Campbell Medicine's first Ophthalmology residency match: Dr. Ryan Machiele

Campbell Medicine celebrated its first graduate to match into an ophthalmology residency in March. Dr. Ryan Machiele (’20) began his residency at UNC Chapel Hill in July.

Ophthalmology is one of the most highly competitive residency programs, and according to the 2020 Ophthalmology Residency Match Summary Report, there were only 496 positions available nationwide in January. The Ophthalmology Residency Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a fully accredited, threeyear residency with just four applicants accepted into the program each year.

Dr. Machiele did not begin medical school with the goal of becoming an ophthalmologist. “What drew me into medicine was the opportunity - the idea of having a greater impact [on people’s lives] than I was having,” said Machiele. “As I learned about all the different specialties and fields, ophthalmology stood out as a very high impact field where you're really making a huge difference in someone's life.”

Dr. Ryan Machiele and his wife, Ellen, with their three children. Dr. Machiele served as President of the Class of 2020 while in medical school. Ms. Machiele was awarded the 2020 AOF/AAOA Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award. This award honors the life partners of graduating osteopathic medical students who best exemplify the type of immeasurable support and personal sacrifice that is crucial to their partner’s success, leading to the betterment of their future and of society.

Throughout his medical school journey, Dr. Machiele traveled abroad for a several medical mission outreach trips. Having spent time serving in Ecuador, Jamaica, and India, he became more aware of just how great the need is for ophthalmologists and their specialized skill set around the world.

While reflecting on his time in India, Machiele shared, “There's just such a huge backlog of cataract cases and things that are highly preventable … people are going blind just because there isn't an infrastructure and there aren't people there who are able to operate for such a huge population.”

He went on to share that he plans to continue to build international service into his career as a physician, and he felt that opportunities for service and ophthalmology are unique - easily portable and high impact globally.

“I think that's what sort of sealed the deal for me,” said Machiele. “[While serving on a couple of trips to] Ecuador, I recognized the things we were doing just for the people's vision was really life changing, and it was pretty simple.”

He explained how portable ophthalmology is as compared to other specialties, even for surgical procedures. He shared how he was able to take about 1000 pairs of reader’s eyeglasses to India, and after operating all day, they would pack up supplies and drive to the surrounding villages for charity clinics in the evenings.

“I would bring all my readers out there and little old ladies would come through [for glasses] … and it was pretty life changing for them - just to be able to read after they haven't for so long,” he shared. “And that was a big thing in Ecuador, too - just seeing how impactful that was and how practical it was, and that was a big deal.”

Although he didn’t begin medical school with the goal of becoming an ophthalmologist, Dr. Machiele is thankful for his journey so far and very happy to be continuing his education in North Carolina at UNC Chapel Hill as a first year ophthalmology resident. When asked about his application/ interview experience with such a competitive residency program, he shared a very important piece of advice.

“I was fortunate to have a lot of really strong mentors, and I think that's really the one thing that set me up for success,” he said. “I worked really hard, but I think most of what I did was just doing what they asked me to do … being coachable – that’s really important.”

As his journey continues, now as a resident, Dr. Machiele is passionate about continuing to meet people’s needs through ophthalmology and providing vision care for rural and underserved populations in North Carolina and around the world.

- SHELLEY HOBBS