Drs. Maria Aaron and Nieraj Jain are among 50 recognized by their peers in the Emory School of Medicine
Maria Aaron, MD, and Nieraj Jain, MD, have been singled out by their peers in the Department of Ophthalmology for recognition as a part of the 2023 National Doctor's Day celebration, March 30.
More than 200 physicians in the Emory School of Medicine were nominated by their colleagues for recognition on National Doctor's Day which marks the day in 1842 that Georgia physician Dr. Crawford Long first used ether as an anesthesia. Aaron and Jain share this distinction with more than 50 clinic and hospital-based physicians from Emory Healthcare.
Maria Aaron, MD: Ophthalmologists are some of the happiest doctors you'll ever meet
Emory Eye Center director and F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr., Chair Dr. Allen Beck applauded the choice of Aaron, a fellow Vanderbilt grad who completed her residency at Emory, served as the ophthalmology Residency Program director for 14 years and as associate dean of Graduate Medical Education for more than six years.
Dr. Aaron is a superb clinician who is beloved by patients and her team,
he said.
She is an outstanding educator who has used her teaching and administrative skills to oversee all of the Emory School of Medicine residency programs for the last six years. Dr. Aaron has also provided tremendous service to the American Academy of Ophthalmology as the secretary for the Annual Meeting and as a member of the Board of Trustees. We are so fortunate to have her in the Ophthalmology Department.
Asked to comment on this honor, Aaron deflected the praise by spreading it around.
If you love being a doctor, and I do, it's because you find so much joy in each individual, every patient you see. It's really a privilege to be able to touch the lives of so many people. All of the doctors I work with feel the same way,
she said.
And, teaching at a place like Emory, I am constantly surrounded by bright young medical students, residents, and fellows. They ask me questions that make me think. They have all the right stuff- compassion for patients and a desire to do well -- not just by their patients, but by their profession. They really want to move ophthalmology forward.
This generosity toward her peers is as authentic as it is effortless. Maria Aaron is truly one of those rare individuals whose temperament naturally skews positive. She knows what can only be called 'the medicinal value' of a well-timed smile. And she has mastered the science of identifying patients who need a hug. She shrugs her shoulders and laughs when asked to explain how kindness became the bedrock of her professional reputation.
I grew up in a small town in Ohio- a place where there wasn't a lot to do but people were nice to each other because everyone knew everyone else's business,
she says, breaking into another peal of laughter. If you weren't nice, it would get back to your mom.
From an early age, Aaron knew that that she wanted to become a doctor, but she initially wavered between ophthalmology, ears-nose-and-throat (ENT), and neurosurgery
I wanted to do surgery, and I was especially interested in micro-surgery, so they all were attractive. I chose ophthalmology because ophthalmologists are some of the happiest doctors you'll ever meet. They work hard and they work long days- and they do have some late nights - but they also have a better shot at establishing a work-life balance.
Ophthalmologists, she pointed out, have fewer after-hour calls, fewer interruptions to their home life, and have more time to pursue outside interests. They are also able to establish long-term relationships with many of their patients.
This part, in particular, has really appealed to Maria Aaron over the long haul.
I'm looking at my clinic schedule for this week, and pretty much every patient is someone I recognize, someone I've known for awhile. Some of them remember when I was pregnant with my first child, more than 20 years ago,
she said. It's been wonderful getting to know them and care for them for so many years. What other job would give me this opportunity?
Nieraj Jain, MD: Ophthalmology chose him
His peers nominated Nieraj Jain for going above and beyond for his patients and for being the colleague that everyone turns to for clinical cases that no one else can diagnose.
But Jain, himself, does not recognize himself in such rarified terms.
I feel really fortunate to have found a true calling in ophthalmology, a profession that fits me,
he said.
And I think you'll find I'm just one of many at Emory that are equally deserving of this honor. As far as my patients are concerned, I am pretty low-key in my approach, but I guess you could say my modus operandi really follows the 'Golden Rule': I try to treat my patients as I would a family member. I try to give them the best possible treatment.
Jain's family includes a doctor- his father Jaswant Jain, an internist who practiced in upstate New York. But the path that led Nieraj Jain to become a widely respected retina specialist and researcher cannot be reduced to mere genetics.
Actually, as a medical student, I was a little lost, looking for a specialty to pursue. But that changed when I did my first rotation in ophthalmology,
he says.
I don't usually have a memory for such things, but I vividly remember the first time I looked at an eye through a slit lamp microscope. It was like looking at a piece of art. I was struck by the beauty of the eye when viewed through the microscope.
Jain said he walked away from that very first day of the ophthalmology rotation with a gut feeling, that ophthalmology was where he would put his energies going forward.
I could tell you all sorts of reasons why ophthalmology is so interesting, and they are all true: I love microsurgery, it's great to be able to restore or protect a patient's sight, and even that there's a growth in new technologies and novel therapies that have all sorts of possibilities. But what it really came down to was what I can only call an 'ah-hah moment', a gut feeling that this was where I belonged
Accompanying Jain on that first ophthalmology rotation was his med school roommate.
On the way home, I asked my roommate what he thought,
Jain recalls.
He laughed and said he thought it was really boring. And that just confirmed it for me. If I was that taken and he thought it was that boring, it was the real thing.
His roommate is now a pulmonologist.
Part of Jain's attraction for ophthalmology stemmed from the possibilities he saw in his chosen specialty, retina.
I entered the field at any exciting time,
he says.
New imaging technology meant we were able to view the retina in almost cellular detail. And it was the advent of an era where injectable drugs were showing a lot of promise for patients with macular diseases.
Supported by the Department of Ophthalmology's research and teaching missions, Jain dove into the challenges that presented themselves daily in his clinical work. When he noticed a pattern of pigmentary macular changes among patients who were taking pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS) for interstitial cystitis, he began investigating a possible link.
That was in 2018, and what I can now say is that seeing that connection was important, but just as important was the follow-up,
he said.
Emory gave me the space and time to pursue that connection, which continues to the present day.
It also led Jain to receive a five-year $375,000 research grant from the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which he has used to support his work.
I wouldn't be at Emory if it didn't support a tripartite mission- patient care, teaching, and research,
he said. I am honored to be able to do all three.
-Kathleen E. Moore