DR. JENNIFER LOH
Focus Through the Generations (FTTG) offers insight from four different generations of the nation's top ophthalmologists. Hear from the experts themselves on their varying life experiences in the industry.
Dr. Jennifer Loh is a board-certified comprehensive ophthalmologist practicing in the south Miami area. Her focus and passion is on cataract surgery and refractive cataract surgery. She was recently honored by being named as a Premier Surgeon Top 300 Innovators in Refractive Cataract Surgery.
hear from DR. JENNIFER LOH
Our host, Polly Neely had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Jennifer Loh for an exclusive discussion regarding her life and industry experiences. Get to know Dr. Loh a little deeper in this episode of “Focus Through the Generations”.
Polly Neely: Thank you all so much for joining us this evening for Focus Through the Generations. We have the perspectives of four actively practicing generations of ophthalmologists in the US with us in our series. What a unique time. So, we decided 2020 sucked and we want 2021 to be fun and entertaining and give us all some time to share, reflect and look forward. And that's what we're doing from a lot of generations here. So Bruder Health Care also decided they wanted to do something fun. So, they are a partner with us on this and we're very thankful for them and for their dry eye products they produce. But tonight, I'm really happy because I have Dr. Jennifer Loh with us. Hi, Dr. Loh.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Polly Neely: It's wonderful to have you. I'm so glad and I have to send Cynthia every time she's sending me these people. She's getting a lot of personal notes for me right now, Dr. Matossian.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Good.
Polly Neely: Well, I just want to give you a moment to introduce yourself and tell the audience a little bit about you.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Thank you. Well, my name is Jennifer Loh and I'm an ophthalmologist with a focus on cataract, refractive surgery, and dry eye. I grew up sort of all over the place in the country, originally born in Canada, actually. And then my parents and I immigrated to the United States when I was just two years old. Subsequently, we lived in Michigan, Texas, and finally settled in Indiana, near Indianapolis specifically, where I finished high school. I did my undergrad at Butler University, and then proceeded to go to medical school at Indiana University Med School. Internship and residency were all done in IU as well. So, I had a really good Midwestern upbringing but after training, I decided I wanted to spread my wings and try a new location. So, I ended up moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where I joined my first practice as an employed physician. And, and for about five years worked in several different practices, learned a lot. I had a lot of fun in the sun, as they say. And then afterwards in 2016, I decided it was time to start my own practice, which is what I've been working on ever since then. I also enjoy traveling with my husband, skiing, recently my husband and I, obviously we weren't married at the time but my future husband, we got married and had a baby. And now we have a beautiful two-year-old who runs around and keeps us on our toes, on top of all the fun ophthalmology that we do. So that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Polly Neely: That's awesome. And what services do you do in your ophthalmic practice? What are your specialties?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: So that's a great question. So obviously we see all general exams, but I like to really focus on cataract surgery and also refractive surgery. I love doing surgery. I also will do other types of surgeries: pterygium surgeries, and, and, you know minor lid procedures like lumps and bumps, here and there. And then I do have a passion for dry eye. So, I do perform a lot, many of the dry eye treatments and meibomian glands treatments and Microblepharoexfoliation treatments that we hear about. So, I really like to focus on that. I enjoy counseling patients and teaching them about that.
Polly Neely: That's wonderful. So, I'm going to make an assumption here: that you might use Bruder products.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes. Actually, they're one of my best-selling products. Patients love them. I love working with the Bruder Company. I have to say, being an eye doctor, you don't you're not really used to selling products and like many doctors I'm sure I've told you that it takes a little bit to decide how we can actually sell something in the office. You know, there's a couple of hurdles, more mental hurdles than anything, but once I did patients just really like it and they buy it and really, I find it being like a service to the patients. So I'm always upfront and honest with them. I tell them the options. I don't wanna make it seem like I'm being a salesperson, but it's really nice. Cause they're really appreciative of the fact that they can just buy something in the office and go. And I realized, because I think about myself whenever I've gone to like a doctor like a dermatologist and they have the cream there I'm just like buying this, you know. It just saves time. So I really found it's a service and we have had a very good experience. So, thank you to the Bruder team.
