Georgia Retina Ophthalmologist Shares Expertise With Local Korean Community
Posted by: Georgia Retina in Uncategorized
Dr. Sean S. Koh Answers Eye Care Questions On Local Korean-Language Radio and at Korean Church of Atlanta
Not only does Dr. Sean S. Koh treat patients at Georgia Retina, one of the state’s largest retina-only private practice, he also volunteers his time in the Korean community to explain eye-care issues to members of the city’s Korean community.
Dr. Koh, one of nine board-certified retina specialists at Georgia Retina, was born in South Korea and lived there until he moved to the United States to attend college. Fluent in both Korean and English, the Duluth resident is a regular guest on Atlanta Radio Korea AM1080 where he takes questions in Korean about eye-care issues.
He is also an active member of the Korean Church of Atlanta UMC where he volunteers at health seminars to help local residents better understand complex medical issues about their eyes.
“A lot of Korean Americans are not able to understand what’s going on with their health because of language barriers,” he said. “I try to help them understand on an open phone channel for an hour on the radio and at a quarterly health seminar in my church.”
Each of the forums allows him to address eye questions and make referrals as needed. “If they need retina care I give them the number for the office to make an appointment.”
Dr. Koh came to the U.S. in 1989, to study at State University of New York at Stony Brook before medical school at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He completed an internal medicine internship at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York, and an ophthalmology residency at the Boston University Medical Center. He completed a two-year vitreoretinal fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School.
At Georgia Retina since 2004, Dr. Koh said that ophthalmology was his first choice for a specialty. “My initial interest in ophthalmology arose during my surgery clerkship rotation. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to observe a cataract extraction at an affiliate hospital, and I found myself extremely attracted to the microscopic nature of ophthalmic surgery. During the subsequent ophthalmology rotations, I discovered the uniqueness of ophthalmology — the mixture of medicine and surgery in practice, the treatment of all age groups, the challenge of microscopic techniques, the precision of diagnostic ability and the continuity of patients’ relationships with ophthalmologists – all of which strongly appealed to me,” he said.
Dr. Koh lives in Duluth with his wife and two daughters.
At Georgia Retina, patients’ vision needs are the top priority. As one of the largest retina-only medical practices in the southeastern United States, Georgia Retina specializes in treating diseases of the retina, macula, and vitreous. Its nine board-certified ophthalmologists have received special Fellowship training in vitreo-retinal diseases and surgery, and are engaged in clinical trials with the goal of advancing research into retinal diseases, their causes, and their cures.
