Paul Sternberg Jr., MD

It is an extraordinary privilege to be nominated for the position of President-Elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Growing up as the son of an ophthalmologist, I learned about the joy of our profession from an early age and set my sights on entering this field as far back as I can remember. I have always considered membership in and active volunteering for the Academy to be an essential component of my life and have treasured the many ways that I have had the honor of serving. Over my career, I have participated in multiple committees ranging from clinical education, annual meeting, and advocacy. From 2000-2005, I was a member of the Committee of Secretaries as Secretary of Communication, and was elected a Trustee-at-Large from 2006-2009.  More than a decade ago, Dr. Michael Brennan and I established the AAO Leadership Development Program, which has been transformational in identifying and training future Academy leaders. Through these experiences, I have worked closely with colleagues and friends across the profession, allowing me to appreciate the capability of our Academy leadership and staff, while also learning about the broad challenges facing medicine, and specifically, ophthalmology.

In the coming years, two major challenges to ophthalmology will be the prospect of reduced reimbursement for our services and the desire of non-ophthalmologists to expand their scope of practice. All of medicine must address the unsustainable steady increases in the cost of health care. This will require a combination of creativity, practicality, and strong leadership. In my roles as Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Vanderbilt and Chief Medical Officer for the Vanderbilt Medical Group, I confront these issues on a daily basis. I look forward to leveraging this experience to support our Academy and our profession as we continue to lead the school of medicine in providing the high value of outstanding quality of life transforming care in exchange for appropriate levels of reimbursement. However, we also must protect our patients by being active advocates for appropriate and realistic scope of practice laws.None of us can sit on the sidelines as our state legislatures are besieged by unreasonable legislative bills that will compromise care and undermine the future of our trainees and younger Academy members. 

As ophthalmologists, patients entrust us with their sight. With this trust comes great responsibility. As our professional organization, the American Academy of Ophthalmology must safeguard that trust. If elected, I pledge to honor and support our commitment to provide ethical and high quality eye care, and to be a vocal and stalwart advocate for all ophthalmologists and their patients.