J. Alberto Martinez, MD
How you see the world truly matters. A lot of us take it for granted, but Dr. Alberto Martinez does not. Your vision is his passion and life’s work.
- Cataract and Refractive Surgery
- Complex Anterior Segment Reconstruction
- Pterygium Surgery
- Cornea and External Diseases
- Cornea Transplant
- Corneal Cross-Linking
- Corneal Tatooing
- Comprehensive Ophthalmology
Education:
Board-Certified: American Board of Ophthalmology
Medical School: Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Internship: Internal Medicine, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
Residency: Ophthalmology, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX
Fellowship: Cornea and External Diseases, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
B.S.: Summa Cum Laude, American University, Washington, DC
About Dr. Martinez:
How you see the world truly matters. A lot of us take it for granted, but Dr. Alberto Martinez does not. Your vision is his passion and life’s work.
Having come to the U.S. from Colombia as an economic refugee, Dr. Martinez came to America to pursue the American dream. He worked in blue-collar jobs for three years and then served in the United States Navy for six years before finishing college and being admitted to Georgetown University Medical School.
Dr. Martinez has a great passion for helping those with a pterygium or pinguecula, based on his and his family’s own difficult personal experience with pterygium. Not only did they suffer symptom wise, but it also caused each of them to be quite self- conscious of the appearance of their eyes. After becoming a surgeon, tops on his list was to perform pterygium surgeries on his father and three sisters. After seeing the smile it brought to their faces and the beautiful whites of their eyes, he was hooked and dedicated himself to helping those with a pterygium.
Dr. Martinez had his own first pterygium removed while a resident in medical school and recently had the pterygium in his other eye removed. As one of the most sought after pterygium surgeons, he felt that while each of the surgeries removed the pterygiums, he was disappointed with the overall surgical experience having hoped for a better cosmetic outcome, the type of outcome his pterygium surgical patients typically receive. Thus, he is devoted to helping those who suffer from a pterygium, as he knows firsthand the impact it can have in so many ways, physically and mentally.
Based on his passion, Dr. Martinez is completely committed to offering the finest vision health care to his patients combined with the latest in advanced technology and a loving touch. As the founder and Medical Director of Visionary Eye Doctors, he has put together a high performance team in the ophthalmology world to address your precise needs with the highest of care, attention to detail and a genuine interest in your vision and how it impacts your world.
Dr. Martinez is a board-certified ophthalmologist and a member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr. Martinez’s skill, expertise, experience and compassionate, kind demeanor have earned him great respect in the community. He is a regionally, nationally and internationally sought-after corneal, cataract and pterygium surgeon. In fact, he often is the choice for local health professionals who trust him for their eye health care and that of their families.
Since the inception in 2003 of Washingtonian Magazine’s Top Doctors issues, Dr. Martinez’s peers have consistently elected him as a ‘Top Doc’ for ophthalmology. Dr. Martinez participated in the initial studies that led to the FDA approval of LASIK. He has previously been honored as ‘Teacher of the Year’ unanimously by the residents at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC.
Always ahead of the curve, Dr. Martinez is often one of the first to offer new techniques and treatments to his patients. LenSx® femtosecond laser, one of the greatest technological advances in laser cataract surgery in the past 20 years, became available in 2011, and Dr. Martinez was one of the very few surgeons in the mid-Atlantic region who had access to this technology and made it available to his patients. In addition, he is one of even fewer surgeons who have used more than one laser platform for cataract surgery. Recently, based on largescale evidence-based clinical findings of his own patients, he changed to the CATALYS® femtosecond laser for laser-assisted cataract surgery.
After 20 years in practice, Dr. Martinez has performed more than 30,000 procedures including cataract, pterygium removal surgery, cornea transplant, complex reconstruction of the eye and LASIK. He has performed over 1,000 laser-assisted cataract surgeries with a success rate of approximately 99%, resulting in a more accurate, gentler and safer surgery.
Additionally, Dr. Martinez has performed more than 12,000 pterygiectomies with an amazingly low recurrence rate of 0.6%, one of the lowest rates of the pterygium growing back in the world by using specialized and progressive surgical techniques he continues to hone and improve. Other ophthalmic surgeons may have up to a 15 to 20% recurrence rate with similar, but not identical, techniques. His impressive low recurrence rates have been studied and recognized internationally, positioning Dr. Martinez as a pterygium ‘Top Surgeon,’ receiving referrals and patients from all over the country.
Dr. Martinez maintains a research fellow focused on Pterygium. In 2014, Dr. Martinez established a clinical research program for Pterygium, the EyeWhite Pterygium|Pinguecula Institute and has published and presented numerous clinical studies both nationally and internationally.
Giving Back:
Dr. Martinez in a long-time resident of Montgomery County, where he serves on several boards, including the Lions Club and the Board of Directors at Strathmore. He is also the founder and president of the Visionary Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on eye surgical missions to impoverished countries in Central America.
Dr. Martinez’s passion to improve his patient’s quality of life is evident throughout every aspect of his practice. All of the Visionary Eye Doctors specialists share the same level of commitment and compassion to produce the best possible outcome and improve our patient’s lives and how they see the world.