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Alicia Verdugo, founder of Visioncore, talks to Metropolitan about transforming her passion for ophthalmology into a career.
I am originally from Venezuela, but moved to Barcelona in 1993, as my mother is Catalan and I had a lot of family living here. I began studying Family and Community Medicine at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, and received a distinction in Ophthalmology. I also attended to patients at different hospitals in the city, such as Dr Jodep Trueta Hospital, and various private centres that focused on glaucoma, ocular surface, refractive surgery and more. This experience allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how the eye functions, and I was particularly interested in how the organ can affect one's overall health as opposed to being an isolated medical entity.
My love for ophthalmology, which is a discipline that focuses particularly on the anatomy and physiology of the eye, germinated with my sister Maria. She is an Ophthalmologist who began her career in the US as a fellow in Glaucoma at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in 1993. After attending several other institutes and academies, Maria is now dedicated to the development of clinical ophthalmological trials in the US and Europe. Having observed Maria's journey through ophthalmology, my personal interests inevitably grew.
After several years of studying and being dedicated to advancing my knowledge and skills, which is something my parents had endorsed throughout my childhood, I knew I wanted to do something special in the field of ophthalmology. I decided to merge my area of clinical expertise with my sister's knowledge of research, creating the clinic, Visioncore.
Visioncore is consistently hard work, yet it is personally rewarding. I am consistently ensuring that the clinic is renowned for its excellent standards and clear results for patients. This takes a lot of organisation and persistent preparation, but I am a firm believer in putting in effort to achieve the best outcome. I also value professionalism, and aim to place this at the core of my work and in the management of the clinic. I surround myself with others who are equally committed, and I believe this united effort is why Visioncore is recognised for its quality.