Mayo Clinic ophthalmology professor Dr. Jose S. Pulido of Rochester specializes in eye tumors and diseases.
He is married to Colleen Howe with two children, Jose Ethan and Christine Marie, "who have moved often with my academic peregrinations. I am very grateful to them for their understanding of my passion for my work."
Why your job matters:My patients are at risk of the two medical concerns that scare people the most: blindness and cancer. Mayo has given me the opportunity to not only care for the patients, but to work with wonderful collaborators … translating their laboratory findings into clinical applications.
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How you got your job:(College graduate at 20), master's in chemistry, MD, internship, residency, two fellowships, an MBA and an MPH.
Ophthalmology's attraction:My father was going blind while I was in medical school, and helping others like him attracted me.
Eyesight advice:Wear eye protection when working with or around anything that could enter your eye. Obtain an annual eye examination. If you notice sudden vision loss, don't assume it is a cataract and get checked.
Favorite patient interaction:After I tell (a patient) we could not find evidence of recurrence of cancer.
How many eyes have you examined in seven years?TNTC (too numerous to count). Not only personally but also from eye photos sent from other doctors for my opinion.
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Favorite music:I listen to Italian and French podcasts while I walk to work. Not to music.
A medical mentor's role in your development:There are so many that have taught me so much that it is hard to single out any one. But the one person who really taught me the most about the sacrifice and passion to be excellent in what one does is my mother. She is 80 years old and she still practices medicine full-time and loves what she does.
Go ahead. Make us squirm. What have you removed from an eye?There are so many, but the most memorable were: a butcher knife that had gone through the eye and into the brain, a hairpick sticking out of an eye and a meat hook in the eye.
Acts of kindness:My technician has put up some patients that had no money in her home, and my secretary has stayed very late to make sure that a patient who had insurance problems and a cancer could come in to see me emergently.
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Whenever I feel that I am working hard, I see those around me doing their best for the well-being of these really wonderful patients and families who are overwhelmed with what is happening to them or their loved ones.
Your dream for patients' eyes:Treating their tumors without sacrificing vision.
