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A day in the life of an eye specialist and surgeon

A day in the life of an eye specialist and surgeon

14 June 2018

Blog

Meet our caregivers

What does a typical day look like for an ophthalmologist with over 21 years surgical experience, who has performed over 15,000 cataract procedures and ranks in the world's top 5 per cent from peer reviews? Mr Farokh Irani took us into his inner sanctum to take us through his working day.

6.00am

I wake up and start the day with a strong piping hot coffee, fire up the computer and start by reviewing letters I have written about the patients I saw the previous day. These will go out to the referring doctors to keep them up to date about their patients' progress. Then I look at my day and the appointments that I will have with my patients, each of which I review in advance.

7.00am

The children stir and after some coaxing, awaken. I help prepare the school lunches, breakfast, tidy up and then head off to work.

8.00am

I arrive at the office where our first patient has arrived. A typical session involves examining patients with eye problems that can range from visual difficulties to painful eyes. Many patients have chronic eye problems such as macular degeneration or glaucoma. Apart from consulting patients in the office I also do a lot of procedures such as eye injections for the macular or laser for the glaucoma.

1.30pm

Today is also an operating day so after a quick lunch, I make my way to St John of God Bendigo Hospital. I have six cataract operations to perform all requiring microsurgery and entail the use of the microscope. They involve intense concentration and very steady hands!

5.30pm

I'm back in the office for administration and house keeping activities, corresponding to doctors and caregivers with some doctors asking for guidance about specific areas of management. I also have a paper to prepare for publication and the deadline is approaching. At other times I catch up on medical journals and articles dealing with the latest advancements in diseases and treatments. Much of my professional life is upskilling on a continual basis.

6.30pm

I make my way home to dinner spending time with my family, helping the children with their homework and Sheila, my wife, with household chores and preparing for the next day.

9.00pm

I try to snatch some relaxation time by catching up with the news broadcast on TV before heading off to bed for another day!

Farokh Irani - Ophthalmologist

Farokh Irani works at St John of God Bendigo Hospital and has 21 years' surgical experience with highly successful outcomes. He has performed more than 15,000 cataract procedures. He uses an atraumatic technique with instant vision all under local anaesthetic.

He was sub-specialist trained in cataract and refractive surgery in the USA, London and Israel and trained in eye surgery in Sydney. He has a medical degree from Melbourne University with Honours. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists and a member of the Australian, American and European society of cataract / refractive surgeons.

He is a regular contributor to international and local meetings. Mr Irani has a major role training junior eye doctors and travels to third world counties to restore sight to the desperately poor. He pioneered low-stress cataract surgery with no needle and no stitch which allows patients to walk in and walk out with no eye pad or covering afterwards and sight restored immediately.