staff are all excellent. See my website for descriptions and photos of all of them, they really are the best. Highly trained, incredibly competent and most of all, they are friendly! The staff really wants to make this a great experience for the patients, and it always shows.
3) State of the art technology– We have the absolute best technology that is available for vision correction. I use the INTRALASE in the first step of the surgery and then have both the AMO VISX S4 and the Allegretto Wavelight to choose from for the second step of the procedure. Most surgeons have only one of these two lasers, and I believe it is a huge advantage to have both. This allows me to optimize patient outcomes based on what type of aberrations they have in the vision before surgery. I always have used the very best lasers available and will always continue to do so. There are no corners cut in my protocols, ever. Speaking of cutting> some surgeons still use bladed devices to make the flap in LASIK. I switched to INTRALASE about 6 years ago and haven’t used a blade ever since. It is the single most important advance in our industry over the last decade. We make a smaller, finer footprint on your eye with this technology, leading to better long term stability and better structural integrity than the older bladed technology.
4) Do the correct procedure! This is called surgical judgement. We have a few laser procedures that can be done on any given patient. PRK is a laser treatment like LASIK, but it is more superficial on the surface of the eye and it takes a bit longer to heal. In SOME patients, it may be safer as well. I always will recommend and perform what I believe to be the safest option for the patient, and what is in their best interests. How can a patient be sure that the Doctor has their best interests in mind?? Well, that leads to the next topic…..
5) Personality– This one is tricky, because some patients prefer quiet reserved doctors and some prefer more open communication and friendly conversation. I have always been told that I have a very outgoing personality and my nature is to be very open with people. I like to make people feel at ease when I talk with them, and I definitely want them at ease when I operate on them. I communicate a lot and I believe that this allows a patient to see that I do have their best interests in mind. I coach and coach and coach people through the surgery, trying to make it easy for them. I play nice music and we keep a soft, relaxed atmosphere in the OR. I believe this is very important and I think patients like this a lot too. While I appear easy going to the patient, I am a perfectionist. Behind the scenes, every protocol must be perfect in order for me to provide what I believe are the best outcomes….
6) Provide the best outcomes—this is of course what many people think is MOST important, but for me this is part of the whole process. I have been told I am a good surgeon because I have really good “hands”. This is an important point, but its not the only reason our patients end up with great outcomes. If all of the protocols are followed, I have my amazing staff by my side, if the patient is comfortable and at ease knowing that their Doctor is competent and confident, if I am operating with all of the best technology, and I am using good surgical judgement as I think I always do, the patient is going to do great!
We have one of the lowest enhancement rates in the country, last measured to be at less than 1%! This is terrific and means that most everyone is happy with their outcome after just one procedure. People really are very happy with us and we get a lot of positive word of mouth.
So, you see that there are so many things that go into being a “TOP LASIK SURGEON in WASHINGTON, DC”!!! I am blessed to be able to work with such a great company and such a great group of people also.
