Mark I. Golden, MD, FACS, FICS
Ophthalmologist and Lasik Surgeon

Dr. Mark Golden is a third generation physician in Chicago and a second generation ophthalmologist.  He is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist, a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology at The University of Chicago and then received the first ever pre-doctoral Master of Science degree in Ophthalmology given in the United States under the supervision of the legendary Dr. Frank Newell at The University of Chicago.  While at the University of Chicago he also held the positions of histology technician and electron microscopy technician for the Department of Ophthalmology. 

His medical training was at Saint Louis University for medical school and residency.  Hecompleted his Ophthalmologytraining under the direction of Dr. David Schanzlin, one of the earliest pioneers in the field of refractive surgery.
In 1988 he returned to Chicago to start his practice of Ophthalmology by joining his father Bruce Golden and Carrie Golden Brenner in their cornea specialty practice at Eye Surgeons and Consultants.  After a few years at Eye Surgeons and Consultants, he took over its management and it grew from one office to eight offices split between Chicago and Southern Wisconsin.  While there, he was one of the first ophthalmologists in Chicago to specialize in small incision cataract surgery under topical anesthesia.  He also was the doctor in the practice who specialized in the treatment diabetics and care of glaucoma patients. 

He closely followed the advances in refractive surgery and trained to perform Radial Keratotomy (RK) from Charles Casebeer, MD, but then waited to start until he took a course from Richard Lindstrom, MD in mini-RK which emphasized the importance of not pushing the limits of the technology.  In the passing years he was happy that he limited his RK surgery as many of those individuals are having problems, to this day, with corneal instability and hence the stability of their correction.  Dr. Golden is one of the few laser surgeons in the mid-west who actively looks for such patients to help with modern technology.

In 1990, while attending a meeting on RK, Dr. Golden learned about the new technique of Automated Lamellar Keratoplasty (ALK) which gave the ability to treat higher amounts of nearsightedness than RK.  ALK took the surgically difficult technique of Lamellar Keratoplasty that had been started in the late 1930’s by Dr. Jose Barraquer and automated the equipment for a more predictable outcome.  Dr. Golden then took the first course in the United States offered by the inventor of the technology, Dr. Luis Ruiz in early 1990.  He subsequently travelled to Houston where he underwent a mini-fellowship under the direction of Dr. Stephen Slade where he had the opportunity to watch surgeries and use the equipment under supervision. 

Dr. Golden became the first surgeon in the mid-west to perform ALK and enjoyed the power of the procedure, if not its precision.  The ALK machine was used to make a flap, similarly to Lasik and then the same machine was adjusted to remove a thin piece of corneal tissue which corrected high amounts of nearsightedness.  The problem was that the thickness of the second cut was critical to the correction of the refractive error and precision was impossible.  The earliest ALK surgeons in the world met on a regular basis until Dr. Ioannis Pallikaris of Crete announced at one of the meetings that he had solved the problem of precision of the second cut by using the then new Excimer Laser to remove tissue with tremendous precision with replacement of the flap for much faster healing than seen with PRK surface ablation at that time. 
With the discovery of Lasik – Laser Assisted Intra-Stromal Keratomileusis, Dr. Golden was convinced that patients would be better off to wait for FDA approval of the Excimer Laser.  He believed that the level of complications that were seen with RK made it a poor choice and ALK lacked adequate precision.  He was asked by a group of eye doctors to investigate Canadian Laser Centers and when he met Dr. Jeffrey Machatof TLC Laser Center, started teaching U.S. doctors how to care for Laser Refractive patients postoperatively in conjunction with TLC.  Shortly thereafter, Dr. Machat learned the technique of flap making and started performing Lasik. 

Dr. Golden started teaching courses on the use of the microkeratome to International surgeons as well as American Eye Doctors who wanted to learn to care for the patients that they sent to Canada for surgery.  With United States FDA approval of the Excimer laser, Dr. Golden quickly became a FDA certified instructor and helped U.S. surgeons to learn to use the laser and to perform Lasik.  Over the years, Dr. Golden has trained thousands of doctors in the preoperative and postoperative care of Refractive Surgery patients, opened nearly 20 laser centers training the doctors and staff and proctored hundreds of surgeons in their first Laser Vision Correction Procedures. 
In addition to working with TLC and being in charge of their Chicago and Wisconsin Laser Centers, he opened laser centers for Icon Laser Centers and became the medical and surgical directors of their centers in Chicago, St. Louis and Minneapolis.  He worked for a brief time at two of the Chicagoland laser centers for LasikPlus before opening his own Laser Center, Doctors For Visual Freedom Laser Center, inside of one the largest shopping centers in the United States, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg a suburb of Chicago.  After a little more than six years, Dr. Golden decided that life in a mall was too frenetic and he wanted a slower pace and moved the practice to Arlington Heights.

