Just as most patients have begun to express a languid mood about our healthcare status, a small emergence of physicians are bringing vitality and restoring the liveliness of patient-physician relationships, one patient at a time. These physicians are redefining  patient care and chose not to follow the current inert and stale practice of medicine. Their driving factors are not bottom-line, number of insurance claims, and number of written prescriptions, only a focus of ensuring that each patient has received the best possible care, free from suffocations of insurance, pharmaceuticals, and precarious physicians.

   One of these physicians is actually an eye surgeon who is changing the ideasand roles of the patients seeking his expertise. He is active in teaching and mentoring other eye surgeons on how they should treat and react to their patients only on the simple idea that each patient must receive the individualized care they are entitled to. It is easy to say that it is logical that all patients should receive the best and that this surgeon has not invented a new idea however, how many physicians actually strive to implement the very core of medicine? How many physicians dedicate all of their time, energy and resources? How many actually stand by their patient? I think that these are the questions that we need to be asking ourselves because out of all the physicians whom I have had contact with, I can confidently say that I know of only one who has exhibited positive answers for all these questions. In his practice, patients are number one and he would not have it any other way.

   Dr. Arun C. Gulani, the director of the Gulani Vision Institute in Jacksonville, Florida is a physician whose systematization of patient care is illustrated in such a way that the model, in my opinion, should be a standard for every practicing physician in this country. What is so unique about his approach is that he embraces his patients in such a manner that the patients become integrated in their treatment and recovery plan. The patients are educated and assured and soon discover that passion and perfection become the only standard as to how they are treated. While Dr. Gulani himself is a revolutionary model for medicine and general healthcare practice, there is a price to pay for being "an exemplar of great achievement".

     Dr. Gulani has become a human gauge for judgment, comparison, and standard. While there is nothing average about his practice, his skill, and patient rapport, there is a price for being the best. Dr. Gulani's strive begins with the level of interaction between him and his patients. From the moment patients meet with Dr. Gulani, his level of dedication shocks them. The amount of time spent with each patient and the level of education serve as the primary benchmarks of his success. Staying true to his form, he does not impress his patients with arrogance or rule as he very well is entitled to. His collection of intelligence, skill, and patient care serve as the structures of how he has built his institute. For the first time in many years and for some patients for the first time ever, they have found a physician whom they wholeheartedly trust and feel like they can contact at any time.

   During my observership at the Gulani Vision Institute, I saw firsthand how Dr. Gulani had to serve as a resource for patients when he has nothing to do with their case or medical need. Patients living all over the world constantly seek his advice for not only vision, but also for medical needs outside his realm and sometimes, not pertaining to ophthalmology at all. Just recently, Dr. Gulani was faced with a situation that inadvertently made him a punching bag for another physician's inability to serve a patient who was supposed to be under his care. Dr. Gulani was contacted on a Sunday night by a previous patient who underwent LASIK two years earlier. She currently resides on the West coast and contacted Dr. Gulani after being
unable to get a hold of her own physician. As you can imagine, I was surprised that she was compelled to contact Dr. Gulani for a medical need completely unrelated to her vision. This patient suffers from herpes simplex virus (HSV) that causes reoccurant outbreaks on her face and possibly, on other parts of her body. While she has been under the care of this particular physician for years, she was unsuccessful of reaching him on multiple occasions over that
weekend. While herpes is incurable, it is managed through various pharmacological drugs, which this patient desperately required. She was so upset with the fact that she could not acquire a refill from her caring physician, she felt that her only other option would be to call Dr. Gulani- an eye surgeon who has not seen this patient in over two years, a surgeon who
cannot prescribe prescriptions over the phone for a condition that he does not treat, and a surgeon who truly cannot provide medical care for a patient living across the country.  She afflicted all her anger, frustration, and hurt to the one person she knew would be there to
pick up the phone, serve as a listening ear, and provides assurance when no other physician would. Was Dr. Gulani compensated for his time? No, he was not. To make matters worse, she was so upset that Dr. Gulani could not legally prescribe the medication over the phone in that instant, she wrote him a one page letter, blatantly expressing her disbelief that he could not help during her desperate time of need.

     Many physicians would discount this patient as absurd and perhaps unstable given the fact that she made this erroneous request of Dr. Gulani, however he was bothered by this occurrence. His care for this patient, even if she wasn't his, prompted him to follow-up with her, despite her behavior. He understood her frustration and was also bothered that her best option during that dilemma was an eye surgeon on the other side of the country. My thoughts about this situation completely surround the physician who is supposed to be taking care of that patient. Why did he not return her phone call? Why was he unavailable? More importantly, will he learn from this experience and alter the way he continues to treat his patients? In my opinion, probably not.

     Dr. Gulani is a world-renowned eye surgeon who owes nothing more to his patients than exotic surgeries. He does not owe them dedication, education, or friendship. One would expect arrogance, attitude, and perhaps even belligerence because as the best, one would assume this type of behavior. However, his attitude towards his patients could not be
more different. Dr. Gulani dedicates his time and energy to each patient. He surprises all of them by his determination to remain a leader in all advances of science, medicine, and patient care. Patients trust him and know that he is the only one that will be available no matter what time, all the time and as obviously portrayed in the aforementioned situation. However, he has a hefty price to pay. Insurance, for example, does not differentiate his meticulous work from that of Dr. Smith down the street that preaches perfection, but rarely achieves it in surgery. Furthermore, patients come in for second opinions all the time and express their uncertainty about what the eye surgeon will do and even state that they are altogether uncertain about the eye surgeon. So how is Dr. Gulani's view of eye surgery so different? His answer is that physicians must strive for perfection for each patient and this is
accomplished only when the surgeon treats the patient holistically as a human and not just as an eyeball. This idea while very logical and simple packs a powerful punch in action, which is very obvious and prevalent at the Gulani Vision Institute. I hope that physicians will become more proactive with their patients, which will only facilitate stronger relationships. Dr. Gulani is a true visionary and we all, patients and physicians, should open our eyes and
follow his steps in improving all aspects of modern day patient care.