Our guest today is Dr. Dee Stephenson, a luminary in the field of ophthalmology. She has been in private practice since 1989 in Venice, Florida. She specializes in cataract surgery and has been at the forefront of research as the President of the American Board of Eye Surgery and as a past president of ACES (American College of Eye Surgeons). She is a founding member of ASPENS and AECOS. She is a force in the field, advocating for gender equality and serving as a role model for the next generation of ophthalmologists.

To begin, Dr. Stephenson shares how she began her career in ophthalmology. During medical school, she assisted the chairman of the ophthalmology department at USF in his research on glaucoma and cataracts. Dr. Stephenson attended medical school at USF and ophthalmology school at USC in Columbia, South Carolina. She shares the valuable lesson her second mentor taught her about being a kind human being and doctor. Now, she has instilled the habit of calling each and every patient the night before and the day of their cataract surgery to soothe their nerves and worries.

During the beginning stages of her practice back in Florida, Dr. Stephenson did many penetrative corneal transplants. She shares what outpatient surgery was most commonly like during that time. In 2007, Dr. Stephenson became the first person to purchase ORA commercially. The technology was a total game-changer for her practice because it took a reading of the eye, magnetized the astigmatism, calculated implants, and signaled where incisions needed to be made. This made Dr. Stephenson realize that 80% of her patients have astigmatism. While she has been introduced to other technologies since then, she still uses ORA in her practice today. She believes that the most exciting thing about ophthalmology is that it is an industry that is always changing.

Dr. Stephenson shares that she has been a member of ACES since she was just 25 years old. Since its beginning, ACES has been an organization of people who want to think outside the box and prove the importance of innovation to the field. Here, original ideas and conversations were encouraged. The ABES Certification is still a functioning board Dr. Stephenson still serves as the functioning president. These organizations were composed of people willing to advance the industry and explore new ideas. Before wrapping up, Dr. Stephenson touches on her work advocating for women in the field of ophthalmology.
Key Topics:
1:28 – Introducing today’s guest, Dr. Dee Stephenson.
2:15 – How Dr. Stephenson became interested in ophthalmology.
11:30 – What outpatient surgery was like during the beginning of Dr. Stephenson’s practice.
14:12 – What is ORA and why was it such a game changing technology?
31:45 – The importance of cataract surgery for the aging population.
33:45 – What are ACES and ABES?
40:57 – Advocating for women in ophthalmology.