I suffered from astigmatism. After 10 years of contact lenses and 6 pairs of broken glasses I…read moredecided to pursue eye surgery. As a medical student in Philadelphia, I was very adamant about finding the finest quality of refractive eye surgery available. Below I structured my experience at Dr. Mendez's Institute of Vision, in order of personal value.
1. Procedure: 10/10
My surgery took approximately 5 minutes. Each eye took on average 60 seconds. The best part about my whole experience was that the operation was completely painless. I denied pain medication, and yet I did not feel a thing. The ReLEx SMILE procedure that Dr. Mendez performs is the latest innovation in vision correction surgery (better than LASIK!). It is minimally invasive and corrected my visual acuity to better than 20/20.
2. Patient care/Staff: 10/10
Dr. Mendez has performed over 1,000 surgeries since the laser procedure received FDA approval in September 2016, which is a testament to his experience and an amazing feat in the practice of Ophthalmology by itself. Dr. Mendez, an internationally recognized eye surgeon and his staff of nurses are the most attentive group of health professionals I have ever experienced during my time as a med student. They took great care of me and my family.
3. Institution: 10/10
What surprised me the most about Vision Mendez was its cleanliness. Dr. Mendez's Institute is cleaner than any clinic I have seen in the US. The operating rooms look like the inside of a space shuttle: white and state-of -the-art. The waiting rooms are made of granite floors, high ceilings, and surround sound, so you have something to listen to while you wait..
While in the recovery room Dr. Mendez told me "Poor vision can rob people of their quality of life, physically, emotionally and socially." To be able to see is an amazing feeling. Words cannot begin to describe how grateful am I of Dr. Mendez and his ability to restore some of that quality back in my life, and for that reason, I highly recommend The Institute of Vision to anyone considering laser surgery.