By Benjamin Waldrum
Father-son bonding can take many forms, like playing catch or going fishing together. For Joseph Chacko, M.D., professor of ophthalmology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and Tony Chacko, M.D., a UAMS ophthalmology resident, it began with seeing patients.
In the mid-1990s, Joseph Chacko was working in Arizona as a staff ophthalmologist at Phoenix Indian Medical Center, a part of the Indian Health Service within the U.S. Public Health Service. It wasn’t long before he began bringing a young “assistant” to work with him.
“When Tony was about 2 years old and walking, I would take him to see the post-op patients on Saturday mornings,” said Joseph Chacko. “He would help me by handing me cotton swabs so that I could lift the patient’s eyelid. That was his first introduction to eye patients. At age 3 he would put on a shirt and a little tie, and act like he was going to work.”
Ophthalmology is a family affair for resident Tony Chacko, M.D., (left) and his father, Joseph Chacko, M.D., director of neuro-ophthalmology at the UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute. Image by Benjamin Waldrum