Maximum refractive eye surgeries in a single day by an ophthalmologist

An ophthalmic surgeon who is specialised in cornea and refractive surgery, Dr. Ramya has been practising for the past 11 years. After completing the MS Ophthalmology program in 2009, she was selected as the best outgoing student and honoured with the prestigious Akash Al Khalid Gold Medal.

By far she performed over 20,000 refractive procedures. And has been performing cutting-edge refractive surgical procedures such as SMILE since 2014. She has carried out about 10,000 SMILE procedures to date.

It took her less than ten hours to perform the SMILE Refractive procedure on 150 eyes. The feat was achieved on a single day using a single machine between 7.30 am and 5 pm. The preparation to perform this many eye surgeries in a day was done over 2-3 months.

Talking about her inspiration, she says, “October has always had a unique significance for eye specialists. World Sight Day is observed on the second Thursday of October annually. On this day every year, I involve myself in various initiatives to spread awareness about the importance of eye health.

I was motivated to attempt the record inspired by our larger vision at Dr. Agarwals Eye Hospitals to make quality eye care accessible to all.”

Hailing from a close-knit joint family, she has always received support throughout her career. Talking about her inspiration, Ramya says, “My family motivates me to bring out the best in myself every day. For this record, my friend and colleague Dr. Preeti Naveen supported me, and together we performed over 200 surgical procedures in a single day from 7.30 am to 11.50 pm. I am indeed blessed to have a support system of family and friends, who gathered together to celebrate my accomplishment, once the surgeries were completed.”

According to Refractive surgery, though a quick and simple procedure still elicits a lot of hesitation from patients. The campaign for world sight day based on the 2021 world sight day slogan “Love your eyes” created such an impact that people willingly undertook the procedure.

In the future, Dr. Ramya wants to break her own record by performing a maximum number of refractive surgeries in a month by a single surgeon.

Dr. Ramya aims to give back to society by bettering her skills as a surgeon and helping her patients achieve the best post-operative vision. And also be an inspiration for women in science to believe in themselves and achieve extraordinary heights.

For people attempting to break your record • Decision-making is the key aspect of refractive surgery. Practice relentlessly so that your decision-making is sharp and intuitive. • Understand the machine well and polish your skills. • Develop patience and perseverance.