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Dr. Brad
Britton in Guatemala |
Newsroom - Eye Surgery
Offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, Ada, Elk City, Muskogee and throughout Oklahoma
Edmond
doctor a decade-long success story
"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger"
Published in The
Edmond Sun, December 2004
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Since publication of this news article, Dr.
Brad Taylor has become the second surgeon in the state to be
certified to perform the crystalens® procedure)
By Carol Hartzog
Special To The Sun
Dr. Brad Britton appears to have had life handed to him on a silver
platter: high school valedictorian, full ride
scholarship to college, married to a beautiful
dancer by hobby and orthodontist by trade and
building a "cool" home place on acreage.
His business successes are numerous.
Dr. Britton was one of the first three
ophthalmologists in the state to perform the first
Lasik surgery in 1996. VISX laser company named
Britton one of the top 50 refractive surgeons in
North America for three consecutive years, and Alcon
recently awarded him for superior refractive surgery
outcomes.
He's a member of the St. Louis-based TLC Vision
national advisory board, serving with the foremost
refractive surgeons in the world who review each
other's cases daily via the Internet.
Also, he is a member of the prestigious TEC club of
business managers and owners. BVA was named one of
the "Metro 50" fastest-growing businesses by
Oklahoma City Business magazine two consecutive
years.
Today, at the age of 42, he's the first surgeon in
the state to perform cataract accommodating lens
replacement surgery, called crystalens ® procedure. It
is a technological advancement that allows patients
45-65 to be free of eyeglasses and contact lens and
be able to see near, intermediate and far.
But this life did not come easy.
"I always had confidence. I may not be the smartest,
but I could out-work anybody," Dr. Britton said of
his formative years. He would be the student who
stayed up the latest, studied the hardest and
wouldn't accept turning in mediocre projects.
His work ethic came at a young age -- from his
mother, a legal secretary, and from chopping cotton
for uncles and aunts in the summertime.
He also supported a family and newborn when both he
and his wife were in medical residency. Knowing he
was going to practice ophthalmology, he chose a
"tougher internship" of internal medicine over
ophthalmology so he could learn how to take care of
the entire patient and their needs.
He lives by the motto: "That which doesn't kill me
makes me stronger," and the scripture, "And God is
faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what
you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
(1 Corinthians 10:13)"
"I really want to give a lot back. I see the
successful practice as a way to do things I'd like
to do," he said. That includes spending a week in
Guatemala as a cataract surgeon in the jungle,
something he has done four times, most recently with
his family over the Thanksgiving break.
Most of the Guatemalan patients operated on are
legally blind, only perceiving light. The men either
work in the sugarcane fields or pick coffee beans.
They need to see what's ripe, he said. The women
make tortillas or textiles. If they are blind and
cannot perform these tasks, they are reduced to
begging to provide for themselves.
There, Dr. Britton witnessed the purpose of his
calling. A 40ish-age woman with seven children had
cataracts in both eyes. She was led in to the clinic
by her oldest daughter, and the woman could only
tell the difference between light and dark. After
the cataract surgery and upon removal of her eye
patch, she was "jabbering" to the translators, and
calling for the oldest child to bring her the
youngest child. "She had never seen her youngest
child, who now was months-old in her arms."
There wasn't a dry eye in the group witnessing that
moment.
He plans to use the blessing of a cabana on his home
site to house missionaries on sabbatical at Oklahoma
Christian.
He teaches Sunday School at Memorial Road Church of
Christ occasionally and is a new member of the board
of trustees of Oklahoma Christian University.
"Giving back" includes serving rural Oklahoma. He
grew up in small towns in Oklahoma -- Cordell,
Yukon, Woodward and Weatherford. So for three years,
he would drive out three times a month to Elk City
to serve patients. He also traveled to Weatherford
once a week for seven or eight years, as well as to
other rural towns.
The Cordell hospital asked for help in serving its
patients. For years, he operated on patients at the
Cordell hospital in the very room he was born in.
BVA has four hubs – in Ada, Elk City, Edmond and
Tulsa, with satellite offices in 30 areas and towns,
including south Oklahoma City. "It's a neat model,
taking 'care' to the communities."
And for this admirer of rural Oklahoma, its people
and of Thomas Jefferson – "He's my kind of guy," –
hats off to future success. Jefferson once said,
"Let the farmer forevermore be honored in his
calling, for they who labor in the earth are the
chosen people of God."
Labor on, Dr. Britton, in your own kind of field,
helping others.
DR. BRAD BRITTON
- Valedictorian,
Weatherford High '80, and received a full
scholarship to Oklahoma Christian University. He
finished with a 4.0 GPA in three years with a
double major and a double minor;
- Life-long
Church of Christ member and committed volunteer
in Guatemalan clinic; and had offers from
Harvard and Baylor medical schools, but chose
University of Oklahoma;
- Married an OU
dental-school student, "a saint," beautiful,
brilliant, a ballet dancer and orthodontist;
with three school-age sons at Oklahoma Christian
Schools.
- Former
chairman of the department of ophthalmology at
Oklahoma City Clinic, where he practiced six
years;
- Started up his
own practice less than eight years ago and today
his associates include seven ophthalmologists,
several optometrists, four hub offices and 30
satellite offices primarily in rural Oklahoma.
- He has a dream
home in south Edmond on acreage. He has planted
hundreds of trees and built a pond, primarily
developed with his own farmer-at-heart hands.
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For more information about Lasik, cataracts, eyelids or other procedures, please call or e-mail us today.
See Better. Live Better.
(405) 752-2733
(888) 323-3937
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