Sidra Zafar, MD
Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
This year’s Charles Schepens Lecture at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, was delivered by Dr. Lee Jampol. His talk, titled, “How to Describe New Diseases: Or How to Improved Your Clinical Skills,” highlighted the importance of cultivating strong pattern-recognition skills which are important not only for identifying new or rare diseases but also fundamental to becoming an excellent clinician.
He also underscored the value of asking targeted questions during history-taking and performing a thorough physical examination beyond the eye. Curiosity, he noted, is essential – when a finding does not align with textbook patterns, one should pause, reconsider, and explore alternative possibilities rather than fitting it into a familiar framework.
He also emphasized the importance of persevering despite criticism or skepticism from others. These skills have led him to him and his group describe 14 new diseases including multiple evanescent white dot syndrome, West Nile chorioretinitis, acute idiopathic maculopathy (and its association with hand-foot-mouth disease), focal choroidal excavation, torpedo maculopathy and indolent, non-progressive multifocal choroidal lymphoma.
He ended his excellent lecture with the following advice for trainees and young clinicians: 1) training and experience are key, 2) having time for a careful history and physical and to be curious, 3) have modern imaging available, 4) have a good memory or a similar system of retrieving past cases and 5) need to ask the right questions and do the right testing.
