Dr. Arat, Comprehensive Ophthalmologist Joins UW

People sometimes ask Yonca Arat, MD, if she would choose ophthalmology as her specialty if she could do it over again. For Dr. Arat, the answer is not only that she would, but that she did.

Dr. Arat was born in Detroit and grew up in Turkey, where she attended medical school and completed her first residency in ophthalmology. When she and her husband, University of Wisconsin radiologist Anil Arat, MD, decided to take fellowships at Baylor College of Medicine, they intended to return to Turkey to practice in their respective fields.

"We loved it so much that we decided to stay," said Dr. Arat, who completed a fellowship in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery. In order to be board certified in ophthalmology in the United States, however, she had to repeat a transitional year of residency as well as her threeyear ophthalmology residency in this country.

"Taking the residency again at Baylor College of Medicine was worth it," she said. "It was a lot of work, but it was much easier the second time around."

She joined the UW Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in January, and sees patients at UW Health Deming Way Eye Clinic as well as at University Station Eye Clinic. As a comprehensive ophthalmologist, Dr. Arat cares for all eye disease.

Once they decided to stay in the United States, Dr. Arat and her husband sought academic practices. "I had grown up with parents in academics," she recalled. "It was the example of rigorous training and teaching they set for me and I wanted to follow in their footsteps."

In addition to providing clinical care, Dr. Arat will work with residents and medical students. She also plans to conduct research into eye disease.