GVI Trainees

GulanInspiration; Eye Doctor’s Eye Opener
This is day 1, as we fly back to CHICAGO after Dr.Gulani’s LaZrPlastique surgery when every Eye Surgeon said he “wasn’t a candidate due to high Irregular Astigmatism and extreme Farsightedness prescription When I shared I was a budding Eye Doctor, Dr. Gulani allowed me to observe everything right from how he personally designs and articulates each surgery. He opened my eyes to how many techniques there are to Lasik that he can uniquely design to each patient. I witnessed how intensely, committed and caring for each patient he is. The miraculous delivery he promises and performs one patient after another was what I got to watch just as Raj himself underwent his unique surgery. I am INSPIRED not only by his bedside manner but also his accountability and drive to give back the best vision possible for all his patients. I have gained a lot of knowledge and inspiration to take back home to my university for my colleagues.

Hiral P.
Chicago, IL

“We have traveled from across the globe to Jacksonville to study under Dr. Gulani and learn his LASIK techniques and advanced vision corrective procedures. He is a rare combination of an excellent surgeon, a great teacher and a caring physician.”

Dr. Chiang Jiarwson and Dr. Aphorn Phungratsami,
Visiting Eye Surgeons from Thailand

When I entered Gulani Vision Institute as a Fellow, little did I know that just a few months later I would have the vision of an artist; the vision that is an essential part to learning the Art of vision surgery.

As with art, at Gulani Vision Institute, I have seen Dr. Gulani create a vision masterpiece for every eye. He instills his own brilliance and his pioneering technique into reshaping the corneal defects of patients who have had an unsuccessful corneal surgery previously. I have seen patients with Lasik complications, corneal scars, and grade 4 keratoconus going home with a vision of 20/20!

At Gulani Vision institute I learned to approach each case through the concepts of a new superspeciality called corneoplastique. I started looking at each cornea as a new challenge. It gave me a holistic approach to LASIK and laser vision surgery.

Dr. Gulani encouraged me to develop individualized protocols for each patient and form my own plan for them. He also insists that we involve the patient’s loved ones and families when applicable by explaining in detail our plan of action and encouraging them to ask questions. It was a treat to witness the intense discussions that Dr. Gulani held with each patient in an honest desire to educate and empower them in their choices. I witnessed how every patient became comfortable as their fears got replaced by confidence.

It is an everyday event at GVI to see patients flying in from all over the world, ophthalmologists calling and emailing for advice, post operative patients hugging their surgeon or in combination surgery (eg. Lens surgery to be followed by Laser surgery in cases of corneal scars with cataracts and irregular astigmatism) cases to see them share the same enthusiasm as Dr. Gulani as they eagerly await to proceed to the next stage.

Amid all this adulance, I have learnt from Dr.Gulani never to lose focus. Dr.Gulani is seriously dedicated to raising the bar in vision with quality care, constantly thinking through each case, tirelessly documenting outcomes and results and sharing his plans and thought process with patients and doctors alike.

In my practice, I recently came across a patient with cataract who showed signs of worsened corneal dystrophy after Laser PRK. Three months ago, I may not have had any treatment option for her. But now with Laser Corneoplastique, I am in a position to be ready with a goal plan to give her “SUPERvision!”

Dr. Gulani’s Laser Corneoplastique as an art of refractive surgery takes this aphorism to the next level. It not only makes beautiful eyes for beautiful people, but beautiful eyes with perfect vision. It is the art to reshape the past and the art to shape the future.

As a member of the next generation of refractive surgeons, I am equipped to address any refractive challenge. I am ready to create my own Masterpiece!

