Oswald Rondón, MD

Friendly and positive, Dr. Oswald Rondón is delightfully engaging. Fascinated by the eye’s intricate design, he enjoys helping patients understand their vision care. Born in Manhattan, New York, Dr. Rondón has also lived in the Dominican Republic, Florida, and Montana. He likes baseball and basketball, mountain biking, Bible study, and spending time with his wife, Betty, their son, Amedeo, and daughter, Amadis.

CATARACT SURGEON AND GLAUCOMA SPECIALIST based in our KENNEWICK, Washington office

​: With your love of baseball and basketball and being born in New York, can we guess your favorite teams?

​: I’m sure you can! When I lived in New York, and even after we moved, I rooted for the New York Mets, New York Knicks and New York Giants.

​: Your parents are originally from the Dominican Republic. Did they move directly to Manhattan, where you were born?

​: Yes, they moved there in 1973—four years before I was born. My mom was a housekeeper and also worked in a textile factory. My dad owned a grocery store, drove taxi for a while, and worked with a construction company in Florida building boats. Both are now officially retired.

My parents didn’t know English, so Spanish was my first language. Then, through preschool, school and Sesame Street, I learned English!

Eight-year-old Oswald at a birthday party.

​: When did your interest in the medical field begin?

​: When I was 12 years old, I was diagnosed with a noncancerous tumor of my right adrenal gland. It was causing my blood pressure to skyrocket. I had a lot of visits to see the doctor and hospital stays too. Ultimately, I needed surgery. From a patient’s point of view, I had all these different medical people—doctors, nurses and others—helping me, and I’m alive as a result. I think that experience played a big role. I could see people able to make a living while they helped others. So, my interest in medicine developed when I was a child.

​: What was it like moving to the Dominican Republic when you were 13?

​: Early on in their marriage, my parents wanted to move back, build a house, and continue life in the Dominican Republic. The United States was seen as an economic opportunity—they would make money and then go home. So that’s what we did.

It was a short stay, though. I did my freshman year of high school and almost half of my sophomore year in the Dominican Republic.

One of the biggest adjustments was the food! I grew up eating typical Dominican dishes, but at the same time I liked having corn flakes for breakfast. That’s an American dish! Electricity wasn’t a 24-hour thing in the Dominican Republic, so milk was a luxury. We had to use powdered milk and boil it. Not quite what I was used to!

Then there was the cultural adjustment. In Manhattan, most of my classmates were black or Puerto Rican, and I was the Dominican. When we moved, I thought everything was going to be cool in that respect because everyone in the school would be Dominican. However, I hadn’t been raised in the Dominican Republic, so suddenly I was now the American. I wasn’t bullied, but there was a divide. I enjoyed my time in school, but also came away from the Dominican Republic with a philosophical take on humanity—how we choose to divide ourselves by things like skin color, culture, and socioeconomic class.

The economy in the Dominican Republic headed into a crisis around that time. There were fuel shortages, rolling electrical blackouts and lack of food—even sugar, which is produced in the Dominican Republic. Those in power at the time were taking the sugar, selling it abroad and pocketing the money.

My parents realized that the future would be better for me and my younger brother in the United States, so we moved back.

​: You majored in biology in college. When did becoming an eye surgeon enter the picture?

​: During my last year in college, I was involved with a premedical organization for Black and Latino students. We invited alumni from our university to come back and tell us about their experiences. I happened to be at the dinner table with an eye doctor—a retinal specialist. By this point in my life, I definitely knew I wanted to go to medical school, and I thought I was going to be a physician. But doctors work long hours, and that was a concern of mine.

When the retinal specialist talked about how much he loved his work and his schedule, I thought, hey, he has a life and isn’t working all the time. It appealed to me. I could do work like that and also be a father—and the kind of father I wanted to be. I could be there for my kids.

That piqued my initial interest. Then as I looked into it I realized I could have a major impact on people’s health too. That combination sealed the deal for me.

​: How long have you been in practice?

​: Fourteen years now. My primary focus has been cataract surgery and general ophthalmology. I also treat people who have glaucoma. I worked in Florida and Montana before joining the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute team in June of 2020.

​: What do you enjoy most about eye surgery?

​: The precision. Every time I see a model of the eye, I’m always impressed with how small it is and yet how intricately designed. During surgery, we’re working under a microscope, so the structures within the eye seem much bigger, even though they’re quite small. This morning I was in cataract surgery, and the thought crossed my mind: Here I am inside the lens, and the capsule behind is just a micron thin. I often take for granted that it’s there, that it’s holding everything, but it’s so thin.

​: You volunteer with Better Vision Better Hope. What does that involve?

​: It’s an outreach program that brings vision care to people who might not have the resources to pay for it. We provide free vision screening, free prescription glasses and free eye care education. Usually, a local church advertises the event and provides space for us to set up a temporary clinic. We come in for the event and then return for a follow-up about a month later. I’ve helped out at various locations in Washington and Montana. I’ll be heading back to Montana at the end of the month to volunteer at a couple of clinics there. I love doing that.

​: You’re married with two children?

​: Yes. My wife, Betty, has many occupations! She homeschools our daughter, loves gardening and landscaping, and is a busy stay-at-home mom. Our son, Amedeo, is 18 and wants to be a dental hygienist. Our daughter, Amadis, is 16 and is interested in nursing.

​: When you’re not doing surgery, what do you like to do for fun?

​: My wife and I volunteered at a youth Bible camp this past summer. I was the camp doctor, and my wife helped in the kitchen with food preparation and cooking. We definitely enjoyed it.

Also, my daughter and I biked the Hiawatha Trail near the Idaho-Montana state line. I’m not a highly trained mountain biker, but the trail was easy, and the views were gorgeous.

​: What do you hope patients notice most about you?

​: That I’m willing to listen to them and that I take my time to explain what’s going on with their care. Vision is the sense people often value the most, and my goal with each patient is to perform the best surgery I possibly can to protect and preserve it.

I feel that God led me into ophthalmology to be a blessing to others. It’s what He put in my heart to do. I get to positively impact people’s lives and help them see better.

 

 

Enjoying nature in Freedom Trail Park, Kennewick, WA.

Hiking near Lake Roosevelt, WA.

Getting ready for church.