VisionAmerica is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Karen Shelton to its Birmingham office. With over 20 years experience in ophthalmology, Dr. Shelton specializes in glaucoma and cataract surgery and will be a huge asset to our team! We sat down with Dr. Shelton to learn a little bit more about her (both personally and professionally) and hope you enjoy the read! She will officially be joining the staff on Monday, October 15th. Can you tell us a little bit about where you are from and your career path? I am originally from Washington, D.C. I attended Howard University where I finished with a degree in Chemical Engineering. It was at Howard University where I met my husband, who was studying mechanical engineering. After graduating from college we got married and his job with Ford Motor Company took us to Michigan. At that time, I decided I wanted to go to medical school and took the additional pre-med courses required to attend. A few years after I got accepted to medical school, Ford Motor Company sent my husband to the University of Michigan Business school where he got his M.B.A. I stayed in Michigan for my Internship at Henry Ford Hospital while he completed his last year of business school.
We then moved to the New Jersey where I did my residency at Harlem Hospital in Affiliation with Columbia Presbyterian, while he was relocated to work at a Ford plant in New Jersey. I then did a Glaucoma Fellowship with the internationally recognized doctors Eve Higginbotham and Alan Robin in Baltimore, Maryland. It was there that we also started our family, ending up with a son and two daughters. We later moved to the Tidewater, Virginia, area where he worked at a Ford Automotive plant and I ultimately joined Hampton Roads Eye Associates, after working at a couple of local Ophthalmology practices. It was at Hampton Roads Eye Associates (a multi-specialty group) that I practiced for almost twenty years. Upon one of the senior partners retiring and leaving the area, I decided to look for a change and move closer to my family and hometown of Washington, D.C., since my youngest child was starting college. Over time, we decided to gravitate south so that we can be a little closer to my husbands family and this is when the opportunity with VisionAmerica came about. What is your specialty and what do you enjoy about it? I primarily practice Glaucoma and perform Cataract surgery. I have performed multiple Glaucoma procedures, including: Trabeculectomies, Ahmed Valves, Baerveldt Aqueous Drainage Devices, iStents, and the now recently discontinued Cypass stents. I have been performing Cataract surgery using the Femtosecond Laser (LenSx), Multifocal/Accommodating IOLs, and Toric IOLs. Can you tell us about your family? I have three children ages 20, 22 and 26. I enjoy jogging and recently started playing Bridge. I look forward to joining VisionAmerica to bring my expertise to an area that is largely underserved if the realm of surgical Glaucoma. I have always gravitated towards warmer climates, although Birmingham's climate may be a bit more than what I had in mind. My husband and I enjoy playing tennis and we are looking forward to being able to take advantage of the longer outdoor milder climates than what we have experienced further north for outdoor sports. From our first visit to Birmingham, I have been truly amazed and impressed by both the landscape and the warm reception my husband and I received. The subsequent visits and interactions with the doctors, staff and referring doctors have been nothing short of inviting and met with joyful anticipation of our move to the area. I look forward to bringing my years of experience and surgical expertise to the Birmingham community. Speaking on the addition of Dr. Shelton, VisionAmerica's Birmingham Center Director, Dr. Paul Batson, stated, "I can't begin to tell you how excited we are to have Dr. Shelton join our team here in Birmingham. Surgical glaucoma has been a request by our Advisory Board for over 10 years. "She gives us an opportunity to further round out our subspecialty work. I've really enjoyed getting to know Dr. Shelton and her husband. She will be a true asset for our referring doctors and their patients!"
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7/3/2020 08:26:20 am
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