Transformative — that’s how Cecilia Hernandez, MD, would describe her experience as a glaucoma fellow in the University of Colorado Department of Ophthalmology. The yearlong fellowship has prepared her for the next step in her career: becoming the only glaucoma specialist working in a multi-county region of California’s Central Valley.
“It’s bittersweet to leave CU because I have been beyond happy with my training here,” says Hernandez, who will join two private ophthalmology practices in the cities of Hanford and Visalia, California. “But I feel ready to start this new chapter and to practice on my own.”
There is a growing national need for more ophthalmologists like Hernandez to provide eye health care to patients. More than 10,000 people in the United States turn 65 each day, and that comes with an expected increase in diseases like glaucoma and cataracts. Yet, the total ophthalmology workforce is expected to have a 30% shortfall by 2035, according to a study published in the Ophthalmology journal.
Hernandez, who completed her glaucoma fellowship at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center in June, feels well-equipped to tackle the complexities that come with treating glaucoma — a condition where there is too much pressure inside the eye, potentially leading to optic nerve damage and vision loss.
“Unfortunately, this disease is not completely curable,” she says. “My goal, as a glaucoma specialist, is to halt the progression as much as possible and try to prevent vision loss.”
Although Hernandez’s mother was an ophthalmic operating room nurse, Hernandez did not originally envision a career in ophthalmology. Growing up in Georgia, she originally wanted to be an engineer, but an anatomy class she took in high school changed everything.
She majored in biology at Armstrong State University, now known as the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University. After her graduation in 2015, she took a gap year before applying for medical school and worked as a medical scribe for an eye clinic.
Within her first year of attending the Medical College of Georgia, Hernandez knew ophthalmology was the right fit for her, as it blended her interest in the eyes with her desire to perform surgery.
“I knew I wanted to do a surgical subspecialty going into medical school because I like the opportunity to fix things with my hands,” she says. “I found that ophthalmology was what I was most comfortable and interested in, and I did research all four years with a glaucoma specialist.”
After graduating medical school in 2020, Hernandez attended the Medical University of South Carolina for residency. Determined to further her training, she consulted her mother’s advice on which glaucoma specialists she admired. When her mother responded with Jordan Stanley, MD, who completed his fellowship at CU, Hernandez decided to follow the same path.
She joined CU’s glaucoma fellowship in 2024 and trained at several medical sites, including UCHealth, Denver Health, Rocky Mountain Regional Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
“My job is to connect with patients and determine their disease progression and the best treatment possible. It’s like untangling a web, because I need to tailor the treatment to the person,” she says. “There are lots of different treatment options — eye drop medicine, laser procedures, or surgeries.”
When it comes to surgical operations, Hernandez describes glaucoma specialists as “plumbers of the eye,” explaining that people have a drain on the inside of their eye that helps control their eye pressure.
“With glaucoma, the drain doesn’t always work well or it gets blocked,” she says. “We’re the plumbers who fix your drain system.”
The surgeries Hernandez performs vary from less invasive operations to more intensive ones, depending on whether the patient’s “drain” can be fixed or if it needs to be replaced.
“For one of my patients, we did cataract surgery and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery on both of her eyes, and we were able to improve her vision and control her eye pressure. She was ecstatic,” Hernandez says. “It’s amazing that I can do that for someone — that a 15-minute surgery I perform can potentially change a life.”
One of her proudest fellowship accomplishments was tackling a complex surgery for a young adult male patient who had vision in only one eye. The pressure in his eye was uncontrolled, and so Hernandez was tasked with performing a surgery called a gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy that involves making micro-incisions in the cornea.
“We knew it would be difficult because of his anatomy and condition, but if we couldn’t perform this surgery successfully, then we would have to do a more invasive procedure that would’ve left him with a tube in his eye,” Hernandez says. “I was determined to do it well, and it was successful. His pressure is good, he no longer needs eye drops, and he’s been doing well.”
Hernandez’s training at CU has helped her gain confidence in her clinical skills. As a glaucoma specialist, she wants her patients to know that she is dedicated to providing the best care possible to them and instill a sense of hope.
“Because of my fellowship, I think about things differently now. I feel like a better surgeon and have better conversations with my patients,” she says. “I’ve absolutely loved it here.”
When Hernandez looks ahead at her future career, she aims to advance the field by improving an understanding of glaucoma and its potential treatments.
“What is great about this field is that it is constantly evolving,” she says. “There is so much more to come, and I’m excited to learn and offer these advances in care to my patients.”