Dedication to Community Earns Honolulu Eye Surgeon Top Awards

News provided by

Jan 25, 2010, 10:16 ET

HONOLULU, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ --Best known as a national early-adopter in laser refractive surgery, Honolulu physician Tyrie Jenkins, M.D. is again recognized for her contributions to the business community.

She was one of five singled out for Pacific Business News' 2009 Business Leader of Hawaii. In March she will be inducted into the Junior Achievement of Hawaii Business Hall of Fame.

New technologies are expensive in tough times, but Dr. Jenkins remains grounded in a desire to bring patients the best choices for improving vision. The science of her profession is a pillar of her business model. So is good citizenship.

"Our goal is a sensible allocation of resources to assure quality care. That means both high-level professional skills and technologies; I'd argue that also gives us a competitive edge," Dr. Jenkins said.

"Businesses that survive in the new economic environment will measure success not in profits alone but goodwill. And, they will be driven by purpose and mission," she said.

Dr. Jenkins has been practicing ophthalmology in Hawaii for nearly two decades and refractive surgery for 13 years. Her practice reflects business acumen as well as her passion and skill.

Dr. Jenkins performs a wide range of eye surgeries. She performed Hawaii's first LASIK (laser in-situ keratomileusis) procedure in 1997 and helps bring new technologies to the islands. The latest are new intraocular lenses to treat cataracts and presbyopia and alternatives for patients who are not candidates for LASIK.

An inquiring scientist, she participated in two recent studies—one on a U.S.-approved contact lens that needed additional study to be approved in Japan, and ongoing research comparing Japanese ancestry and non-Japanese patients on new glaucoma medication.

She models the strong service traditions of her missionary-doctor grandmother. Last year she accompanied an eye care mission to Western Samoa with a group from University of Hawaii School of Medicine. She's done medical missions in China and the Marshall Islands as well.

Last summer, her staff gave eye exams to 30 Cambodian orphans who were in Honolulu visiting their "online foster parents" through the nonprofit organization, Foster Parents International. For many, it was their first eye exam.

In 2009 Dr. Jenkins was named a top-rated Hawaii physician by her peers—physicians in the top five percent of medical practitioners across the nation.

www.pathwaytovision.com.