Ophthalmologist and surgeon
Medical speciality:
- refractive surgery
- diagnosis and treatment of keratoconus
- diagnostic and treatment of eye conditions caused by diabetes
- medical treatment of retinal conditions
Up close with Dr. Fanka Gilevska
“We come to the best solution by educating the patients”
- Your profession is noble, but also very complex. What motivates you the most in your work?
Each patient, with their ophthalmic story, that will come to my clinic. The road to healing is always different and we always go together.
Another motivation for me is my research work. It stems from the need to analyze and model work protocols, but also from my systematic approach to the patient. Three years ago I enrolled in doctoral studies at the Medical Faculty in Zagreb. There I completed my research in the field of refractive surgery – keratoconus. I believe that my research will find application in the practice of every ophthalmologist.
- What type of method is laser vision correction?
It is part of refractive surgery, a successful method that can get rid of vision aids in a fast, painless, safe and lasting way. It is a laser remodeling of the cornea. This can be done depending on the preoperative parameters of the cornea and the size of the diopter. In some patients, diopter correction is performed by implantation of intraocular lenses. That gives us the right to say that there is a solution for everyone.
- What are the benefits of laser diopter correction?
Laser diopter correction is one of the most performed refractive procedures in the world. For many people, vision aids, glasses or lenses interfere with daily chores and activities. For example, when playing sports, or with professional drivers they are not allowed. With this method, which lasts only fifteen minutes, the patient can function as if they never had diopters. The result is lasting.
- How patients decide on laser diopter correction. Do you “help” them in their decision?
Each of our patients is different, they have their own reasons why they want to have the correction but they also have their own dilemmas and fears. Once we have decided which surgery is best for the patient, through a long and lengthy conversation we explain the whole surgical procedure and the patient’s expectations after the operation. This conversation often clarifies the myths regarding the intervention that the patient has by reading about it online. The feeling of trust and security that the patient has on the day of the operation is created through that conversation in which the patient participates in the planning of the operation.
- What influences the patients’ behavior the most?
Many diseases can be prevented before they can be treated. Therefore, regular ophthalmological examinations are most important. Educating patients, through conversations with them, can erase the stereotype that we only go to the doctor when we are sick. On the other hand, one should have confidence in the doctor, that there will be no treatment or intervention at any cost. On the contrary, together with the patients, we come to the ideal solution for vision correction.
- You are the type of woman who has a healthy lifestyle. How do you implement this concept?
Each of us has healthy and unhealthy habits. I see life as a balance between the two. I have a feeling that when we are older, we have more healthy habits, as if we feel that the body can compensate less. To me, the bicycle is a means of transportation to and from work. It was the same when I went to high school, and to university, and in Zagreb for specialization. I started riding my son on the bike the same month he started sitting upright. A healthy habit that I am increasingly striving for is anything that can bring me peaceful thoughts. I love long walks in nature.
- You dress youthfully and casually, you are not a slave to brands and you almost never wear high heels and uncomfortable clothes to be perfectly groomed. What is a stylish woman for you?
In the absence of their own values, people hide behind others’. Brands are just a visual form behind which one can hide one’s emptiness. Style is the content and way of recognizing a person. I feel perfectly fit in my sneakers. I see that they are worn more often, they seem to have become a trend.
- Your profession requires a lot of commitment. Does your partner help you with household chores?
“There is no such thing as a female job,” – says Bibi to the Giants.
- Are women emancipated and to what extent in our country?
I can speak on that topic from a position of privilege. Regardless of my own work, I am aware of how much the quality education helped me, the parents without prejudice, and the real friends. It protects me from possible discrimination, because I am a woman. Many women do not have the above privileges. Discrimination against women, in our country, is unfortunately a real, present and layered problem.