Dr. Mark Lobanoff, founder and president of OVO LASIK + Lens, on making permanent, positive changes

Off the Record

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When he was carrying out his medical school rotations at the University of Michigan, Dr. Mark Lobanoff thought the people working in the ophthalmology clinic somehow seemed the happiest, he says in this episode of the Off the Record podcast. That positive attitude all made sense to him one day when a legally blind patient came to the clinic, according to Lobanoff.

"I got to sit in on their cataract surgery and was amazed. It only took 15 minutes. I thought it was incredible. The next day, that patient came back, and they could see,” he says. “We had restored vision to this blind patient. Here’s a field where you can make an immediate, permanent, positive impact on someone’s life.”

Now the founder and president of OVO LASIK + Lens, which opened in Saint Louis Park in 2021, Lobanoff aims to continue that mission of making positive changes in medicine for Minnesotans and beyond. In the episode, Lobanoff shares his career journey and goals with hosts Kathy Robideau, market president and publisher of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and Dave Faust, president and CEO of Platinum Bank. Listen to hear about:

• Unexpected help from an educator in Lobanoff’s undergrad years.
• Taking a year off from med school to participate in a coveted research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.
• The unwritten rule that led to Lobanoff choosing to practice long term in Minnesota.
• What it feels like to do your first surgery.
• How Lobanoff’s “best-of-the-best” mentality led to the creation of OVO LASIK + Lens.
• The journey of creating a disruptive technology, Phorcides, to achieve better and more accurate LASIK results.

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