Keri Biscoe became a doctor so she could have close contact with people in a way that is meaningful. As an eye doctor, she gets face-to-face contact with her patients while throughly examining their eyes.
“Ophthalmology is a real unknown territory to people,” Biscoe says. “I enjoy putting people at ease. I like to guide people through the unknown; sharing with them what the exam reveals, so they know what I know.”
Biscoe is soft spoken and explains things slowly and in a way that her patients can understand and follow what she is doing.
Biscoe opened the St. Croix office of the Laser Vision Institute of the Virgin Islands last summer, teaming up with her brother, Dr. Byron Biscoe, who has been providing eye care for 18 years to patients on St. Thomas and St. John.
Biscoe, who is 41, says she was inspired by her older brother.
"I saw how interesting and stimulating eye surgery is.”
She adds all limbs are engaged in surgery and everything is precise and focused.
“It’s like walking on the moon,” Biscoe says. “It’s so stimulating and challenging.”
At the St. Croix office at 79 Peter’s Rest, she offers comprehensive treatment for conditions ranging from nearsightedness and farsightedness to cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy, which is damage to the retina caused by complications of diabetes that can eventually lead to blindness.
Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged. This can permanently damage vision in the affected eyes and, if left untreated, can lead to blindness. It is associated with increased fluid pressure in the eye. Loss of vision occurs gradually over a long period of time, and symptoms only occur when the disease is quite advanced. Once lost, vision cannot normally be recovered, so treatment is aimed at preventing further loss.
Biscoe says the most challenging part of being a doctor is to get people with eye disease to get exams and then continue treatment and compliance with medications.
Her vision is to help patients enjoy the activities for which the Caribbean is known. Her team wants patients to experience the benefits of clear vision and be able to enjoy scuba diving, sailing, swimming, cycling, and many other activities without the burden of corrective lenses.
“The future is here with laser surgery,” Biscoe says. “The present is upon us.”
The office in St. Croix has on-site a laser vision-correction suite. A team consisting of Byron Biscoe, a surgical technician, and an anesthesiologist from St. Thomas fly to St. Croix to partner with Keri Biscoe for procedures a couple of times a month.
“The team relationship is wonderful,” Biscoe says. “It’s like a dance working together.”
The team performs LASIK surgery, one of the most common methods of laser vision correction. The procedure can treat nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.
To begin the LASIK procedure, a small flap is created in the outer corneal layer. Next, an excimer laser is used to reshape the inner corneal layers. After treatment, the flap is replaced and the eye heals on its own without the need for stitches. The entire procedure generally takes only 15 minutes to perform.
Biscoe, who is from California, received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine. Her residency training in ophthalmology was completed at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York. She is a Roman-Barnes Scholar of ophthalmology and a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Ophthalmological Society of the West Indies.
She says she is from a family that has a history of helping people. Her father is a cardiologist and her mother is a teacher.
“They taught me how to explain things to get people to understand,” Biscoe says.
She moved to St. Croix in 2008 and has worked with two other local eye doctors.
“I’ve decided St. Croix is the perfect fit,” Biscoe says. “I like the culture and the slow pace. I can take time explaining procedures to patients, so it becomes clear and sinks in.”
She adds she has the sweetest patients and she enjoys the relationships she has with them.
In her spare time she enjoys photography and travel. She spent the holidays in Hawaii photographing volcanoes.
Details on the Laser Vision Institute of the Virgin Islands are online at www.virgin-eyes.com. Patients and prospective patients can make an appointment by calling 340-778-3003.
