Ellen Butts, OD, has wanted to work at UPMC since she was 12 years old. Now she is Division Chief of the Optometry Service, living out her dream.
The care Dr. Butts received at Children’s Hospital after moving to Pittsburgh in 2001 piqued her interest in health care. Then at age 12 when at her grandparents’ house, she saw a Reader’s Digest article with a retinal photo. The article referenced the importance of eye exams and all the different systemic diseases that could manifest in the eye. “From that moment, I decided I wanted to be in eye care,” Dr. Butts recalled.
When she was 16, Dr. Butts’ high school senior project – which was future career focused – was all about eyes. She is grateful for Dr. Tim Corcoran, the eye doctor she worked with at the time who still practices near her hometown. In university, Dr. Butts spent her summers working at a community practice. She had such a great time there, she almost considered going the private practice route. “I have immense respect for our community providers,” she said. “They are really on the front lines caring for the communities we are part of, but my residency at Bascom Palmer at the University of Miami really solidified my desire to come back home and work in academics. I couldn’t imagine a better place than the hospital system that took care of me as a kid.”
When Dr. Butts was finishing her residency in Miami, there were no positions available at UPMC. She said she owes her career here to one of her mentors at Bascom, Dr. Carol Karp, and UPMC Ophthalmology Chair, Dr. José-Alain Sahel. “They both believed in me,” she said. “Dr. Karp’s support probably has something to do with how quickly Dr. Sahel responded to my interest in UPMC! Dr. Sahel has been instrumental in helping me grow here at UPMC, believing in every dream I have had thus far, including starting the optometry student externship and optometry residency programs at UPMC.”
Indeed, Dr. Butts’ experience at UPMC has been overwhelmingly positive. “Have you seen the Vision Institute?” she asked. “I work inside a beautiful dedication to patient-centered health care. I know we always have room to be better for our patients, and I feel blessed to be in a position where our leaders truly want to keep on improving. I think 12-year-old me is happy my grandfather was a devoted Reader’s Digest subscriber!”