Robert Osher
The Power List 2020 – Power List
Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Medical Director Emeritus, Cincinnati Eye Institute; Founder and Editor, Video Journal of Cataract, Refractive & Glaucoma Surgery; Founder & Program Director, Cataract Surgery: Telling It Like It Is! Annual Meeting
Your three wishes?
- For my loved ones: A lifetime of health.
- For mankind: a reign of peace, respect, and the disappearance of disease and poverty.
- For me: 3 more wishes!
Piece of advice for your younger self?
Be honest with yourself and your patients. Learn from your mistakes, which we all make. Be passionate about your work and never become lax in your quest to become the best physician you can be.
The most unexpected turn your career took?
After completing my residency in 1980 and 3 fellowships at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and Wills Eye Hospital, I was well-prepared for a career in academia. However, my father, a general ophthalmologist in Cincinnati, asked me to spend 6 months with him before accepting a position in the ivory tower. After watching him perform elegant cataract surgery and then observing the exhilaration of his postoperative patients, I became committed to developing one of the first practices limited to referral cataract surgery in America. Combining the satisfaction of teaching with the enjoyment of private practice has been my career mission.
