Mentorship, Motherhood, and Molecular Science

When you featured in our Rising Stars feature back in 2017, you were completing your residency at Mayo Clinic. How has your career evolved since then?

As I was wrapping up my residency I decided to do the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) fellowship in New York. This is a multi-institutional fellowship that allows you to spend time at Weill Cornell, Columbia University, New York University, and Manhattan Ear, Eye, and Throat Hospital. I was under the mentorship of two phenomenal oculoplastic surgeons, Michael Kazim and Richard Lisman. It was a really broad experience and the most wonderful fellowship ever.

As a Mayo Foundation Scholar I was then able to come back to Mayo Clinic full-time on faculty in 2020. That was an easy decision because Mayo is phenomenal, but there was also an opportunity for me to be involved in resident education. During my time as a resident, I realized I was really interested in education and curriculum development and those kinds of things. The Mayo Program Director Andy Barkmeier was approaching the end of his term and looking for someone to pass the torch to. So it was perfect timing for me; I took over the Associate Program Director role for the residency. Then in 2023, I became the Residency Program Director, and it's been terrific.

I'm also really involved with the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Back when I was a resident I was one of the few ophthalmologists on social media. That allowed me to get involved with the AAO’s YO Committee; there were other young ophthalmologists on social media and it was a good avenue to connect with them. I loved being able to share resources with people who were in my shoes – residents and ophthalmologists just starting their careers. I eventually took over as chair of the committee from Janice Law, who’s an incredible educator and mentor and has taught me so much. This is my third year as the chair; I've loved leading the committee, helping more students get involved, and bringing in more international students. We have a huge YO International membership, and it’s been great fun to connect with young ophthalmologists across the globe.

How has your use of social media changed over the years?
 

I have scaled back my activities a bit since my time as a resident. Social media has changed, and also my place in life has changed. When I was a student and there wasn’t much social media, medicine was such a black box – you couldn't find good information about what life was like as a medical student or a resident. My whole mission was to inspire young people to choose a career in medicine. But now there are thousands of medical students on YouTube making great content so people can see exactly what life is like as a medical student.

As I progressed through my career, my goals changed and I found myself doing much less YouTube because I didn’t have the time to edit the videos. But I'm still very active on Instagram. I post almost every day and I still have the same goals about sharing experiences and resources. And I added a new spin when I started having kids. I just had my third child and it's been fun to showcase what life is like as a mom who is passionate about her career, who wants to be a great surgeon and a great mom! I didn't have a lot of female mentors that said, “Hey, you can be a mom and be a surgeon and this is how you do it.” So that’s something I’m trying to do.

In 2017, we talked about your interest in philanthropic ophthalmology. Is this still something you’re involved with?
 

The whole reason I chose ophthalmology was because I was able to work with Orbis as a very young student. But I found as I transitioned to residency and fellowship that it gets hard to focus on international or philanthropic interests, besides just doing local vision screenings and local outreach clinics. It’s easy for all that to get placed on the back burner as you go through the rigors of training.

As I've gotten into more of an attending role, however, I am feeling that call to expand my international work again. I went to the Global Ophthalmology Summit last year and we've started a new global health track at Mayo looking at health equities and offering a great experience for residents to learn about global ophthalmology. I think the philanthropic aspect of ophthalmology is a strong motivation for people in the profession – what is better than going somewhere without a lot of resources and being able to improve patients’ sight and improve their quality of life?

What would you like to achieve in the next 8-10 years?
 

What I love about ophthalmology is that it's possible to be multifaceted and that keeps me energized and engaged and it fills my cup. I love having lots of different aspects to my work. I am enjoying being Residency Program Director – there’s lots of new curriculum development I want to work on for our residency program – and I'm still very passionate about my work with AAO. As I mentioned I want to advance again with my global philanthropic work, and also I want to add more of a basic science spin to my career. I've done lots of clinical research, but I just went outside of my comfort zone and applied for a big grant for a molecular study of meningiomas, which is a passion of mine. I see a lot of patients with very bad meningiomas and we have no good treatment options for them. I'm working with a team of incredible scientists at Mayo who are helping us do molecular work, so that we can hopefully develop some targeted therapies for meningioma. Expanding my research and adding some basic science is something I'm super excited about for the next five to 10 years. I think that will be a big focus for me.