My sincere thanks to Dr. Arun Gulani, MD, Gulani Vision Institute, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Dr. Prachi Nandoskar
Faculty: Doheny Eye Institute
Univ of Southern California
LA, California

My Eye Opening Experience at Gulani Vision Institute

As a practicing eye surgeon I have always believed in comprehensive ophthalmic practice and to this effect I have been performing both anterior segment and vitreo retinal surgeries in my patients which basically includes phaco emulsification, glaucoma surgeries, vitreo retinal surgeries buckles/ vitrectomies ,angiographies, ultrasound, lasers (argon/yag), and even oculoplastic procedures.

Since I have fellowships from premier Institutes in India, I am comfortable performing all these procedures and have always been satisfied with the spectrum of my practice in the past 5 years.

One area of my practice has been cornea .Although I have also been formally trained in LASIK surgery and I have performed it in my patients quite successfully it has mainly been on “normal” patients requiring cosmetic corrections.

Since most of the cases of cornea are medical cases and penetrating keratoplasty has a guarded prognosis I believe this is as far as most ophthalmologists venture in their practice of cornea which is also because of a chronic shortage of donor corneal tissue.

However at Gulani Vision Institute when I observed the wide spectrum of corneal pathologies successfully rehabilitated and that also with minimal invasive procedures I had an eye opening experience.

Using the Excimer laser as a tool to sculpt the cornea and to use the cornea as a final platform for 20/20 vision is what “Corneoplastique”emphasizes. Also it stresses on using alternative methods like intra corneal rings and amniotic membrane transplants to treat seemingly hopeless cases.

Dr Gulani has coined the term “Corneoplastique” to emphasize the importance of the cornea and rightly so.

The point is that it is not necessary that all seemingly bad cases have to undergo a keratoplasty.

At a zero percent recurrence rate, the technique of Amniotic membrane transplant is definitely a promising one besides being cosmetically pleasing to the patient.

The positive patient feed back that I am a witness to emphasizes that we should give the pterygium more attention than it is being given to presently . Patients with recurrent pterygia are miserable but after the procedure they were very grateful to Dr Gulani.

Intra corneal rings can definitely reduce the mean keratometry of the cornea thereby allowing CL wear and allowing the patient to avoid surgery besides being a short procedure which has no major issues like rejection and the central portion of the cornea remains clear .Besides it is reversible and you can always do a PK at a later date.

The DSAEK procedure involving descemets stripping is a very exciting and promising procedure performed at the Gulani Vision Institute . In case of a dysfunctional corneal endothelium all one is required to do is to replace the descemets and endotheliumwith a donor graft .It is refractively neutral and rehabilitation is rapid .No PK required.Anterior and posterior Lamellar surgeries I witnessed I believe can now help in better utilization of a single cornea.

And not to forget the patients who were miserable after previous RK/HK/AK procedures. I observed how Dr Gulani converted these corneas into functional and stable corneas with the excimer and advanced surface ablation to reduce the irregular astigmatism and give 20/20 vision. When I studied these cases I realized that it was so logical and promising.

Scars treated with the Excimer laser can bring the greatest joy both to the surgeons and the patients . It is nothing short of a miracle. Earlier these patients would have to undergo a tedious PK or live with it.

I have seen patients with keratoconus ambulatory in 1 week happy with a minor corneal ring segment procedure or a anterior lamellar graft. Also Fuch’s dystrophy cured without a PK – out and about in a week Band keratopathy treated without a donor cornea and a four time recurrent pterygium at peace.

I must thank Dr Gulani for allowing me to witness and grasp all the latest advanced procedures that he performs which I believe are the frontier of refractive surgery that all and one should try to achieve.

I hope my patients hug me the same way when I promise them these alternatives as the patients I have seen hugging Dr Gulani.

Dr Rajesh Dalvi MS,DNB,FMRF
University of Mumbai- India

Gulani Vision Institute “Vision for the world”

These are the words I saw as I entered in Gulani Vision Institute on my first day as a fellow doctor under Dr. Arun Gulani. Being new at his office and ignorant about GVI’s capability, the very first thing which came to my mind was, “how this can be possible?”. But at Gulani Vision Institute this is possible. I cannot say much about a person or institute where I started working just few days ago but I certainly want to share the mind blowing experiences I had at Gulani Vision Institute. My just one day experience was enough to prove the capability of GVI to change the vision of the entire world.

