Part 5: KOL reflections on what they would say to retina fellows

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Sunir Garg, MD: So all of ophthalmology is amazing. My wife is a cataract surgeon, and she loves what she does and has instant gratification. But obviously, retina is clearly the best specialty. It has the coolest research, the coolest tech. And to me, the nicest thing about it is just the community of people that do it. We're at an international conference right now, and retina specialists around the world are really great people who like to share ideas and challenge each other to get better. And that, to me, has been the biggest reward of being in the specialty.

David Almeida, MD, PhD, MBA: I would say, definitely do research, because there's what, you know, it's almost going to be like a cliche, in the sense that it's going to be one of those, whatever you're doing now, in five years, you're going to be doing 10% of that, and 90% will be new because of all the new therapies.

Carl D. Regillo, MD: Well, first of all, you're choosing a good field. It's really very gratifying. We've made unbelievable progress, more than I ever would have imagined when I look back from when I first started, and I'm confident we're going to continue to make a lot of progress. And it's been really exciting to live that progress. And so I totally encourage all those, whether it's private practice or academics in their career, to stay involved, because it's really a good way to stay on top of the latest developments and provide the best care for our patients.