Polly Neely: Well, thank you for sharing that, because that leads me to another question. More so with, it seems like the traditionalist and the boomer generation put products in their office to sell. It was a little bit more of a stigma for them but I'm noticing with the millennials and the gen X that because, as you said, you go to your doctors and they have the products there. So, it's such a convenience and we all, especially now, love one-stop shopping anywhere so that we don't have to stop at several places. So, I applaud you for doing that. And I know for me, I've done consulting for a number of years and I've always encouraged practices to do that. Because from a patient perspective, you are doing them a service, a great service. And selling comes natural to us. We have all different services and practices that we sell. So why should something being in a bottle rather than a surgical procedure or a treatment be any different. It's going to benefit the patient and that's why we're doing it. So that's how I try to look at it. I'm really happy that you're doing that in your practice. And that is something that you chose to do. I know your patients are happy.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: They really are. I really get a lot of, they really get a lot of joy out of it, of the exam, probably.
Polly Neely: Well, I'm going to start off with a really fun question.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Okay.
Polly Neely: When you were 12, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: That's a good question. I had always had medicine in the back of my mind. Did not think about ophthalmology in particular, but I always had an idea that I wanted to be a doctor. My father is a physician as well. So of course, that's where I got that idea from. So, I was really interested in it, but I did have other ideas. I also had dreams of maybe becoming a famous author. I don't know why, but I liked reading. So, I just had this idea if you had read a lot of books. So that was the other plan around age 12.
Polly Neely: When did that decision for you become a reality that you're going to be a doctor and then an ophthalmologist?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes. So, you know, just going through school I definitely like any doctor. I was always a classic overachiever, really good at school, real type A with my grades. And as I kept doing well in school, it seemed like it was going to be more of a reality. And when I was picking colleges, you know, I said well, I'm going to pick a good college that maybe would give me a good chance of getting into medical school. And then, you know, I picked a line of study. I had decided to do chemistry as a major because, you know I was interested in the subject and I thought it'd be a good road to possibly going into medical school by doing a science degree. And then as I kept succeeding and doing well, I felt like it was a reality or a potential. And of course I did things like shadowing doctors and, and volunteering and then trying to learn different things, volunteering in the hospitals in the summer. Doing different things like that to solidify my decision. But it just kept going and, and then I took the MCATS and when I did well enough on the MCATS decided, let me go for it, let me apply to medical school. And then it happened and became a reality.
Polly Neely: And where did you do your residency?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Oh, I'm so sorry for cutting you off.
Polly Neely: No, that's okay. Keep going.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: You asked about the ophthalmologist part too, so that was also similar. I mean, it was during the first couple of years of med school, I had no idea what I wanted to do but then just falling into a couple of different rotations, realized that it was a really interesting field and then decided to pursue that as well.
Polly Neely: That's great. And did you do a fellowship in the particular area?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: I did not. So, after finishing or nearing the end of my training I decided that I really wanted to get out into the field workforce, and I was ready to go. You know, part of me regrets it a little bit. I think it would have been fun now to have done a fellowship, but I tell my residents now nowadays it's easy to feel stuck. I think I probably felt a little burned out and I was just ready to go and get started on with my life, so to speak.
Polly Neely: I hear that more and more.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: So I thought yeah. So much training, I think in retrospect though, it would have been nice to have done a fellowship. If I could go back in time, maybe that'd be my one thing that I would alter, but I've found my own path and I love the field that I'm in. And now that I think about it, I probably wouldn't have done a fellowship. They didn't really even have a fellowship back then in cataract or fracto, right? I might've ended up in a totally different field. So, as they say, everything happens for a reason. I suppose it was fortuitous that I didn't do one.. So, I just started practicing.
Polly Neely: Well, I know your patients are glad you started practicing. And I know a lot of residents coming out, they want to get started so they can start paying back their student loans. And also, just from the burnout alone, but you know they want to get started on, on getting their life together. I think it's, it's a difficult decision at that point to make. Maybe you should have a journey year where you just, you know about yourself for a little journey and work in different practices to get a feel and then do.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes. I guess they call it between high school and college, a gap year, right? Or something.