Being from a medical profession, I know how it feels when a patient is crying of happy tears after his surgery. In my 9 years of medical experience I have seen just couple of them being happy and very few being content of what they got out of a surgery. I haven’t seen so many patients crying tears of happiness in just a single day. I can’t believe my eyes, consecutively three patients just cried in front of me as if they got something which they haven’t imagined in their dreams. I was spellbound looking at their expressions they had on their faces that something impossible have happened to them.

Talking about United States of America is very tiny in GVI, here we see patients from all over the world. In just three days I have seen patients from Morocco, United Kingdom and Germany. Daily, I am seeing patients coming from all parts of the world or distant areas of USA. I have seen patients flying miles just for a picture with Dr. Gulani or to share their experience on videos. Yes, the same videos which before coming to this miraculous place I have been thinking were mere actors performing for GVI. They were true patients sharing their happiness in front of my own eyes. Majority of patients don’t just want to shake hands and good bye but they want to hug Dr. Gulani before leaving.

Also the educational exposure I am having at GVI is amazing. On my first day at GVI, I saw patients of Keratoconus, previous surgery complications, Pterygium, Cataract all in just one day. It was astounding to see Post op Pterygium Day 1 patient. They didn’t even look like that they had surgery on their eyes a day before. No redness, no swelling, no excoriating pain. The most thrilling part was to see legally blind patients walking in the hallway on their first post Lasik day with joy of their unaided vision. This is the place where miracle happens every Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Most importantly, the unparalleled patient care which GVI provides to patients is fantabulous. Every patient is been taken care of as a family member. This is the first office I have ever seen, where the patient care begins from his very first inquiry and it continues till years. In GVI patients don’t have to search for their doctor. Here, their doctor is in their regular contact from the very beginning till years after that.

You must have heard a saying “A busy person always has time for everything” Dr. Arun Gulani is a perfect live example of this. I am so amazed to see his time management, that in spite being so busy, he still has time for everything. He is always approachable for even a small question from his patients, his staff or other doctors. That also makes him different from other doctors. I have seen very few or to be honest, not a single doctor who has this kind of passion for his profession and patients as well. Truly speaking Dr. Gulani has a real passion to help people see.

Dr. Parul Goel, M.B.B.S.
India

I am a 2^nd year medical student at Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL

I had a wonderful experience at Gulani Vision Institute.  Dr. Gulani always took time between patients to make sure I understood his thought processes and patient recommendations.

I learnt a great deal regarding ophthalmology while observing Dr. Gulani.  Dr. Gulani stressed that safety, logic, and ethic were the primary objectives in treating patients and that on should consider vision as a whole while treating patients, not just correcting one problem.  These are philosophies that I intend to make the basis of my future practice.

It was most enjoyable.  I saw how rewarding correcting people’s vision is.  The patients all did remarkably well and were very greatful for their new ability to see.  As Dr.Gulani says, “everyone deserves to have good vision”.

Dr. Gulani always took time to explain every detail of his thought process providing sound scientific-based evidence as justification for his actions.  He always made sure I understood why something was the case and repeatedly asked me if I had any questions going far above my expectations.

Dr. Gulani has trained universally and demonstrates his knowledge of ocular variants around the world on a regular basis.

The staff at Gulani vision Institute is Excellent, friendly, and very helpful.

I honestly believe Dr. Gulani to be a great physician.  He always puts his patient’s interests above his own, never pressuring them or making economically driven decisions.  He takes into account each patient’s unique circumstances and comes up with an individualized plan to correct his/her vision as a whole. His passion for the field is not only demonstrated in his practice but also in his teaching.

I would love for my patients to hug me like they do Dr. Gulani

Neil K. Mayer
Medical Resident: Nova Southeastern University
Miami