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From Pre-Med to Med School to Residency

Ophthalmology Residency Personal Statement Examples

The Medfools Ophthalmology Sample Residency Personal Statement Library is now open!

These example Ophthalmology residency personal statement samples are here for your viewing pleasure (fully anonymous). We’re hoping to add more in the future, including Pre-Med personal statements. If you’ve got one to add to the free library, don’t forget to  contribute yours .

OPTHALMOLOGY PERSONAL STATEMENT                  I have always been open to new experiences, challenges and academic endeavors.  Exploring interests in political science, neuroscience, and spending a year teaching and skiing after college broadened my perspectives, and enhanced my resolve to enter medicine.  Similarly, my endeavors in clinical and basic science research, health policy and patient care have strengthened and focused my decision to enter the field of ophthalmology. I entered medical school with the belief that physicians are uniquely poised to better the delivery of health care. The summer after my first year of medical school, I explored basic science research in the lab of Dr. Sam to find determinants of planar cell polarity in  Drosophila  eye and wing.  In this atmosphere of scientific investigation and discovery, I became excited about the science of ophthalmology and its clinical correlations. However, after increasing exposure to clinical medicine and clinical research I realized that I would be happiest if I focused my career on these two elements of my future career. Thus, although I had matriculated in the MST Program, after much thought and discussion with the program director, I decided to pursue the M.D. only, with his full support. In order to learn more about organized medicine, I took leadership positions in the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Medical Association (AMA). For me, the clinical years of medical school have been a series of exciting, challenging, and wonderful experiences. When I performed an elective in ophthalmology my interest in medicine, surgery and neuroscience came together. I soon realized that my values are mirrored by those of the field: hard work, attention to detail, intellectual challenge, and enthusiasm for science and innovation.    Working in the Ophthalmology Department at Mount Hospital exposed me to the gamut of academic and clinical ophthalmology.  I spent time in an inner city clinic, in the operating room and at grand-rounds discussions of basic science topics and challenging cases. At the Hospital Eye Clinic I met J.S., a thirteen-year old girl from Guyana.  She had undergone a number of surgeries after complications from a cataract extraction and Choyce lens implantation at a young age.  The day I met her, we were repairing a conjunctival dehiscence that had occurred after placement of an Ahmed valve. On her first preoperative visit, J.S. smiled, and shyly, but sincerely, thanked the ophthalmologists for the care she received. It was clear to me that we were protecting J.S.’s ability to lead a happy childhood and develop into a vibrant and successful adult by helping preserve her vision. I also realized that I needed to have close and meaningful relationships with my patients to be satisfied with my career. I was glad that we were able to offer J.S treatment options, and provide support for her and her complex eye problems [not needed]. This experience typifies ophthalmology to me: a close patient-physician relationship, difficult decisions, definitive treatment, immediate results, and long-term care. I was hooked.   J.S.’s situation also illustrates a number of other issues that I plan to address during my career: clinical decision making, outcomes research, and public health disparities. Much as Henry Ford believed in the value of “Economy of Motion” in a factory, I believe in an economy of action in medicine.  I want to help ophthalmologists accomplish the difficult goal of performing the right intervention on the right patient at the right time.  During my clinical rotations, I often heard physicians debating the appropriateness of a candidate and timing for various procedures, from prostatectomies to cataract extractions.  I began to wonder how I would answer the question, “Will I be able to see better after you remove my cataract?”  To learn the skills necessary to begin to answer this type of question, I have decided to pursue an accelerated M.P.H. with a focus on Effectiveness and Outcomes Research over the upcoming year at The School of Public Health of Big University. To apply my interest in clinical research to ophthalmology, I became involved with a study on glaucoma medication adherence with Dr. Janet Serle.  We are developing a strategy to identify which patients are non-adherent and why they are non-adherent in a way that is minimally time-intensive for busy practitioners.  In addition to planning the design and implementation of this project, I have helped procure funding for the study.  This experience demonstrated my desire to develop the skills to identify clinical problems, investigate possible resolutions, and ultimately improve health care for patients. Thus, my experiences in basic science and clinical research, my patient encounters in ophthalmology, and my advanced training in public health have all prepared me for a career in academic ophthalmology. As an eye physician and surgeon, I will maintain my broad range of interests from providing medical and surgical care to a diverse group of patients, to designing and running clinical trials, and to advocating for change in health policy. Finally, my strong work ethic, attention to detail, and profound respect for the importance of vision to a patient’s quality of life will all be valuable assets in both succeeding in a residency program and administering compassionate care for my patients.

