There is an inherent tension between the appeal of maintaining a successful, secure business and the desire to expand the business. According to Dr. McDonnell it is much more common for practices and departments to wait too long before beginning the process of adding excellent people to build upon a successful and vibrant operation.

There may be a great unease among ophthalmologists when it comes to the current relationship between industry and professional meetings including conflict of interest among speakers at ophthalmology meetings, disclosures of such conflicts by speakers, and concern about the "integrity" of these meetings.

Children and adults alike are sometimes disgusted by the thought of eating vegetables. Peter J. McDonnell, MD, explains his remedy, a grilled vegetable recipe that pleases the eyes and distracts the taste buds.

Volunteer faculty instructors can add to the experience of ophthalmology residents, sharing the skills and perspectives gained over decades in their busy practices. In public universities and Veteran's Administration hospitals, self-insurance with the deep pockets of a state or federal government can make liability insurance for teachers a non-issue. But for private institutions the costs of taking out policies on an entire volunteer faculty would immediately bankrupt most medical schools.

Meetings and other travel commitments can keep a department chair quite busy. The necessity of their obvious function to provide idea sharing and educational opportunities is important, but also the relations and connections made with people along the way.

Asking "real people" what society thinks of your professions may warrant more accurate answers then your professional society meeting. Peter J. McDonnell discusses certain influences on the opinion of society regarding biomedical researchers and what the impending opinion may mean for the future.

Guidelines physicians should use to minimize the number of patients who are "unhappy" and the rate of complications, according to Ernest W. Kornmehl, MD include sending each patient unbiased information about LASIK prior to the visits, discussing with each patient and his or her family the likely refractive result, and the fact that patient selection is just as important as the surgery itself.

Some people are curious about retirement and they are not fully content with the idea. For the first time, a statistically significant quiz exists to tell you where you rank, compared with more than 2,000 others tested, in preparedness for retirement. This article gives tips on how to prepare for retirement both fiscally and non-fiscally.

With some people, everything they do is done extremely well. But with most people, there are one or two things they do incredibly well, and the rest is about average. Others—the one-trick ponies—are great in one or two things, and terrible at many others. Having the ability to assess realistically how one performs in each endeavor and working diligently to improve those skills, will aid personal and professional success.