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  • Unsung Heroes: Debra A. Goldstein, MD

    Feb. 17, 2020

    It takes a lot more than snow, rain, heat or gloom of night to deter the indefatigable Debra A. Goldstein, MD, from teaching. On the day Dr. Goldstein was scheduled to teach a uveitis course for the MOC Exam Review Course, the weather service advised people to stay indoors. If they were on the road, they needed to pull over. The storm pummeling the Chicago area was just too strong. Her fellow instructors assumed she’d be a no-show. But there she was, bounding up to the podium to Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, eager to share her knowledge with colleagues.

    Passionate, energetic, and demanding in equal measure, Dr. Goldstein is a hero to her trainees, colleagues and patients. To her trainees, she’s a life-changing mentor. To her colleagues, she a brilliant detective, sleuthing out differential diagnoses. To her patients, she’s a miracle worker who truly cares.

    “She has a larger-than-life personality and a brilliant teaching style,” said Thellea Leveque, MD, one of Dr. Goldstein’s colleagues. “She is as prolific as she is passionate, with clinical axioms that deserve a tome of their own. Her patients, colleagues and trainees, alike, benefit from her quick wit, humorous and caring interpersonal style and vast clinical knowledge in the field of uveitis.”

    Here's a collection of some of Dr. Goldstein's best clinical pearls and witticisms:

    • "Not all uveitis is treated with steroids."
    • "The presence of an eye, a needle, and steroids doesn't mean that they should all meet."
    • “Always consider infection in the differential. You will do more harm to the patient by treating infectious disease as non-infectious, than by delaying treatment of non-infectious disease while you rule out infection.”
    • "Demographic data are important, but they may not necessarily apply to the patient in your exam chair."
    • “Listen to the patient! Are you healthy? is not a review of systems.”
    • “If you've ever had sex, or ever been born, you have a risk factor for syphilis.” 
    • “Ocular syphilis, I can cure; everything else I can just treat.”

    Dr. Goldstein trains two to four fellow each year, both in the United States and in many other countries. She has also authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and is frequently invited to deliver that vast knowledge and quick wit to numerous international speaking and teaching engagements.

    “Dr. Goldstein reminds us that a careful physical exam — and that subtle history and physical exam findings both inside and outside of the eye — can often give you the diagnosis, Dr. Leveque said. “Her brilliant clinical acumen, masterful teaching, guts, and sense of humor make her my hero.”

    Ophthalmology has an abundance of unsung heroes who save sight, sometimes overcoming great challenges to deliver medical and surgical eye care. During 2020: Year of the Eye, the Academy is featuring stories about some of these heroes. Their colleagues nominated them for quietly serving the underserved, mentoring the next generation and sharing their skills with the world.