ASCRS News: ASCRS Annual Meeting preview
April 2023
by Liz Hillman
Editorial Co-Director
A lifelong teacher. A selfless, lifelong scholar. Committed to excellence. The kind of teacher every educator should strive to be. Never in a rush when there are lessons to learn.
These are just a few samples of the statements made by those who nominated Emmett Carpel, MD, for the 2023 ASCRS Educator Award. Dr. Carpel was selected for the award for his five decades of teaching excellence in the Minnesota Twin Cities area. Dr. Carpel’s commitment to the education of future generations began early in his career.
“Subsequent to my training, the only job I ever applied for was to teach ophthalmology to residents and students. All other positions and endeavors have found me,” he said. “I love ophthalmology and enjoy passing on what I know in the science, interpersonal humanity with patients, history, and fun of being in the best profession on earth. It’s been my lifelong privilege to do so.”
Dr. Carpel became interested in medicine when as a child, he read about Dr. Charles Bailey, a cardiac surgeon, in Time magazine. “I wanted to be like him,” he said. Dr. Carpel’s father was a general practitioner who supported his son’s interest. Dr. Carpel went to the same medical school as Dr. Bailey (Hahnemann Medical College at Drexel University) but abandoned the idea of becoming a heart surgeon after being exposed to other fields of medicine.
“A very humble man, Emmett is the consummate clinician, surgeon, researcher, and most
A nomination for Emmett Carpel, MD, to receive the ASCRS Educator Award
important to him, teacher. He is a critical thinker who is pragmatic, patient, and kind and truly one of the most well-read ophthalmologists I know with an immense knowledge base.”
“Almost at the end of medical school, my elderly aunt, who was like a grandmother, seemingly went blind overnight,” Dr. Carpel said. A cataract surgeon restored her sight by removing her cataracts and providing her with “coke-bottle glasses,” the refractive option at the time. “That sparked my interest.”
Dr. Carpel said he spent time studying at Moorfields Eye Hospital and realized that “ophthalmology had it all: one had to know systemic disease, one treated all ages and sexes, the surgery was elegant (relatively so back then), the amount to be learned was endless, and it usually was a patient’s most valued sense.” Dr. Carpel completed residency at the University of Washington, followed by a fellowship in neuro/electrophysiology and postdoctoral study at Moorfields Eye Hospital in glaucoma and cornea. Alongside his medical training, Dr. Carpel was in the United States Army from 1969–1975. He served as Chief Medical Officer at the Yakima Training Center from 1969–1971.
After his experience in medical school, where he saw hazing and abusive treatment of students, Dr. Carpel committed to being different. “I vowed if I ever knew enough that someone wanted my knowledge, it would be robust, given with kindness, and we would have fun learning and getting better together,” he said.
After medical school, Dr. Carpel held several academic and medical appointments. He is the former chief of the Division of Ophthalmology for the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Health Care System and a former consultant for the Glaucoma Service of the University of Minnesota and for the Hennepin County Medical Center. Dr. Carpel served as the department chair for the Phillips Eye Institute in 2005 and chief of staff and medical director from 2007–2016. He continues to be an adjunct professor of ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota, where he was twice voted Teacher of the Year by the residents. Dr. Carpel has served as an investigator for clinical trials, has developed surgical instruments, and holds three U.S. patents, in addition to authoring and co-authoring dozens of peer-reviewed papers.
Being an educator, Dr. Carpel said, has always forced him to “be at the top of my game, to be a kind, honest, and informed resource for a young doctor.”
Dr. Carpel said he thought he had a “fundamental obligation to pass on information to the next generation, so we all could be the best we could for our patients, colleagues, and honor the most wonderful profession.”
When he found out that the impact he has had on others throughout his teaching career had led him to be nominated and ultimately selected for the ASCRS Educator Award, Dr. Carpel said he thought there must have been a mistake. “I’m still dazed. My comfort zone is being anonymous, way below the radar,” he said. “While I’m greatly appreciative, I’m still not processing the reality.”
About the physician
Emmett Carpel, MD
Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Contact
Carpel: efcarpel@gmail.com
