I am scheduled for 3/29 and am starting to get nervous. I hear that the main factor in complications is the experience level of your surgeon. So, I am asking for any feedback on my doctor. His name is Dr. Teplick here in the Portland Oregon area.

I hear that he is very experienced, but wanted to hear what people have to say about him. (All of my info comes from his office or him, so it is not un-biased).

Expreience is, indeed, an important factor in deciding on which surgeon to choose. However, I think patients put far too much emphasis on it. I think it is far more important to go to a surgeon that you feel comfortable with, one that answers your questions, is local and available for you if complications develop and you feel is working for you rather a corporation or network. The number of surgeries one does is far less important. The surgical and medical judgement I've developed in fifteen years of eye surgery favors my patients far more than the number of surgeries done. For example, you can go to a surgeon who has good judgement when complications develop and has done far fewer surgeries than someone who has poor judgement and has done lots of surgery. While I have done hundreds of lasik surgeries and others have done thousands, my results stand up to theirs (my results are on my website). The point of my message is not to be self-serving because I don't necessarily think you should travel from Portland to Eugene to have surgery. Rather, you should be looking at other factors regarding doctors in Portland (and there are many!!), in addition to the ones you mentioned, when choosing a surgeon.
Good luck.
Steven Ofner, M.D.
Eugene, Oregon
http://www.eugeneeyecare.com

Rick,

Please e-mail me privately with your phone number and I will tell you my story about this doctor.