Refractive
Summer 2026
by Karolinne Rocha, MD, PhD
Refractive Editor
As an ophthalmologist serving in the academic setting, I teach the next generation of eye surgeons, provide premium refractive services, and handle complex cases at the tertiary center run by the university, while my husband started his own anterior segment, cataract, and refractive private practice and collaborates with new doctors in the community. There isn’t a right or wrong path to pursue in ophthalmology, but it falls to the individual to decide where their priorities lie.
In any ophthalmic setting, take a critical look at the organization you will be joining or the team you will be building on your own. There will be times when you spend more of your week at work than at home, and the culture of a place, the people who make it up, and the investment in the things that make people happy at work are worth considering when deciding your career path.
Digital technologies have and will continue to improve the way we deliver care and the results we’re able to provide in every setting.
One of the perks to being in a refractive cataract practice is early access to technology and innovations in care. The arrival of visual simulators, for example, has had an incredible effect, specifically in demonstrating to cataract and dysfunctional lens patients the type of vision they can expect from their IOL options. It is nice to be able to simulate a patient’s visual outcomes based on their choice of treatment—monovision, extended depth of field (DOFi), and full DOFi vision options—in order to set patient expectations and ensure patient satisfaction. John Branch, MD, Michael Greenwood, MD, Susana Marcos, PhD, and Eric Rosenberg, DO, share their insights and experience with the technology in “Visual simulators in ophthalmology: available options and functionalities.”
“Choosing an ophthalmology career path” explores the parameters around the choices made by two of our colleagues, Sonny Goel, MD, and J. Morgan Micheletti, MD, FACS. In the article, they relate the weight they placed on certain factors, such as the type of eyecare you want to be providing, the pace at which you are expected to provide that service, mentorship, opportunities for growth, and access to technology. It’s an interesting piece that will have you considering how and why you’ve made your choices, for those of us non-resident readers.
Rounding out the Refractive section for the Summer issue is, “The evolution of LASIK treatment planning,” with Arthur B. Cummings, MD, MMed, FCS(SA), FRCSEd, Mark Lobanoff, MD, and Karl Stonecipher, MD, contributing. The article goes back to the beginning of customized ablation profiles to lay the foundation for where we are today: efficient, custom treatment and improved quality vision for our patients.
With the options at our disposal, wavefront- guided, wavefront-optimized, topography-guided, and ray tracing-guided, I agree with Dr. Lobanoff who said at the 2026 ASCRS Annual Meeting: “We have an embarrassment of riches in this environment.” These highly customized treatment options for vision correction are giving doctors time back in their schedules while also aiding us in delivering excellent visual acuity for our patients. The study results for these technologies show improvements beyond 20/20 vision—read the article in full for all of the details.
Digital technologies have and will continue to improve the way we deliver care and the results we’re able to provide in every setting. I hope you enjoy this issue!
