Visionary Leaders
The physicians of Princeton Eye Group use their exceptional skill and expertise to restore patients’ sight, both in the community and around the world.
On a recent spring afternoon, Suzanne K. Jadico, M.D., takes a moment to reflect on the day’s accomplishments. Dr. Jadico, an ophthalmologist and partner with Princeton Eye Group and Wills Laser Vision at Princeton, has just finished the last of 15 minimally invasive surgeries to improve, if not restore, patients’ vision.
“I love what I’m doing here,” she says, partly because of how dramatically better vision can affect someone’s life, and partly because her patients tend to see the benefits of her work almost immediately. “Most people [who have had LASIK surgery] feel very comfortable driving themselves to their follow-up appointment the next morning without glasses or contacts.”
Likewise, Michele D. Solarte, M.D., finds her work particularly meaningful. While some medical doctors might not ever know the results of the treatment they provide, ophthalmologists such as Dr. Solarte get to see the look on their patients’ faces the moment they realize their lives have changed because they can see the world more clearly than ever.
“Many patients say that taking care of and restoring vision is the most important thing in their life,” says Dr. Solarte, who, like Dr. Jadico, is a partner with Princeton Eye Group and Wills Laser Vision at Princeton. “We truly have the potential to change someone’s life for the better, and that’s incredibly fulfilling.”
Both doctors attribute their success to the training they received at the prestigious Wills Eye Hospital. Located in Philadelphia, Wills Eye has been named a “Best Hospital” by U.S. News & World Report every year since the survey began.
Drs. Jadico and Solarte continue their relationship with Wills Eye to this day, teaching in the hospital’s residency program. Many of the doctors at Princeton Eye Group received their training through Wills Eye, a fact that prompts Dr. Jadico to say, “We’re grateful to serve as an extension of such a prestigious institution.”
Dr. Jadico earned her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she was class valedictorian, and then completed her ophthalmology training at Wills Eye, where she was chief resident. She also received specialty training in advanced cataract surgical techniques and bladeless LASIK at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Jadico has had LASIK herself and has even had the pleasure of performing LASIK on her own mother and sister.
Dr. Solarte, meanwhile, received her undergraduate degree in biology and medical anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, where she graduated magna cum laude. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Dr. Solarte returned to her hometown to attend medical school at Jefferson Medical College (now Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University), followed by her ophthalmology residency at Wills Eye.
“For most people, changes in vision happen over time,” says Dr. Solarte, who joined Princeton Eye Group in 2020. “Some people don’t even realize how much their vision has affected their lives until we have restored it. The procedure only takes minutes and when it’s over they say, ‘I wouldn’t have waited so long if I knew it would be so easy.’”
Continuity of Care
Since its founding in 1980 by Stephen M. Felton, M.D., Ph.D., Princeton Eye Group has grown to include a team of nearly a dozen ophthalmologists and four optometrists. Drs. Jadico and Solarte are two of four female partners at Princeton Eye Group, the other two being Sarah D. Kuchar, M.D., and Anita I. Miedziak, M.D. The dynamic among the clinical team is one of inclusion and support, according to Dr. Solarte, though “having power in numbers is certainly nice,” she says.
Since its founding in 1980 by Stephen M. Felton, M.D., Ph.D., Princeton Eye Group has grown to include a team of nearly a dozen ophthalmologists and four optometrists. Drs. Jadico and Solarte are two of four female partners at Princeton Eye Group, the other two being Sarah D. Kuchar, M.D., and Anita I. Miedziak, M.D. The dynamic among the clinical team is one of inclusion and support, according to Dr. Solarte, though “having power in numbers is certainly nice,” she says.
A culture rooted in collaboration and continuing education has helped the practice thrive. As an example, the doctors meet every Friday to present their current cases to the entire clinical team to ensure that each patient receives the best and most appropriate care. Whereas one case might benefit from the wisdom of a retina specialist, for example, another might require the perspective of a cornea specialist.
Princeton Eye Group provides the continuity of care; the practice has multiple subspecialists, including glaucoma, cornea care, oculoplastic surgery, and refractive surgery, at its locations in Monroe Township, Princeton, and Somerset.
Princeton Eye Group’s LASIK facility in Princeton, dubbed Wills Laser Vision at Princeton, is a core part of the comprehensive care offered to their patients. LASIK, when performed by highly trained and experienced surgeons, utilizing the very best in state-of-the-art technology, is extremely safe and accurate. Dr. Jadico speaks to the relative safety of LASIK compared with, say, wearing contacts regularly.
“The statistics of having a vision-loss problem from contact lenses is one in 1,000, which is not so low,” says Dr. Jadico. “With LASIK, it would be more in the order of one in 8,000 to 10,000.”
Princeton Eye Group has made its mark on the world much farther afield than central New Jersey. Dr. Solarte is a good example. Since her time at Jefferson Medical College, she has participated in medical missions to impoverished parts of Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Ghana to operate on patients blinded by cataracts. “In terms of making a global impact,” she says, “it puts us in a unique position.”
Looking to the future, Princeton Eye Group aims to further refine the high level of patient care by adding new doctors and upgrading its facilities; for example, it will soon renovate and expand its Princeton location to better serve glaucoma patients. In addition, Drs. Solarte, Kuchar, and Jadico look forward to continuing the organization’s commitment to helping people close to home and around the world; they intend to travel abroad for upcoming medical missions, using their surgical skill and expertise to restore people’s gift of sight to those in dire need.
As Dr. Jadico reflects on a day’s work, she is grateful for the opportunity to have made a difference in so many lives. She also realizes there’s almost no limit to the impact she and her colleagues can have on their ever-expanding community.
“Tomorrow, there’s going to be another 15 people whose lives are changed, and 15 more the next day,” she says. “We work in a blessed field.”
The Princeton Eye Group
www.princetoneyegroup.com
www.princetoneyegroup.com
419 N. Harrison Street, Suite 104
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 921-9437
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 921-9437
900 Easton Avenue, Suite 50
Somerset, NJ 08873
(732) 565-9550
Somerset, NJ 08873
(732) 565-9550
298 Applegarth Road, Suite I
Monroe Twp., NJ 08831
(609) 655-8808
Monroe Twp., NJ 08831
(609) 655-8808
The ophthalmologists/partners of Princeton Eye Group are Stephen Felton, M.D., Ph.D., Michael Wong, M.D., Richard Wong, M.D., R. David Reynolds, M.D., Anita Miedziak, M.D., Samuel Liu, M.D., Ph.D., John Epstein, M.D., Suzanne Jadico, M.D., Sarah Kuchar, M.D., Peter Murr, M.D., and Michele Solarte, M.D.
Photograph by Alison Dunlap
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, May 2022.
