Resolute, dedicated, efficient, brilliant, learned, giving, respectful—these are the words that come to mind when I think about David F. Chang, MD. Five years ago, we realized that Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today needed to improve its coverage of cataract surgery, because it was perceived as more of a refractive surgery publication. The saying Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good applies to our decision to invite David to become our co-chief medical editor alongside founding medical editor, John Doane, MD. I did not know David very well at that time, but Editor-in-Chief Gillian McDermott and I were always impressed with the quality of the articles he submitted to us for publication. We quickly learned that our choice of David for co-chief medical editor was a game changer.
When David committed to the position, he did so in full. He told me early on, "If I commit, I really commit, and you will get my best." I know from speaking to everyone who has ever worked with David—be it for educational meetings, clinical trials, or his recent textbook on refractive IOLs—that they are blown away by the quality and caring that go into everything he heads up. David is one of the smartest, most hard-working people I have ever met. Oftentimes in sports, it is the second-string quarterback or the average player, not the superstar, who becomes the best coach, because he understands the issues and how to effectively motivate and teach the entire team. This observation does not hold true with David, because he is a superstar yet has the unbelievable quality of identifying and delivering the information that the majority of ophthalmologists want and need to learn.
There are so many examples, but the bottom line is that David Chang has set the bar very high in everything he does! Luckily for all of us at CRSToday, we have had the honor of learning a great deal from him during the past 5 years. Even though David is stepping down as co-chief medical editor, he will still be heavily involved in CRSToday and will oversee a regular department, "My Worst Case Ever."
David, thank you for all your great work!