Polly Neely: Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: I guess you can... it's true that a person can always go back and do a fellowship. There's certainly no age restriction or limit. So, I suppose one could do it. You know, it just, it gets a little tougher after you've been out working to change your life around here. But I know people have done it.
Polly Neely: Yeah. Especially when you own your own practice, it’s a little more difficult.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: That's the hard thing now.
Polly Neely: That's funny. Tell me, I want to ask you. I know you've been in practice now on your own for five years, but tell me about your most interesting, memorable, funny, it can be any of those things, patient that you just remember off the top of your head.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: A patient that just a couple of weeks ago touched my heart. And it goes along with the pains of owning a practice, but your own practice, in your own office. The other day, we had a plumbing issue in our office, and you know, my staff, we're a small office. Right? So, I do everything. So, my staff told me like the plumbing is having an issue. And then I'm like, Oh no, okay. Like, call the plumber. Like, what are we going to do? And then we're walking around, and this patient comes out and he just told me, he was like, Oh, I just helped plunge your toilet. And I'm like, what? I saw that there was something wrong with it. So, I figured, you know, I would just help you out. And I know it's like a really goofy story and like maybe not even good.
Polly Neely: No, that's a great story.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: And I'm like, it just touched my heart so much that someone actually cared and I had never met him before, and he took my dirty work for me. So, I guess that's been on my mind the last couple of weeks. And I share that story. You know, we laugh about it again. I don't know if it's the best topic to put on air, but it really was just like something I laugh about. And I felt really touched by him. And it showed to me in the moment like human kindness, like he had no reason he had to do that, and he could have complained about the problem. But instead, he actually took initiative and out of the kindness of his heart did something to help me.
Polly Neely: He's an example of what we all need to try harder to be right there.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: I was like, wow. I think it was probably the nicest thing a patient's ever done for me. It really was.
Polly Neely: I love that story.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: So, I'll try and think of other, more patient medical stories.
Polly Neely: No, that's a perfect story. That's a perfect story. Because right now in the times that we live in, kindness and going beyond for no reason really other than they want to. You know, that doesn't happen. You don't see that in this world very much today. So, no, I love that story.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Okay, good.
Polly Neely: Well, let me ask you a question. If you, who was your first surgery patient? Do you remember your first surgery patient?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: In residency, you mean?
Polly Neely: In your own practice, you lead and charge your patient.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes. Yes, I do. I remember my first patient and, you know, my first surgery patient, I should say like you mentioned, and yes. I mean, just the honor of being able to take care of someone, the nervousness you might have wanting to do a good job and just really like realizing that years of training and education residency have culminated into this moment of doing surgery. And I remember the OR so well, and then the nurses and the scrub techs, you know, made such a big impression on me in those moments that, yeah. It's definitely a rewarding moment the first time. And I remember interestingly enough, my attending when I was in residency telling me, you know it's one thing to be able to do surgery in residency when you have an attending over your shoulder but it's quite another to suddenly be alone in the room. He even went on to describe your heart's going to pound and you're short of breath and all these things. I remember when he was talking about that at the time being a resident and thinking I knew it all. And I was like, oh, why is he saying all that? You know, of course we know what we're doing, we're training but I'm right. And that I thought of him in that moment and realized he was right. I mean, it's just such a weight on your shoulders the very first time when you realize you're truly alone. In fact, even my very first day in clinic, on my own of course I was working for another physician, so I wasn't completely on my own, but I wasn't actually in resident, I didn't have to technically staff the patient with anyone, but I remember almost having this moment, Oh my goodness, I'm really alone. Like I need to tell someone, so it is definitely awe inspiring, I suppose.
Polly Neely: Well, the good about this industry is there are shut outs allowed. So, if we run into something, we have great colleagues that we can shout out to.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes, we are lucky.
Polly Neely: Yeah. As large as this industry is, it's so tiny.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes.
Polly Neely: You talk about people and the amazing amount of people that you know, the ladies here tonight were saying, well, do you know Dr. Loh? And I said, I know of Dr. Loh. I've met her once. I said, but I do feel like I know Dr. Loh because you just know everybody in this industry is that kind of... I love that because I've met so many great people and there's still a lot more for me to meet that I'm anxious to meet, but there's always a shout out. You've always got somebody there that thing that's got your back or it can give you a hand. Never, never, not too many of that. So, well, how have you changed your practice this last year and even now, and should we ever get past COVID what how are you doing now that you know you'll carry forward post COVID?
