Eye Opening Experience
Last Friday I had an opportunity that many people could only dream about. I spent my day observing my new employer in his daily setting. Dr. Arun C. Gulani hired me to work with him as a research assistant in his efforts to publish his current medical innovations. But before we could get down to work, Dr. Gulani wanted me to get to know the nuts-and-bolts of his practice, so I could experience the personal philosophy and see firsthand the groundbreaking work that is being done right here in Jacksonville.
Dr. Gulani met patients with varying needs and complexities. Yes, going out into the 7 star Lobby (not “waiting room”) and personally shaking hands to welcome them. Some of them were new patients, and some were patients in recovery just following up. A few of them had been sent to see Dr. Gulani because other eye surgeons had thrown in the towel. Two of them were doctors themselves. Some were Jacksonville residents, but many were coming from out of state and even out of the country. Every one of them was new to me, but they all struck me as having one thing in common: they had all put their confidence in this man to handle one of life’s most precious gifts – the ability to see.
Now when it comes to doctors and medicine, you could say I’ve been around the block a few times. I’ve been working in and around this field for more than ten years in varying settings. I’ve had different job titles and responsibilities, so I’ve seen my share of the bad and the good. I can go out on a limb without hesitation and say that Dr. Gulani’s practice is unique. Sure it has all the hallmarks of a successful medical office: chairs in the waiting room, staff members at the desk to great you, and the doctor’s accomplishments listed on the wall. But at the Gulani Vision Institute, the chairs are empty. “My patients don’t wait when they come in for an appointment,” Dr. Gulani told me. The staff members at the desk are certainly there, but they are more professional and polite than anywhere else I’ve been. There is no sense of chaos or stress that seems ever-present in other offices. And those accomplishments on the wall, let’s just say that Dr. Gulani’s accomplishments can’t be summed up with a few measly pieces of paper like you might see somewhere else. Images of the surgical instruments he invented, descriptions of his trail-blazing techniques, research publications, and countless accolades from his overjoyed patients all span a whole section of his waiting room. His own innovations in continuing the tradition of raising the bar in eye surgery are clearly displayed for his patients in a manner most closely resembling a museum. “I want my patients to feel at ease and welcomed from the moment that they arrive in our institute,” Dr. Gulani explained to me, “There shouldn’t be any fear, hype or unease when you enter these doors.”
It’s a lot to soak in, true. So much success in another person might seem braggadocios. But in Dr. Gulani’s case, this success is grounded in sincerity and humility. His entryway “museum” also offers his gratitude to his own teachers and world masters from whom he learned. “You can never forget that there is always more to learn,” He told me, “Every patient is special to me”. “Their unique histories and specific conditions continually remind me to set the bar, and then raise it still further.”
I won’t go into all the clinical details except to say that Dr. Gulani is an expert in matters relating to the Advanced Vision Surgery and vision itself. He sees patients from all over the world – all anxious to seek his expertise. Where other physicians simply choose a pre-determined procedure to apply to a patient, Dr. Gulani goes the extra mile and plans a custom-made surgery specifically designed to treat the individual patient. It’s something like buying a suit off the rack. It’s easy to walk into a store and buy a suit that claims to be your size. But wouldn’t it be better to ask the tailor to make the suit according to your specifications, not the other way around? Where your health and safety is concerned, is there any other choice? I watched him explain these details to his patients with inquiries about the whole range of Laser Vision Surgery options, from LASIK, LASEK, SBK, Epi-LASK, ASA, Bladeless LASIK, to PRK. He helped patients with chronic dry-eye, cataracts, corneal transplant, pterygium, pinguecula, Keratoconus and ICL. Each patient got a treatment option that was unique to his or her needs, but they all got the same pledge of dedication and commitment. It was clearly evident that whatever they needed, nobody else other than Dr. Gulani would work harder to give it to them.
My experience with Dr. Gulani really got me thinking about the differences between being a patient at the Gulani Vision Institute, as opposed to somewhere else. Why have we as a culture settled for “standards of care” at other facilities? How did that phrase even become acceptable jargon? In a time when we have more ways to order coffee than I can count, a different cut of jeans for every day of the week, how have we allowed our health care system to fall so far? It’s one more way that Dr. Gulani has pulled ahead of the pack. His office staff is equally ready, professional, and caring. I’ve never seen any other practice that allows the family and friends to sit down and spend any amount of time they need to discuss options and concern in a private, comfortably furnished room. Shouldn’t we all expect more from our choice in surgeons? Don’t we deserve individualized care?
