Eyeworld Daily News

EW SHOW DAILY 44 D an Reinstein, MD, London Vision Clinic, had a cunning plan. He wanted to meet his heroes in the jazz music scene that he had spent years idoliz- ing and learning from, but he was not sure that his musical talent could carry him into the heights of the musical world that he sought. He had wanted to be a doctor since he was a child, however. So he decided to form a "cunning plan." "My plan was to go to medical school and become an ophthalmolo- gist and then specialize in cornea, and then specialize in refractive surgery, and then invent a very ef- fective way of treating presbyopia," he said. "By then, all of my idols would be presbyopic and I could offer them presbyopic surgery so that I could get to know them and give something back to them." His cunning plan worked. Dr. Reinstein has met and treated a large number of jazz greats through his surgical practice, as well as played saxophone in venues around the world with many of them. At last year's European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons Congress, he performed with a band that included the musical director of Earth, Wind & Fire, a former member of Janet Jackson's band and Michael Jackson's "This is It" band, Morris Pleasure. He has performed surgery on musicians including Mr. Pleasure, Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Steve Smith, Bill Evans, Randy Brecker, Béla Fleck, John McLaughlin, Robben Ford, and countless others. In addition, he has helped Bonnie Tyler, Brian Bennet of the Shadows, and many others in the pop world, too. His start Dr. Reinstein began playing piano at the age of 4. He switched to saxo- phone at 14. When his father's job took him to Europe, Dr. Reinstein was sent to boarding school in England. In the U.K.'s mid-1970s, his desire to learn jazz saxophone was not exactly embraced. "My piano teacher asked if I would like to start a second instru- ment, and I said yes, I'd love to start the saxophone," Dr. Reinstein said. "There was this big pause, and he said, 'I was asking if you wanted to start a second instrument,' so that didn't go very far." His next school, a Quaker secondary school, was more accept- ing of the saxophone: The music master, Peter Allwood, at Leighton Park School, thought it was a "splendid idea," he said. "In fact, it sparked a whole jazz culture at this school, which was the first secondary school in the United Kingdom to have started a jazz program," he said. A year later, Dr. Reinstein injured his back playing rugby and was sent to an orthopedic surgeon for care. "I was told, 'By the way, he also plays jazz saxophone.' I was 15 and impressionable, but that was it, that was the moment I thought, this can be done," he said. That surgeon, Art Themen, MD, was a British jazz saxophonist who played throughout his medical career. Dr. Reinstein followed in his footsteps and pursued a medical degree at Cambridge University. There, Dr. Reinstein learned that a predecessor of his had taken a year off to study at Marcel Marceau's pantomime school in Paris. Dr. Reinstein took advantage of this precedent and applied for a year's deferment, leaving Cambridge to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston on a performance scholar- ship. After a year, he returned to medical school. But when he got back, he realized it didn't matter how long he was away from medical school. Whatever he had learned was supposed to be "for life," and so he saw another opportunity. "My personal tutor David Rickards, MD, turned out to be a very cool radiologist who not only pioneered the field of urodynamics, but had also taken a year off during his medical training to sail around the horn of Africa," Dr. Reinstein said. "So I came into his office, and I said, 'Would it be possible to take another year off?'" His tutor wrote to the dean, the dean approved it, and Dr. Reinstein returned to Berklee for another intense year of jazz studies. After that year, he returned to England and finished his medical degree. Monday, April 28, 2014 Dr. Reinstein has played saxophone in venues around the world. Source: Phil Carpenter by Erin L. Boyle Physician musician pursues music, medicine

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