About Andrew Caster, MD

Education:

• B.A. Harvard University; 1976
  (Phi Beta Kappa)
• M.D. Harvard Medical School; 1980
• Resident in Ophthalmology, UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute; 1981-1984

Credentials:

• Selected to "Best Doctors in America", 2005
• Selected to Alcon Refractive Surgery Clinical Advisory Board, 2003-- In this capacity, Dr. Caster trains other surgeons in the latest Lasik techniques and works with the scientists at the world's largest eye care company.
• Selected by Los Angeles Magazine as LA´s "Best Laser Eye Surgeon", 1999
• Selected by Visx as one of the top laser eye surgeons in the United States, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
• Selected by W Magazine as one of two top Lasik eye surgeons in America, 1999
• Board Certified, American Board of Ophthalmology; 1986
• Certified Refractive Surgeon -- Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance, 2000
• Fellow, American College of Surgeons; 1991
• Clinical Instructor in Ophthalmology, UCLA School of Medicine; 1986-present
• Author of The Eye Laser Miracle; The Complete Guide to Better Vision, published by Ballantine/Random House, 1997. This is the most widely read book in America on Lasik laser vision correction and is now in its fifth edition.

To see a list of recent Lasik research presentations
by Dr. Caster, please click here

• Dr. Caster has performed more than 14,000 laser vision correction procedures.
• First ophthalmologist in the Los Angeles area to dedicate his practice exclusively to refractive surgery.
• Trained in radial keratotomy technique with Dr. Svyatoslav Fyodorov, the Russian inventor of radial keratotomy; Moscow, 1987
• First American physician to perform thermal keratoplasty (surgery for farsightedness, the forerunner of CK); Moscow, 1987
• Author of first academic paper discussing thermal keratoplasty for farsightedness: Caster, AI, The Russian Technique of Hyperopia Correction by Thermal Coagulation: A Preliminary Report, Journal of Refractive Surgery, May, 1988
• Developed computer nomogram to improve accuracy of refractive surgery; 1992
• Alumni Research Award, UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, 1994 for research into improving the accuracy of nearsightedness surgery (Multiple Regression Analysis of 1148 Radial Keratotomy Surgeries)

Dr. Caster graduated college from Harvard University with Phi Beta Kappa honors and then graduated from Harvard Medical School with honors. Dr. Caster performed his ophthalmology residency at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute.

Board Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, Dr. Caster is a Clinical Instructor in Ophthalmology at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, and a staff physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Caster is one of only a few surgeons in the Los Angeles area who has been approved as a Certified Refractive Surgeon by the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance.

Dr. Caster was the first ophthalmologist in the Los Angeles area to dedicate his practice exclusively to refractive surgery. He is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable physicians in the United States in this field. Dr. Caster has personally performed over 14,000 procedures to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. A large number of our patients travel to us for laser vision correction from across the United States, as well as from Central and South America, Asia, and Europe.

In 1999, Dr. Caster was selected by Los Angeles Magazine as the "Best Laser Eye Surgeon in Los Angeles". Dr. Caster has been selected by Visx as one of the "Top 50" laser eye surgeons in the United States for four years in a row. He was selected by W Magazine as one of two top Lasik surgeons in America and was selected by the vote of other physicians as one of the "Best Doctors in America".

Articles featuring Dr. Caster and his work with Lasik laser vision correction have appeared in many publications including Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. Dr. Caster recently appeared on the NBC Today show, interviewed by Katie Couric, in which he discussed the newest advances in vision correction. Dr. Caster performed all of the Lasik treatments for the first season of the Fox television show, The Swan. Dr. Caster has also been a featured guest on numerous television programs, including KCBS Channel 2 News (in which he performed laser vision correction on anchorman Kyle Kraska), Hard Copy (in which he performed laser vision correction on actor Lorenzo Lamas), and Fox Sports (in which he performed Lasik on Los Angeles Lakers assistant manager and former player Kurt Rambis).

Dr. Caster is the author of The Eye Laser Miracle; The Complete Guide to Better Vision, published by Ballantine Books (a division of Random House). This book has become the most widely read book in the United States on the subject of laser vision correction. It is available in bookstores across the country or through amazon.com.

Dr. Andrew Caster has been asked to serve on the Clinical Advisory Board of Alcon, the world's largest eye care company. Dr. Caster's duties on the Clinical Advisory Board are limited to the area of Lasik laser vision correction, and he is one of only four ophthalmologists in the United States to receive this appointment. In this capacity, Dr. Caster advises physicians from the United States and other countries in advanced Lasik treatments, hosts educational seminars for physicians on the internet, hosts physicians from other cities and countries in day-long training sessions, and interfaces with the scientists and engineers at Alcon who are developing further advances in laser treatment. This close working relationship between Dr. Caster and the engineers who are developing new technology enables Dr. Caster to be knowledgeable about the most intricate aspects of the Lasik technology.