Ophthalmologist Associate Professor Smita Agarwal is revealing the driving forces behind some of the world’s leading female ophthalmologists in a new podcast series.
Titled My Vision, My Way, the podcasts are being created by Dr Agarwal in collaboration with mivision.
To launch the series, Dr Agarwal spoke to Professor Filomena Ribeiro from Portugal.
The immediate past President of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, Professor Ribeiro is Chair of the Ophthalmology Department of Hospital da Luz Lisbon and a professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Lisbon.
During their discussion, Dr Ribeiro spoke about what drew her to medicine, the turning points in her career trajectory, and, with four children, the trade-offs along the way. Her views on caring for and building trust with patients, pursuing progressional growth, and leaning in on support provides invaluable advice for other women following in her footsteps.
An interview with the dynamic Dr Cathleen McCabe, Chief Medical Officer at Eye Health America, a strategic medical advisor with Bausch + Lomb, and incoming president elect of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, is also available.
Dr McCabe, who was interviewed at the recent Australasian Cataract and Refractive Surgeons conference, has performed over 45,000 cataract surgeries, and over 17,000 LASIK procedures.
And coming soon is an interview with Dr Soosan Jacob, senior consultant of Cataract and Glaucoma Services, and director and chief of DARCF – the Refractive and Cornea Foundation, at Dr Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospitals in Chennai, India.
FULFILLING A LONG-HELD DREAM
Assoc Prof Agarwal said launching the podcast has been a long-held dream and she hopes it will empower more young women to pursue ophthalmology.
“When I trained as an ophthalmologist there were very few women in my cohort and balancing career progression along with planning a family was complicated. Today, the playing field is much more even, however, women still face unique challenges.
“Hearing these stories will provide strength to deal with challenges during the early part of their career and insight that success is built on hard work, family support and perseverance.
“It’s never easy, but it is achievable.”
My Vision, My Way is available on YouTube and wherever you access your favourite podcasts.
