In this episode, I chat with Dr. Grayson Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong is a clinical fellow in ophthalmic telemedicine at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. During the 2019–2020 academic year, Dr. Armstrong served as the chief resident in ophthalmology and the director of the ocular trauma service at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Armstrong was elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees in June 2019. He also  active within the Massachusetts Medical Society, serving on its Resident and Fellow Section governing council, and within the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, the state’s ophthalmology specialty society, where he is a member of its board of directors.

Dr. Armstrong is active in health policy across multiple fronts surrounding access to care. He has served as a fellow at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, worked with the Massachusetts Governor’s Office to secure access to the state’s prescription drug monitoring program for resident physicians, and worked with international non-profit organizations and the Jordanian government to improve the country’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Dr. Armstrong attended college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 2009 with a major in music and a minor in chemistry. He attended medical school at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, graduating in 2015 with invited membership to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society, before attending Harvard University, where he received his Master of Public Health with a focus on health care policy and management.

Since medical school, Dr. Armstrong has fostered a strong interest in health care technology innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition to serving as an advisor for various health technology startups, he is a founder of Ocular Technologies, a company creating tele-ophthalmic diagnostic hardware and software tools. With Ocular Technologies, he has been instrumental in the design and implementation of novel telemedicine and artificial intelligence technologies in the field of ophthalmology.

We discuss:

-Dr. Armstrong's path to ophthalmology and what aspiring ophthalmologists can take away from his journey.

-His experience as Chief Resident at MEEI and what makes a good resident

-Telemedicine and the state of current applications in ophthalmology

-Getting involved with health policy and advocacy as a trainee

-Dr. Armstrong's love for music!

You can follow Dr. Armstrong on Twitter and Instagram @GraysonWilkes.