 
His expertise in opening laser centers and training staffs was still in demand and in 2007 became the first surgeon for the new 2020 Laser Center in Indianapolis where he trained the staff, set up protocols and stayed as a surgeon until 2010 when his own practice limited his ability to travel.
In January of 2009, Dr. Golden realized that he missed the variety of patients in the general practice of ophthalmology and opened Golden Eye Surgeons and Consultants located at the corner of Harlem and Foster Avenues in Chicago where in addition to caring for Laser Refractive patients, he sees a wide variety of general ophthalmology patients ranging from school eye exams in young children to the care of glaucoma in the elderly and treatment of those with eye injuries.  He is active in the local community and frequently is asked by local groups to lecture on subjects from eye safety, cataracts, glaucoma and children’s eye health to the risks and benefits of laser vision correction.  He opens his office on Monday and Wednesday afternoons to local seniors without insurance for free cataract and glaucoma screenings. 

He is concerned about the many that do not receive needed care because of lack of resources and never turns away a patient because of lack of money.  His philosophy is simple when it comes to medicine.  He tells his staff that, “we will always do the right thing” and works hard to care for each patient as if they were a member of his own family.
His Chicago office is staffed with those that speak Spanish, Polish, Russian and a few words of Czech, Rumanian and Bulgarian.  Even though he enjoys the variety of general Ophthalmology patients, his first love is in assisting people to find their Visual Freedom through Refractive Surgery.  He has performed more than 22,000 Laser Procedures including airplane pilots, malpractice attorneys, police officers, and even his own wife more than 11 years ago.  He had CK for the treatment of his aging presbyopic eyes in 2004 with an enhancement in 2007. 

In April of 2010, after deciding that he liked monovision, he had Lasik to make himself nearsighted in his left eye and a very small correction of farsightedness and astigmatism to take him from 20/20 for distance to 20/15 in his right eye.   Dr. Golden is happiest when he has the opportunity to see his happy postoperative patients and to share in their joy of their changed lives.  Lasik patients, when questioned, admit that their procedure to eliminate their glasses and contact lenses was in the top five great events in their lives, rating up with marriage and the birth of their children.  Dr. Golden can be reached by calling 773-774-2102 or info@goldeneyeconsultants.com.

Dr. Mark
Husband, Father, Ophthalmologist,
Food and Wine Enthusiast

I grew up mostly in St. Louis and Iowa City and attended the University of Chicago to receive a BA in Biology and subsequently the first pre-doctoral Master’s degree in Ophthalmology also at the University of Chicago where I worked under the direction of the well-known chairman, Dr. Frank Newell.  I subsequently attended Saint Louis University for medical school (my father is also an alumnus).  I performed a flexible internship at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center also in St. Louis and subsequently returned to my first choice of St. Louis University for my residency in Ophthalmology and worked under the chairman Dr. David Schanzlin, one of the early pioneers in Laser Vision Correction and small incision cataract surgery.  

I then returned to Chicago and joined my father and sister in practice and brought with me the state of the art cataract surgery of small incision phacoemulsification using topical anesthesia several years earlier than most ophthalmologists in Chicago. 
After a few years of practicing general ophthalmology, I became interested in a new technique called ALK which was the precursor of Lasik. 

I took the first course offered on this new technique followed by a fellowship in Houston.  With the discovery of Lasik which combined the flap making of ALK with the precision of the Excimer Laser, I became one of the first Lasik trainers in North America traveling to Canada to teach international surgeons the techniques of flap making and the use of the laser. 

With FDA approval of the Excimer laser, I then started training Lasik surgeons around the United States and helping them to open their laser centers.  I did a great deal of traveling for a long time with laser centers in St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Indianapolis and then decided to open my own practice here in Chicago when my son was born. 

After running the only Laser Vision Correction practice in a major shopping mall for 5 1/2 years, I closed our Woodfield Mall office and took my then seven year old son on a ten week, 16,000 mile trip along Route 66 and then up Route 1 to Alaska.  Almost two years ago, I decided to re-add general ophthalmology with an office in Chicago at Harlem and Foster which supplements my Lasik practice in Arlington Heights.  In addition to my life in ophthalmology, I have a small catering company Snacks By Mark where I cater about 6-10 events per year from 20-200 people.  For many years, I have takennearly yearly trips to the wine country of Sonoma, Russian River Valley, Monterey and Napa, typically tasting 300-400 wines per trip.  (I always hire a driver.)  With my extensive notes, I then purchase my favorites and cellar the wines until nicely aged. 

In all we now have over 2000 bottles of wine.  I do not think of myself as a serious oenophile, but rather purchase those wines that I enjoy drinking.  I have had the opportunity to meet and know a number of vintners of my favorite wineries.  I enjoy conventions like the International Fancy Food Shows and the National Restaurant Show and frequently buy food from the wholesalers of the items that I have tried at the shows. 

Since the birth of my son, my wife and I have always had a date on Saturday night and try to try new restaurants and write about them in my Restaurant Blog.  My wife, 12 year old son and I try to take at least one major trip each year.  Last year was China and we are contemplating our destination for next year.  For more information about our travels, you can read my Travel Blog.  We live on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on the 86th floor of the John Hancock Building where we feel like we are in the heart of Chicago.