What is a Retina Specialist?

The practice of ophthalmology, like the practice of medicine itself, is divided up into many more specialized disciplines. For example, some ophthalmologists specialize in ocular plastic surgery, others in glaucoma. Retina specialists are ophthalmologists who only treat disease of the retina. We are medical doctors that have completed all of the requirements and training to become ophthalmologists and in addition gone beyond and completed a 2-year surgical fellowship in medical and surgical retina.

Retina specialists focus their work on the retina, which is the layer of specialized nerve tissue that lines the back of the eye and is responsible for helping you to see. The Retina specialist is most often consulted when there is a problem with the vision that can no longer be corrected with glasses and or cataract surgery. Any condition in which there is decreased vision, which cannot be explained by a problem with the front of the eye (eyelids, cornea or lens) could involve an evaluation by retina specialists.