The professionals at Schwartz Laser Eye Center are pleased to introduce a partnering ophthalmologist and new Arizona resident, Dr. Orry Birdsong.
After completing his medical school residency training in Galveston, the Texas native and his wife, Tayrsa, left Texas last year during a late February snowstorm that swept across the nation.
“My wife’s family is from Salt Lake City, Utah and my family is from Amarillo, Texas,” says Dr. Birdsong. “We were looking for a place to reside that was a little bit closer to her family,” he added.
When the opportunity arose to partner with the team at Schwartz Laser Eye Center, the Birdsongs believed it to be a great one. The new Arizonans find themselves in a state right between extended family. “We are literally a 30-minute difference in drive time between Tayrsa’s hometown and mine,” said Dr. Birdsong.
Dr. Birdsong’s training has taken him all over the world, enabling him to provide eye care for different populations. “It is without question that my time in Ghana was the most humbling and rewarding experience of my professional career, thus far, and it still motivates me today,” he recalls.
Working with people in communities that are more agriculture or manual labor-based has proven that restoring people’s vision does much more for them than merely providing sight. Dr. Birdsong believes that his influences in Ghana helped tribes-people with unclear or little vision from being viewed as being possessed by demons.
He witnessed the benefits of his work among younger family members who cared for his patients there. These youngsters’ lives were also positively impacted, as they were able to return to school, allowing them to make a living for their families and be accepted within their culture. The rewards of these experiences motivate him to practice these same quality-of-life improvement principles for his current patients in Arizona.
Fast-forward to a recent situation with an Arizona patient who recently had to quit her job due to her inability to see because of early-onset cataracts. After receiving cataract surgery, her vision was greatly improved to the point of being able to return to work. The patient has reported that she feels like she has her life back again.
Situations like these, and from prior experiences in Ghana, have reminded Dr. Birdsong that vision is truly much more than seeing. Sight has the potential to change a person’s outlook literally and metaphorically on life.
Dr. Birdsong is quick to give credit, where credit is due, for the journey that has turned his profession into his dream. “I was extremely lucky to be born to two amazing parents who worked multiple jobs providing for my sister and I to give us a better life than they had. They taught me how to work hard from an early age and that foundation shaped me today.”
Professionally, he recognizes his residency director, Dr. Kevin Merkley, and his fellowship director, Dr. Majid Moshirfar, for teaching him the nuances, and the do’s and the don’ts of the field of ophthalmology for which he is truly grateful.
Whether you’re inspired to see the world more clearly without glasses or contact lenses, the Schwartz Laser Eye Center, locally located at 3130 E. Baseline Road, Suite 101, hosts a professional team of doctors willing to address your needs. Visit them online at schwartzlaser.com, or call (480) 483-3937, and prepare to be treated like a superstar.