Ramiro Maldonado, MD - UK HealthCare

I'm Ramiro Maldonado, I'm an assistant professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Kentucky. I am the director of the ophthalmic genetics service, and I am retinal physician. My practice is divided into patients with inherited retinal diseases, patients with a very rare condition such as retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease, Usher syndrome.

I see patients of all ages. And 40% of my patients are children that are unfortunately suffering from these inherited conditions. I see those patients, but I also see patients with common retinal conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and vain occlusion.

My father was an ophthalmologist. He was one of the first retinal specialists in Ecuador. He had a true passion for research, and he taught me that you should always look for something else and cultivated in me the desire to find solutions to problems.

For many years we haven't had a way to treat patients. And I feel that we are overcoming many of those barriers, and we are coming with more treatments. And it's very exciting for me to have the opportunity to work in a university setting where I can do research, where I can be part of that team that it's finding solutions for patients.

Especially when they see children I know that the news could be life changing for parents. And so we spend the necessary time to talk to the parents, to discuss what is going on. This is a fairly unique field. There are very-- about 10 centers in the US offering these services. There are less than 100 specialists of this type in the world. So we are thrilled to offer this service to our patient population.

When I see these patients I'm not looking at the eyes, I'm not just providing the care that an ophthalmologist will do, but I am also looking at the rest of the body. The development, motor skills, the mental condition to put everything together. I truly enjoy seeing children, because I get to know them very well, and I get to see them grow. I feel that I am part of the family because they I make an special bond with a kid, but also with the parents. It's just a special relationship.

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