Coming to the United States in 1956, Marta A. Recasens, MD, completed her early education in her home country of Argentina. The first person in her family to attend university, she studied at the University of Salvador in Buenos Aires, where she earned a Doctor of Medicine. During that time, she co-authored the article “Potassium and Veratrine-Stimulated 1-[(3)H]Cysteine Sulfinate and 1-[(3)H]Glutamate Release From Rat Brain Slices,” which was published in Neurochemistry International in 1984. Dr. Recasens then joined the School of Medicine at Loma Linda University in California, where she earned an additional Doctor of Medicine in 1991.
In 1991, Dr. Recasens was an intern with Emory University in Georgia before joining Memorial Health University Medical Center for an internal medicine internship in 1993. She went on to spend a transitional year as an intern with Ascension Providence Hospital in 1994 and then joined the Detroit Medical Center for an ophthalmology residency, which she completed in 1997. She concluded her formal studies with a fellowship in retina and vitreous surgery at Louisiana State University Health New Orleans in 1999. Licensed to practice medicine in the states of California and Louisiana, Dr. Recasens has also been certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and as a qualified medical evaluator by the Department of Industrial Relations Division of Workers’ Compensation.
Dr. Recasens embarked on her career in the Glendale and Pasadena, California, area in 1999. Though she faced considerable discrimination as one of only a handful of female retina specialists in the country, she persevered and established Macular, Retinal, and Vitreal Associates in 2004, where she continues to excel as a vitreoretinal surgeon. With her expertise in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, she specializes in state-of-the-art surgical and nonsurgical treatments for a variety of conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal tears and detachments, and more. In her day-to-day work, she spends about 70% of her time in her clinical office practice seeing patients and another 10% in surgery. The remaining 20% sees her working as a qualified medical evaluator for the state of California.
Looking toward the future, Dr. Recasens hopes to continue expanding her practice, which has grown to include Dr. Marta Recasens’ MediSpa, a cosmetic medicine practice that provides a variety of aesthetic treatments. She has also donated her time as a board member of the Physicians Adventist Surgery Center in Glendale and is a member of the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology. Attributing much of her success to her persistence and empathy, she would advise young and aspiring professionals to be their own individuals and cultivate empathy for their patients. To Dr. Recasens, remaining motivated and empathetic with her patients is crucial due to the delicate nature of retina surgery as a specialty, and she hopes to leave a legacy as a doctor who always listens to her patients.
Dr. Recasens is incredibly proud of obtaining her board certification in ophthalmology and vitreoretinal surgery and considers restoring and preserving the vision of her patients to be the most gratifying part of her career. Getting to see the look on a grandparent’s face when they see their grandchildren for the first time is more rewarding than any accolade. For her excellence, she has been the recipient of a number of honors, including being presented with the Silver Medal of Honor by the University of Salvador in 1991. Since 2002, she has been annually named among America’s Top Ophthalmologists, and she has also been elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In addition to her professional work, Dr. Recasens is also incredibly proud of her son, who is currently working his way through high school.
