If I had a crystal ball, I'd predict there will be another revolutionary change in treatment that will alter practice patterns & imaging requirements like anti-VEGF injections have with OCT. Maybe a longer lasting treatment for ARMD that will eliminate the need for monthly OCT's. I think we've both been around long enough to know twe'll see more advances that will change our role again. I hope its' more than just wishful thinking on my part...

I too miss the old days, but not the endless stack of slides that needed sorting!

I too miss the old days, but not the endless stack of slides that needed sorting!

Yeah, those good old days...

... when you'd go home with fixer stains on your new shirt and you smelled of rotten eggs...

...when someone incorrectly loaded your FA films onto their processing spools and half the roll was overlapped, leaving just the 'injection frames' and two 'late phase images' of the non-transit eye..

.. when you got your slides back of that super incredible shot that you couldn't wait to publish and realized they were underexposed by 2 stops...

...when that 5pm stat FA walked into your room and that meant you were going to be at least an hour late to get home, delaying your anniversary dinner plans.... (sorry, Honey...)

Yes, it was a romantic time for us all!!

; )

Gary 

All "Classics" that we have all experienced.

Thanks for reminding us of the good old times.

bob

So I guess it's different strokes for different folks!  Ophthalmic imagers work in varied situations, that's for sure.

I'm in an academic setting and we have all sub-specialties, including retina, uveitis, and neuro-ophthalmology.  I'd say that while our FAs are down from say 12 years ago, pre HD-OCT, our FA/ICG numbers are up from 5 years ago.  NO doubt participation in multiple clinical trials adds to that total, but we still do FAs daily - and when we had an ultra-wide field instrument, we were doing even more. 

We do FAs for recalcitrant AMD, ? ischemia in diabetics, to diagnose inherited disorders for Retina; FAs for various inflammatory syndromes and ICGs for the choroiditities for Neuro; and circulation times, vasculitis, and choroidal infarcts for Neuro.

We also do a boat load of OCTs a day. Our procedure totals are twice what they were 3 years ago. 

And we only do fast scans as part of clinical trial protocols.  Our docs LOVE those high def scans.

So much diversity in our profession!  Pretty cool, I think.

In the pre-digital years it was nice to escape to the relative isolation of the dark room, though.

Take care, everyone

p

Thanks for the additional "memory lane " items of days not really all that long ago...although they seem at times like a lifetime ago. The reference to the film processor brought a memory rushing back to me: It was in my first month or so of my indoctrination into Ophthalmic Photography... I was picking up on things very quickly thanks to the fine teachings of : Walt Wipplinger and Mary Nauretz.... it was a busy day (in the heyday of ETDRS, MPS/FPS, GLT, COMS  and all the rest ) I was doing an angiogram on a patient that was very reluctant to have the procedure done...all went well until I opened the good old Contax camera back only to find it empty!!!   I felt my heart beat way down in my toes! Gives me the same cold sweats just typing this!   Yes, the good old days!

 Enjoy the Labor Day Holiday everyone!

 Jim

 We've all done it! My heart sank when I opened the camera back for an FA to find a roll of good old Kodachrome in there. Talk about palpitations!

You stay in this field long enough you make every mistake at least once. Hopefully not twice.

bob 

I am in the enviable? position of not being a shooter anymore.   Here at the ODC we have a much more humane environment and schedule. Do I long for my Retina days ( early 80's) where I did 20-25 angiograms in a day, and over 400,0000 in billables in a year on color imaging alone?  Do I pine for the seemingly endless stack of color slides to be sorted, tagged and filed.  And, don't get me started about trying to create Grand Rounds lecture slides on Friday, to be ready for Monday. 

The headaches remain, but they morph into something different.....

Perhaps like all aspects of our lives, we evolve, change and grow depending on our situation.For me, to keep my sanity I enjoy giving Lions Eye tours, working with Residents and having the "luxury" of actually talking with my patients ( primarily ultrasound) and helping to educate them as to why they are there.  I don't think I could be offered enough money to be the OCT monkey churning out 100 macular scans a day.  While, like you I appreciate that it is very helpful to the patient and somebody has to do it, I'm grateful it ain't me....

In closing, I might add that IMHO, most people just kick out the "marks on paper".  Taking time to learn more about the anatomy and physiology of the particular test you are doing goes a long way to jazzing up the day...

D.

In closing, I might add that IMHO, most people just kick out the "marks on paper".  Taking time to learn more about the anatomy and physiology of the particular test you are doing goes a long way to jazzing up the day...