Message from the Chair: Connecting to Make a Difference

If we’re lucky, we carry the connections we make during our years of ophthalmic training throughout our lives. They can make all the difference in our careers—how we approach challenges, where and how we practice, what we care about, who we turn to for advice.

But connections don’t always happen on their own. Developing them requires time, intention, and nurturing.

Vice Chair of Education Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, excels at making connections. As the nationally respected leader of our Top 10 educational program, he makes sure we listen to our trainees and support their unique goals by connecting them to the people, resources, information, and communities that will help them succeed.

This issue of Education FOCUS features some of the ways we offer that support. They range from sharing bold, resident-driven initiatives and research at the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology to leading the way with an expanded Global Ophthalmology Summit adopted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Our resident-initiated survey of community health needs will impact underserved regions and populations in Utah. This ongoing effort has connected groups of stakeholders, and opened the door for more meaningful relationships among peers and the communities they serve.

Trainees continue to champion equity, diversity, and inclusion in medicine by offering actionable strategies to effect change while bringing us closer together.

It’s also humbling to hear that alumni John Haines, MD, says conversations with Moran faculty still influence how he listens and talks to patients in his practice and outreach work.

I could not be prouder of our education program and its progress in shaping compassionate physicians, confident leaders, and bold innovators.

Thanks to all connected to Moran, our national residency program rankings speak for themselves.

Sincerely,

Randall J Olson, MD

Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah

The Cumming Presidential Endowed ChairCEO, John A. Moran Eye CenterDirector, University of Utah Vision Institute

NATIONAL RANKINGS

DOXIMITY

No. 6 Nationwide for Residency Education

No. 2 in the West

OPHTHALMOLOGY TIMES

No. 10 Nationwide for Residency Education Program

Randall J Olson, MD