What questions should I ask to ensure I am seeing the most qualified surgeon?

There are several ways to be reassured that you’ll be seeing the most appropriate person and best qualified to provide you with the very best care. One of the main ways is to establish where their practice is.
For example I’m working at Moorfields Eye Hospital which is the largest and oldest eye hospital in the world. Next it is to see whether that individual, the ophthalmologist that you’re seeing is a specialist in a particular area or whether they are a generalist. I specialise in medical retina, I only see patient with medical retina problems, and I have dedicated clinics for general medical retina and inherited retinal disease, both – in adults and in children.
The other area that can distinguish between ophthalmologists is their research practice and their knowledge of clinical trials and whether they are actually participating in clinical trials/research. So, one can check to see for example on ResearchGate or other search engines looking for their publications and see how research active they are – whether they have grants, whether they have grants from the research councils in the UK and whether they are leading clinical trials. I’m leading on clinical trials, I have approx. 300 peer-reviewed publications and I’m very research active and known as an international expert in medical retinal disease. I think these are the ways that you can really be reassured that you’ll be seeing the very best person.

More about Michel Michaelides

Professor Michel Michaelides is a Professor of Ophthalmology at Clinica London. His special expertise is in Retinal Diseases, including Inherited Retinal Diseases, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy and Maculopathy, and Retinal Vein Occlusions. He has over 16 years experience in treating people with eye problems just like you, and has published extensively in scientific journals about diabetic eye disease, age-related macular degeneration and inherited eye disease, and also lead multiple clinical trials investigating novel therapies. At Clinica London, he is responsible for Retinal Diseases both in adults and children.