In this podcast, Alan Carlson, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the Duke Eye Center and chief of corneal and refractive eye surgery, discusses the latest advances in eye care at Duke.

Listen to the Podcast

Podcast Transcript

Announcer: Throughout the season you often listen in on our pregame show and hear our player interview. It’s always sponsored by the Duke Eye Center -- our closer look at Duke basketball -- and tonight we’re pleased to have Dr. Alan Carlson from the Duke Eye Center joining us.

He’s a professor of ophthalmology there, and he serves as the chief of corneal and refractive eye surgery. Dr. Carlson, thanks a lot for coming up and visiting us up here in the crow’s nest, and maybe tell us a little bit about what’s new -- what’s going on -- at the Duke Eye Center right now.

Dr. Carlson: Well, John, it’s great to be here and thanks for having me. I’ve been an avid Duke and ACC fan since coming here in 1974.

Well, we’ve grown to 64 full-time faculty members at the Duke Eye Center and we continue to climb in the national rankings as a top-six program, and now we’re really looking forward to the new, state-of-the-art Hudson Family Eye Institute to add to the Ruth and Herman Albert Eye Research Institute.

Announcer: So, what are some of the new things that are going on right now at the Duke Eye Center?

Dr. Carlson: Well, we’re extremely excited about our new programs for macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, pediatric eye care, cataracts, and refractive surgery.

Announcer: How about some examples of that?

Dr. Carlson: Well, our emphasis at Duke is not strictly limited to simply providing the very best in possible care, but we’re looking harder and harder for ways to prevent and cure eye diseases.

And for patients, for example, needing cataract surgery, patients have never had more options and the technological advances that have been made have made this one of the safest and most advanced procedures in all of medicine.

Announcer: Dr. Alan Carlson from the Duke Eye Center is our guest; and Dr. Carlson, I know you got the successful LASIK program started at Duke 15 years ago. Can you tell us how that’s going now?

Dr. Carlson: Well, we’re well into our second decade of offering the most experienced surgeons and staff, along with the very latest in technology and equipment. We now offer new pricing, making us more economically competitive.

Additionally, our thorough screening process and our desire to offer the safest procedure leads us to treat nearly half of our patients with newer, better, and even more advanced procedures than LASIK -- all of this available at the Duke Center for Vision Correction.

Announcer: Well, that’s great to know and we do appreciate you taking some time to visit us up here tonight in the crow’s nest. That’s Dr. Alan Carlson, professor of ophthalmology at the Duke Eye Center and chief of corneal and refractive eye surgery.