Laurie G. Barber, MD
I am honored to be nominated for the Academy Board of Trustees, trustee-at-large. I hope to contribute a unique perspective, representing the interests and concerns of the general membership of the Academy.
My leadership perspective stems from six years on the Council of the Academy, five years as chair of OPHTHPAC, five years on the Academy Advocacy Committee and experience as president of the Arkansas Ophthalmological Society and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Women’s Faculty Development Caucus. I am currently chair of the Surgical Scope Fund Committee, and professor of ophthalmology at UAMS, Jones Eye Institute.
As an ophthalmologist, many of my patients have become like extended family. They have advanced my education in medicine and life in general. As a physician, I have the duty and honor to care for each patient as a whole. I am also duty-bound to protect them in the political arena, if I fear for their safety.
As an educator, I have taught and mentored a continuum of students, from high school to practicing physicians. Personal and political advocacy is a critical component of physicians’ and patients’ education. In addition, my research into medical students’ empathy drives my emphasis on positive role modeling of effective physician/patient relationships.
Clinical research is an important part of my career, and the relationships that have been forged with pharmaceutical scientists and representatives have led to scientific improvements in patient care. Although it is critical to keep relations with pharmaceutical companies transparent, I do not believe it is in the best interest of our patients or future medical developments to completely divorce pharmaceutical research or relationships from expert physicians.
As a mother, wife and daughter, I am concerned with the health of the nation, and the future of medical and ophthalmologic care. I believe that the Academy is and should remain at the vanguard of positive political change. In order to most effectively serve the general membership as trustee-at-large, I will maintain an open mind, high ethical standards, and approachability. As a team, we can affect progress with medical education, physician/patient relations, medical advances and political activism.