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Personal Statement for Ophthalmology Advice

• Thread starter doodpac
• Start date Feb 14, 2005

• Feb 14, 2005

Andrew_Doan

Doc, author, entrepreneur.

Things I look for when I read personal statements: 1) interesting vignettes that supports why you enter ophthalmology. 2) personal things that make your application unique. 3) I don't like essays that outline grades, scores, and honors. I can read that on the first page. 4) State your personal and career goals. We want to know what drives you to ophthalmology. 5) Good writers can apply all of the above into one central theme.  

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The Ophthalmology Resident's Guide to Fellowship Applications

Sila Bal, MD, MPH

Familiarize yourself with the ophthalmology fellowship application process with a downloadable guide and checklist that reviews tips residents can use to prepare.

Start the process early

Download the ophthalmology fellowship application checklist here, ophthalmology fellowship application checklist, why opt for a fellowship.

This does not mean that fellowship training is for everyone. Think about your future career goals and use that as a guide to help form your decision.

Overview of the ophthalmology fellowship match process

• Anterior segment
• External disease
• Neuro-ophthalmology
• Oculoplastic
• Pediatric ophthalmology

Deciding which subspecialty interests you

The anatomy of the application, supplemental information.

These will be announced along the way, but it is a good idea to keep a log of surgical videos in case you need them.

Choosing fellowship programs

The fellowship interview process, final thoughts, don't forget to check out the ophthalmology fellowship application checklist to help you prepare for the next step of your career.

• SF Match. SF Match Ophthalmology Timetable. SF Match. https://www.sfmatch.org/specialty/ophthalmology-fellowship/Timetable .

Dr. Sila Bal, MD, MPH is a cataract, cornea, and refractive surgeon who is passionate about improving the health of communities around the world. Dr. Bal received her medical degree and Master's in Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award for her work on disparities in eye health both locally and globally. She then went on to complete her ophthalmology residency and cornea fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Ophthalmology.

Dr. Bal has worked extensively in global health, collaborating with international organizations to implement health programs in low-resource settings. Her research interests include eye health disparities, the epidemiology of vision impairment, and the impact of social determinants on health outcomes.

Dr. Bal is currently a global ophthalmology fellow with the Moran Eye Center, where she is continuing her work on health equity through community-based service delivery models, advocacy, and capacity building. She hopes to continue to advocate for equitable access to healthcare and work to advance policies and strategies that promote health equity worldwide. In her free time, Dr. Bal loves to be outdoors and is an avid runner, surfer, and snowboarder.

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Optometry Admissions Blog

Southern california college of optometry at marshall b. ketchum university, do’s and don’ts of writing a memorable & winning personal statement.

Maggie Francisco, OD, FAAO from SCCO’s Class of 2016 

For all optometry school applicants who are in the process of writing their personal statements, this article will help. I highly endorse its wisdom.

After Maggie shares tips on how to write a memorable and winning essay, included at the end of this article is the very essay she submitted with her application. It is a perfect example of how to “show and not tell,” revealing through its narrative her unique personality, her professionalism, preparation, and passion for optometry.

Article and Personal Essay Written by  Maggie Francisco, Optometry Student, SCCO, Class of 2016

According to Dr. Munroe, the goal of the personal statement is to show the admissions team mainly three things; 1) your personality, 2) your commitment to optometry, and 3) your passion and motivation that will help guide you through optometry school—the “fire in your belly.” Your GPA and OAT scores will speak for themselves, but the personal statement is your one opportunity to show them who you are and what sets you apart from the sea of applicants they are wading through each day. What makes you different? What makes you… you?

Welcome Back BBQ, pictured here with Dr. Jane Ann Munroe (left), Bridget Anderson (center), and Maggie Francisco (right), both from Class of 2016

These are often tough questions to answer, especially when many of us in the application phase are at the age when we are just starting to figure that out for ourselves. That is why people typically come up with the same or similar, slightly monotonous story—they got glasses when they were little, their grandmother had glaucoma, they liked their optometrist, they had a lazy eye, etc.—and they discovered, “Hey, optometry is pretty cool…” Which leads me to my first “don’t” for writing a memorable and winning personal statement:

1.  DON’T Be Generic

Yes, these stories are important to how you discovered optometry and why it is so important to you. So don’t leave them out completely! But don’t focus too much on it because everyone has glasses or a grandma with glaucoma or a cool optometrist or a lazy eye or something that inspired them to pursue optometry. Use this opportunity to write about your UNIQUE experiences and don’t feel like you have to linger on your back-story. Just mention your story briefly and move on to the good stuff—what have you done to learn about or invest yourself in the optometric profession? What are your goals? Your dreams? That is what they care to read and what makes your story unique.