Dr, Jennifer Loh: Oh yes, like everyone in those first few weeks or months of COVID, of course were a big shock and required almost shutting down the practice. I mean, we did stay open a couple hours a day to see the lingering post-op patients that we had. And of course, for emergencies, but I felt like it was my duty to help people instead of having them go to the ER, because their eye hurts, that if I could just help them. Of course, we were wearing masks and it was very scary. But, but yes, so it was a huge change from being busy, seeing lots of patients a day to seeing maybe one patient a day as an emergency. So, it was pretty scary. You know, I have felt like I had a big burden on my shoulders because I had staff members to pay and I didn't want to let them down or my patients down and all of us felt this way. So, I know I'm just saying what everyone else felt, but yeah, so it definitely changed things. I would say the last, luckily several months after we really were able to pick back up the patients started coming back in. You know, we were of course wearing masks, sanitizing everything, reducing patient volume and changing our practice flow. So that helped. And we actually saw a very good uptake in numbers of surgery patients came back. We were able to survive. So that was really helpful. I was able to retain all my staff. Of course, I think the thing that we would probably keep doing and that I would like to keep to myself, is I think they when I'm actually examining patients. I'm still going to wear a mask from now on, because I would say you know what, I'm close to the slit lamp. And you're two inches from their face. Cause I would say, and many people have commented on this, so I know I'm not alone on that, but the number of illnesses in our office have dramatically dropped since we started wearing masks. So, I think for my own health and patients' health even going forward, I think when I put that patient in the slit lamp and I go up to see them I think I may pop on a mask, you know it's become more socially acceptable. And, and now that I'm seeing how much benefit it really is, why not? Why should I get the common cold or give a patient in the common cold or the flu? So, I think that may be one thing I'm obviously hoping that life will go back to normal in every other respect. But I think maybe, maybe we're in the mass.
Polly Neely: I have heard that quite a bit and I think it's not a bad habit for us to keep. I think it's actually a very smart one. I do like the fact that we're all more cognizant of cleaning, the nooks, and crannies, especially the chair arms. And I mean, those are things that we used to just really take for granted. I mean, I don't, but we always clean the spaces that we knew, you know, the face of the eyes or whatever was going to touch. You know, now we've become truly aware how germs travel and I think that is to me brilliant. It will be my way of life as well when I go into an office and I, and I too, I've been so healthy through all of this.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: I know.
Polly Neely: So, it speaks mountains.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yes.
Polly Neely: A lot of people are looking at this a little differently, but to me it speaks mountains.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: It really, really does. Yeah. I definitely think about everything differently now.
Polly Neely: Yeah. Now I'm going to ask you a good question, a fun question. If you could have lunch with anybody alive, dead, or fictional, who would that be and why?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: I know someone who is really good to speak to. I think it would be Oprah. You know, we were just speaking about her a minute ago and since we're in the interview mind frame, she would be amazing. She's spoken to and met so many people. So, I think that having lunch with her would be amazing because you could really have time to actually talk to her and she'd be open and frank, I feel like she could just give so many words of wisdom and pearls about people. I think she's such an amazing person and personality and she's done so much with her life that I would love to be able to find out how she did it. I've read it's about her life story and it is just truly amazing. So she's become such a success and she's endured through so much. I think hearing, getting to speak to her one-on-one about that would be amazing. Then also just learning from her about how she's met everyone else too, to be kind of cool.
Polly Neely: I agree with you. I think it would be really fun to have a moment or a lunch sometime with people who have met that many people in their life and got to know very intimate and wonderful things about them. I think that's that would be a really cool lunch, that’s one you'd want.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Exactly. And also, because we've seen her so much or at least I have like on TV, you feel like you know her a little bit. Maybe we don't really know her but in my mind I feel like I know her. So, it almost would be like seeing someone you think who a friend is
Polly Neely: I think that'd be really cool. I think I would enjoy that as well. I actually was on an elevator with her once.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: You were?