I could go on for pages relaying all that I witnessed as a fly on the wall at Gulani Vision Institute, but I’ll settle instead for a summary of these awesome experiences in an attempt at brevity.
One of Dr. Gulani’s first patients had been told by other doctors that there was nothing that could be done to repair the damage from her previous Radial Keratotomy (RK) surgery. She came in for her follow up, and I watched her demonstrate her 20/20 vision. Tearfully smiling from ear to ear, she wanted to take as many brochures as she could carry to her community in South Florida. She said she’d come back with a busload of friends for Dr. Gulani to meet. She also sat down to do a video testimonial; she wanted to share her experience with other patients who have been told by surgeons simply to go home and live with glasses.
I scurried along behind him as he greeted patients in the exam rooms with a blend of joyful introduction and solemn concern. Each with varying conditions, but all of these people similar in their gratitude. When he was between patients he was doing all of those little things that most of us don’t even know are missing until someone goes that extra mile. I watched him educate another eye surgeon who was shadowing him in preparation for his Board Exams in London. He returned emails of past patients who were updating him of their accomplishments, looking up to him as a source of inspiration in becoming the “Dr. Gulanis “ of their professions. I watched him call a patient who had come from Australia – just to be sure the patient had had a safe flight home.
I saw Dr. Gulani sitting down with a concerned family of a young man – the way you might sit in a living room with your own family. The young man had come from Puerto Rico with poor vision that severely influenced his daily life. Dr. Gulani explained this man’s options and then surprising them all by not charging for his extensive consult.
It’s not just me who is anxious to talk about my time with Dr. Gulani. His patient from New York was calling with ideas of how to spread Dr. Gulani’s name in the North East. Many patients stood their turns to take pictures with Dr. Gulani before leaving, each of them anxious of get home and boast about “Gulani Vision Experience” to their families and friends. I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising to me, given my current writing project, but I’m amazed that these patients take it upon themselves to spread the news about this unmatched experience. Think about. When have you liked a trip to the doctor’s office this much? When have you heard someone else talk about their awesome experience at the eye doctor?
I’ll close with a short description of the activities of the patient whose care astounded me the most. I’ll call her Veronica, although that is not her real name. The shape of Veronica’s cornea (Keratoconus) prevented Dr. Gulani from performing her Cataract surgery as easily as he might have liked. Dr Gulani explained it to me as, “A scale where both sides must come out to zero. It’s not enough to have simply +1 on the left, -1 on right and they equate to 0. Both sides must be perfect.” Dr. Gulani was not happy with the “standards of care” that someone else might have found acceptable. He spent the weekend before her surgery alone in his office making sure each calculation would come out precisely and accurately. But by Sunday night he was still not satisfied, and he called Veronica to tell her they would need to reschedule for the following week. The next Sunday the scene repeated itself with Dr. Gulani in his office — away from his wife and kids – working tirelessly to ensure this complicated patient would receive nothing but the best from him. Again he was unsatisfied with the results, and again she was rescheduled. This happened four times. Four weekends away from the family, and four open surgical spots that could not be refilled on short notice. Dr. Gulani did not receive any additional compensation for these efforts (indeed one could argue that the open surgery spot represented a loss of profit), nor did anyone else see this level of dedication – expect of course, Dr. Gulani’s family, who certainly felt his absence, and Veronica herself. Finally, when Dr. Gulani was sure his calculations and Veronica’s therapies were perfectly aligned, he proceeded and performed Veronica’s surgery. I saw Veronica as she arrived for her follow up. She was so grateful with her new vision; she couldn’t stop expressing her gratitude. “You just don’t know,” she told me, “I just can’t describe how much better I feel about life, about everything.”
I know there will be some people who read this article and hear only an employee trying to impress her new boss with laudable words and compliments. But I hope that most of you will take this article as a call to action. I hope you will learn from my experience and realize that there is great service still out there in the medical community. We need only raise our expectations and set the bar high in order to separate the excellent surgeon from the “standard of care.” I encourage all of you to think about the level of care you are receiving from your current physician. Does your doctor greet you by name, or check in with your progress after you have healed and gone your merry way? We have such a surgeon right here in Jacksonville whose excellent service is recognized all around the world, by patients and doctors alike. He is turning our city of Jacksonville into the vision destination of the world.
At the end of the day I asked Dr. Gulani if this had been just a regular day. He told me with a smile, “Pretty typical, yes.”
Carry Basler
To schedule a FREE LASIK consulation with an eye surgeon in jacksonville, call us at 904-296-7393.