2.  DON’T Tell Them; Show Them

Telling your story seems like it should be the main goal of a personal statement, but you don’t just want to tell them a story—you have to show them! Paint them a picture, something they can relate to and that tells them more about you than do the words alone.

Personal Statement Example One:

“When I was a child, my pediatrician inspired me to become a doctor because she was smart, nice and always made me feel better. I vowed to be just like her.” (1)

Personal Statement Example Two:

“I remember the first time I went into my pediatrician’s office: pure fear. Like most kids, the doctors was the last person I wanted to see. The interesting thing is that over the years I started to like Dr. Green because she was not only smart but able to relate with me and explain things in a way I could understand. She made scary experiences much more tolerable. I later went on rounds with Dr. Green at the hospital and felt my desire to be a doctor increase. I saw how hard she worked and what was required to be a good physician. The exciting thing is that I found these high standards didn’t scare me; rather, they motivated me to excel in school and become a physician just like her.” (2)

Example one simply tells the reader who inspired them and why, but in an extremely generic, unemotional and lackluster fashion. Example two, however, shows passion and humanity, all while showing her understanding of what a good doctor does and what type of doctor she would like to be.

This is the goal! Show, don’t tell.

3.  DON’T Accentuate Your Flaws

One question applicants always ask is, “should I explain why I got those C’s?” or volunteer some information of that sort. The simple answer is just this: don’t do it.

The personal statement is a venue to show the admissions team what would make you a great asset to an optometry program,

Maggie at the Class of 2016 White Coat Ceremony being congratulated by MBKU President, Dr. Kevin Alexander

so why would you waste a precious word on something that you did wrong? If there is really a valid explanation for a slump in your GPA or a strange gap in your academic transcript—there was a death, illness or injury in your family or something of a similar, serious nature—there are other ways to express this. Some schools will have a “If there is anything else you would like the admissions office to know…” section on the application, or in the case of SCCO, you can email [email protected] an official letter (pdf/doc) to go into your file that can disclose details that did not fit within the rest of the application. Feel free to explain yourself in this manner, but definitely don’t feel like you have to. The admissions officers understand that sometimes life happens or a class was particularly hard, so just stick to talking about why you rock!

4.  DO Be Genuine

The worst thing you could do in a personal statement is to lie or misrepresent yourself. Admissions officers read hundreds of letters each season—they can pick up on insincerity from a mile away.  So maybe you didn’t do as much community service or extracurriculars as the next guy. That’s fine!  Accentuate the things you did do—your shadowing, your passion. Don’t try to fool anyone with outlandish, highly exaggerated stories.

5.  DO Keep It Positive

This goes very nicely with rules 3 and 4, but begs to be said.

Perhaps you went through some hard times in your life and you think it this is important to discuss to explain how you came to be who you are now; that’s understandable and commendable. But don’t dwell on it for an entire essay. As said in rule 3, you should be using all the space you have to talk about how great you are, not waste it on describing a sad moment in your life. You can mention your situation and how it changed you, but droning on and complaining about it makes it feel more like a manipulation tactic. Talk about how you grew as a person, how it made you stronger, how it changed your outlook on things, all for the better.  And if it has nothing to do with your pursuit of education or optometry, maybe think twice about mentioning it at all. Most importantly, don’t hide behind a sob story in hopes of gaining the admissions team’s pity. Pity will not get you an acceptance—determination and achievement will always win out.

6.  DO Professionally and Unapologetically… Be Yourself!

I think I’ve been working toward this main point throughout this article. You have worked hard, you’ve done your research—show them who you are and what you’ve got! Show your personality, while promoting yourself as a professional, competent potential-doctor.

• DO talk about the important things and what makes you, …you
• DON’T dwell on the negative
• DO be professional and passionate
• DON’T be afraid to be yourself!

Welcome Back BBQ: Maggie with classmate, Lynn Huffman, right

Maggie’s Essay

I felt something splash my arm―through my car’s open window, a bird had decided to drop “a little surprise.” It was a horrifying and unexpected interruption while driving home, still reeling over my day at the local VA Medical Center. The last patient of the day had a congenital retinal macrovessel that everyone in the office gathered to see. I felt lucky to have seen something so rare on my final day of shadowing in the Ocular Disease Residency program.