Polly Neely: She used to live in the same building as Dr. Manus Kraff lives in Chicago. I'm not sure if she's still there or not, but I was doing some work with him and it was like five in the morning and I got the elevator opened and there stood. And there stood Oprah and Stedman and the two dogs. And I was just standing there because was this Oprah's elevator or everyone's elevator? I don't know what to do. And she said, “I'm Oprah. Girls are you going to get on? And I was like, “Oh, yeah!”
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Oh my gosh. She said it just like that.
Polly Neely: And then they got in this old blue van and drove themselves to the studio. So, it was really, it was an “aha” moment for me to see.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Oh, my goodness. How cool.
Polly Neely: It was that early in the morning.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Oh, see, she gets up really early. That must be one.
Polly Neely: Yeah. Anything, you know, I'm like, wow I would love to do that. But it was a fun moment. She was pretty real, you know.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yeah. I'd be scared too. I'd be like, am I allowed? Is this somebody's rule or violation?
Polly Neely: It was crazy. But it was many, many, many years ago but it was really a fun event for me. Anyway.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: That's a good story. That's, that's definitely cool, she even spoke to you.
Polly Neely: Yeah. I just wanna ask you one more question and then I'll let you go. How have you seen technology in the field of ophthalmology change since you began? And where do you see that going in 10 to 15 years from now?
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Well, yeah, both good questions. I think about that all the time, actually. How I didn't finish residency that long ago, actually 10 years to be exact, which is also crazy in itself, but it's 10 years and already I've seen so much technology change. I've learned new procedures, many new procedures. Obviously, the big one is a femtosecond laser in cataract surgery. And that was not available when I was in residency. And even a lot of the premium lenses, they were out and available, but we didn't get much training in them. So, there was still a lot to learn, but definitely the femtosecond laser and then MIGS, right, maze procedure. That's a whole new world as well. And also, you know, different techniques, the MiLOOP loop technique which is used to help dissect the cataract more in a super dense cataract, even something beautifully simple as that as a new technology and, and new types of eyedrops and possible, you know, injectable medicines into the eye. And that's a big one too. So even whether it's surgical technology or postoperative care technology, also, there's lots of new dry eye treatment that's coming. I don't believe that something like blood fax was out when I was in residency. So even all of these dry eye treatments have developed. So, it's a constant change and you have to keep up with it, which is good. But yeah, it is amazing how in 10 years I've had to learn so much. And I do try to apply that with my residents. You know, they always of course want to learn everything before they leave, but I tell them, even if you learn everything you think you're learning, so get ready. And how do I see things changing? Well, I see that we're getting, I think, a big thing is we're getting better and better premium lenses. We're able to get people better, uncorrected vision. It's becoming simpler. It's more effective. I think that's been a huge benefit. And I think that we're also going probably to move towards better, better drug therapies and really hoping that we can get more drug therapies especially in the glaucoma arena whether it be MIGS or implantable devices in order to monitor and treat glaucoma. I really hope that will be the next path in the future because I feel like I'm not a glaucoma specialist, of course but I do think that is it's really an underdeveloped area in some ways that I think there there's a potential for so many better treatments and for our understanding of the disease. I look forward to that because I still feel like it can be a frustrating disease to treat. I wish I had better answers for patients. So I'm hoping that'll be another, another venture but also just getting patients better vision and with our technologies, I think it is exciting.
Polly Neely: That's a great answer and glaucoma is something that's so scary and sometimes uncontrollable no matter what you. There's no rhythm to it as to why things happen sometimes. And, and the compliance in glaucoma with patients is not good. We all know that. And so, getting something for that would be really, really great. And I know they're working hard on that and MIGS is a huge improvement, I know they're working hard but I love that you're looking into that area because I think it's a much-needed area.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Yeah, I agree.
Polly Neely: Well, I've enjoyed following you and Dr. Trattler and your son on Facebook and watching all the great pictures of you as a family. You're really wonderful. I appreciate it so much.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Thanks so much.
Polly Neely: And thanks so much for doing this with us this evening. Your time is so valuable, and we appreciate your sharing it with us.
Dr. Jennifer Loh: Of course. Thank you so much for having me on your program. I really am honored and appreciative.
Focus Through the Generations is supported by Bruder Healthcare Company.
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