I am honored to be nominated for the position of trustee-at-large for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The role of this position is to provide the Board of Trustees with perspectives that represent the interests and concerns of the membership of the Academy. Our Academy works through its members to carry out the mission of our organization, which includes advocacy for patients, the public and our profession and ophthalmic education. I believe my background and leadership experience have prepared me well for the trustee-at-large position.
Advocacy
Since 1994, I have been a member of the executive board of the Maryland Society for Eye Physicians and Surgeons (MSEPS), serving as PAC chair, secretary, vice president and president. In these leadership roles for MSEPS, I have had many opportunities to advocate for our patients in scope-of-practice battles and for the children of the state of Maryland to be certain they receive cost-effective vision screenings throughout childhood.
I have participated in Academy advocacy efforts by serving on OPHTHPAC®, the Congressional Advocacy Committee and as MSEPS AAO councilor. In my two terms on the State Affairs Secretariat, the second as associate secretary for state affairs, I gained a much deeper appreciation for the Academy’s advocacy efforts on behalf of our patients, the public and our profession. I was recognized for my advocacy work with the AAO Secretariat Award in 2002 and 2013.
As a pediatric ophthalmologist, I am a passionate advocate for children’s issues. To better organize ophthalmology’s response to mandatory comprehensive eye exam legislation, I advocated for American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Surgery (AAPOS) to start a legislative committee and was its founding chair. My other committee work for AAPOS has included serving as chair of the Interorganizational Relations Committee, Vision Screening Committee member and most recently, I have served as AAPOS councilor to the AAO as deputy section leader.
Education
Early in my career, I served on the Academy’s BCSC® committee and contributed to efforts to develop top quality educational materials. I believe that physicians have an obligation to teach both patients and other medical professionals. I have been a practicing pediatric ophthalmologist since 1993, the residency program director at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) since 1997 and have served as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology since 2016. During my career, I was honored with the annual GBMC resident teaching award four times and the University of Maryland resident teaching award once.
In 2017, I became GBMC’s Designated Institutional Official (DIO) for graduate medical education. I hold academic appointments as clinical associate professor at the University of Maryland and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University. In these roles, I have gained an appreciation of the importance of the Academy’s high-quality education programs for physicians in all phases of their careers. In 2018, I received the Academy’s Senior Achievement Award for my service over the years. I consider the nomination to serve as director-at-large an additional honor and will be dedicated to this service if elected.