Why I Chose Ophthalmology?

 

The story behind my choosing ophthalmology as my specialization branch is not very fancy. This decision of mine was neither motivated by passion nor was it a dream. It just happened, maybe by chance. 

 

       Medical students in India read and learn ophthalmology in their third MBBS year. In the first two years, they learn about nonclinical subjects only. Nonclinical means the basic sciences – the basics of human structure and function, and the basics of disease occurrence. It is only in the third year that students are introduced to clinical branches, which deal with diagnosing and treating diseases. 

 

       Frankly speaking, ophthalmology is a very dry and difficult subject for most medical students during their undergraduate days. The basic cause of this difficulty is that the subject begins with physics – the nature of light, the principles of optics, and optical phenomena. Doing retinoscopy (finding out the refractive error for a person) and then deducing the power of glasses from that also requires mathematical skills. Teaching these concepts to students who have had no connection with mathematics for the past four years is a challenge in itself. 

 

       But in my case, things were slightly different. I always loved math and physics, so the concept of concave and convex lenses and basic refraction was quite clear to me, even in my third year of MBBS. But I did not find it incredibly special until I began teaching my juniors at AIIMS and found out that most students, even at this apex institute, were not clear about the basics of optics. 

 

       Despite understanding the subject, I never found love for it. I gave the exam and passed out, just like I did for other subjects. However, there is one special memory that I would like to share. We were once in our ophthalmology OPD for our clinical posting, and we had a class on slit lamps. It was the first time we were seeing what a slit lamp was, and for fun, we were looking into each other’s eyes. I accidentally focused on the iris of my colleague’s eye, and oh my god, it was just so beautiful. And trust me, I must have examined millions of eyes till date. Each eye is stunningly beautiful, with all structures from the cornea to the retina full of extraordinary beauty.  

 

       After reading all subjects, my preferred subjects for post-graduation were obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Years passed, and I finally got rank 64 in the AIIMS PG entrance examination. That was an achievement for me, as it was a good rank. I had hoped to get OBG at that rank, but could not, as surprisingly, that year there was only one seat for a UR candidate for OBG at AIIMS, and that was taken by the person with rank 20. I had options of ophthalmology, ENT, and anesthesia, and among these three, I chose ophthalmology. 

 

       I was quite skeptical about choosing this branch and talked in detail with my senior, Dr. Ashish Markan. I remember asking him if most ophthalmologists just do cataract surgeries, and if doing just one type of surgery would not get too boring. He laughed at my question, saying no one gets bored with cataract surgeries. Though I was not convinced with that answer then, now I can say that yes, no one can get bored with a cataract surgery. Every eye is different, every cataract is different, and despite being the same technique, you never get bored of it because it is still different. Trust me, Today, I can do cataract surgeries the entire day without getting bored. 

 

       So, I finally became an ophthalmologist, and the best part is that I learned this subject from the best place in the world, under the guidance of the best teachers. With every day I spent in RPC during my residency, my love for this subject increased. I remember having seen a 3D retina surgery going on, with the retina fluttering right in front of me. The beauty of that moment is unforgettable. 

 

       Getting used to looking inside the eye with sophisticated instruments has a certain learning curve. It was only after three months of rigorous attempts to peep inside the eye that I could first see the retina in full three dimensions with my indirect ophthalmoscope. And I was just drowned in the beauty of that experience. I could appreciate the depth of the optic disc, the course of the retinal blood vessels, and all the beautiful colours- yellow, orange, red, and brown inside the eye.

 

       And is it not so amazing that the instrument that we use to visualise the outer world itself has fathomless beauty in it. And I am in love with this unmatchable beauty. 

 

       In a nutshell, I love this subject because of its beauty, as well as the beauty that it imparts to the heart of the viewer, and I am grateful to the Almighty to have made me an ophthalmologist. Sometimes, I still wonder: did I choose ophthalmology by chance, or did ophthalmology strategically pull me towards itself? What do you think? Give your opinion in the comments below.