Premiere Eye Associates welcomes new doctor
The eyes are the windows to the soul, it is said, and Premiere Eye Associates in Festus helps Jefferson Countians of all ages keep theirs in good health. The newest member of the staff is Dr. Humeyra Karacal, who practices general ophthalmology and performs surgery. She specializes in the treatment of uveitis, or inflammation in the eyeball.
“You see (inflammation) as a result of infection, but also systemic disease like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus,” she said. “We treat it with steroids, sometimes even with cancer medications, and sometimes with surgery.
“Now we have biologics, and there is a lot of promise in those treatments.”
Karacal, 49, is a native of Turkey.
“I wanted to be an engineer, but one of my teachers strongly encouraged me to go to medical school,” she said. I wanted to drop out, but then I did a rotation in ophthalmology and loved it.
“So I decided to stay on.”
After completing medical school and residency in Turkey, she came to Washington University in 1998 for a fellowship in ophthalmology.
Karacal spent a year with the Flying Eye Hospital of Orbis International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the global effort to end avoidable blindness.
“We traveled the world in a DC-10 teaching eye surgery techniques, to doctors, nurses, technicians,” she said. “That was the most rewarding part of my life. You can’t put a price on being able to help people who have been helpless, hopeless, who are now able to work again.”
After practicing briefly in Turkey, she was recruited to the Washington University staff.
“I had to do four years of residency again to be able to sit for the boards,” she said. “Then I spent 15 years on the faculty teaching, seeing patients, operating, doing clinical research.”
She joined Premiere last summer, and continues to follow research being done into eye diseases and their treatment.
“The eyeball is a fascinating organ,” she said.
Premiere Eye Associates is at 1400 Hwy. 61, in the Mercy Jefferson South Building. Call 636-937-8855 to schedule an appointment. Visit the website for online registration and links to other information sites.
