Like most new years, 2020 held great promise at its onset. It would be The Year of the Ophthalmologist, symbolic in its numeric likeness to a measure of “perfect” visual acuity. As it turns out, 2020 has proven to be a year unlike any other, but for reasons wholly unexpected.
The COVID-19 pandemic turned life as we knew it upside-down, forcing us to collectively navigate and adjust to an unprecedented amount of change in what felt like an instant. Personally and professionally, suddenly nothing was the same. For those in certain locations (like myself, in downtown Philadelphia), restrictions on most aspects of daily life are still strongly in place, 9 months after the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
In his book Einstein’s Dreams, physicist Alan Lightman, PhD, writes, “Suppose time is a circle, bending back on itself. The world repeats itself, precisely, endlessly.” For a large portion of 2020, this theory of time seemed to accurately capture the state of the world. Although it is largely accepted that the pandemic will have a lasting impact, it has been difficult to see a near future in which any new insights gained could be put into action. However, with the promise of multiple vaccines on the horizon, 2021 may present a break in this circle of time and an opportunity to meaningfully apply the lessons learned throughout this experience.
In this issue of Glaucoma Today, ophthalmologists reflect on the past 9 months and look to the year ahead. They comment on the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic shone a bright light on once-hidden angles of their practice and discuss how these new views have emphasized many unanswered questions and unmet needs in glaucoma care. Perhaps 2020 wasn’t exactly The Year of the Ophthalmologist—but it has provided many with a new way of seeing. I hope you find value in the insights shared.