My introduction to optometry was typical―In third grade, I received glasses to correct my -3.00 vision and, as you can imagine, my whole world changed. Optometry became a potential career when I took a survey in my sophomore year that matched my interests with professions. Science courses were my strength, especially the active lab portions, so it seemed obvious that a survey would recommend a health sciences field. But, at that time, my passion was musical theatre. I loved to sing, dance, direct and perform on stage. Optometry offered flexibility―I could pursue community theatre after hours and have time for a family. So, my college aspirations were to do both; music and biochemistry.

The reality of the biochemistry workload made me realize that I could not do both well, so I had to put performing on hold. During the summer after my freshman year, I interned at Family Care Optometry, a small partnership in the suburbs. I learned about practice management; how to manage appointments, order and fit contacts and glasses, and manage patient issues. I sat in on exams and performed preliminary auto-refractions and visual-fields. I enjoyed the camaraderie with the doctors and experienced a warm satisfaction when a patient left with better sight or a healthier outlook. This experience, although limited mainly to refractions, confirmed that I wanted to practice optometry. However, for my next shadowing experience, I knew I wanted exposure to a broader variety of cases.

A few months later, I shadowed at an ophthalmology-optometry office managed by a large medical group. Dr. Smith didn’t have to worry about practice management or glasses/contact lens sales. He preferred this, stating that he felt free to be strictly a health care provider, not a salesman. Due to his relationship with the ophthalmologists, he had more treatment privileges and his patients had a larger range of issues, which made the day much more interesting and varied. I noticed the general respect his patients had for him and vice versa; he knew them, they knew him. They teased and complimented him. It was a fun environment, yet serious when necessary. He had to explain to a diabetes patient that her high glucose levels at Christmas time had caused bleeding in the eye.  Placing himself in her situation, he explained the issue delicately, helping her understand the seriousness of the risks without scolding or degrading her. I admired his candidness and hope to model my patient-interactions after him.

I attended information sessions at several schools, so by the time I got to the VA Hospital, I was a shadowing-pro. I felt more prepared to ask questions, and was excited to be in a teaching environment with students in the residency program and on 4 th -year rotations. I asked about the instruments and how they worked. I wanted to get involved―to work the slit lamp and phoropter―constantly reminding myself, “Don’t touch” or “Don’t answer that patient’s question, it’s not your job yet.” Looking through the slit lamp’s   microscope was fascinating; examining cataracts, implants, macular degeneration, and more. I discussed with the head doctors the benefits of doing a residency and the future of our scope of practice in California. I began referring to optometrists as a “we”, not a “they”. During my last day at the VA hospital, I dreaded my departure and longed to stay just a few more days. I couldn’t get enough.

No matter the type of practice I choose, my shadowing experiences have showed that what I love about optometry is working with patients. I always thought that I would enjoy the business side of private practice, but now I think I’d be happy just showing up every day to a lobby of patients, waiting for my undivided attention. I’m not ruling out private practice, but I want more days like the one at the VA. Since I couldn’t focus the equipment, I only saw pictures of that last patient’s macrovessel. I just hope the day I finally get to see one up close―the birds keep their excitement to themselves. (Published with Maggie’s permission.  Names and places have been changed to protect identity).

(1)  Fleenor, Jeremiah. The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success . Denver, CO: Shift 4 Pub., 2011, 15.

(2) Fleenor, Jeremiah. The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success . Denver, CO: Shift 4 Pub., 2011, 15.

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Categories: Personal Statement

Tagged as: Fleenor , getting into optometry school , healthcare professional school personal statement , jane ann munroe , Jane Ann Munroe optometry , Marshall B. Ketchum University , optometry , optometry admissions , optometry school admissions , person statement , professional school personal statement , scco.

Published by Jane Ann Munroe, OD, Assistant Dean of Admissions, SCCO

Retired Assistant Dean of Admissions, SCCO View all posts by Jane Ann Munroe, OD, Assistant Dean of Admissions, SCCO

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Ophthalmology Residency Interview Questions and Answers

Including 30 sample questions and answers.

Reading ophthalmology residency interview questions and answers examples can help you prepare for your own residency interview in this competitive specialty. Ophthalmology can be a rewarding and intriguing specialty for many resident applicants, and it is a discipline with a relatively high match rate. As ophthalmology is a diverse specialty with both medical and surgical disciplines, such as optometry , be sure to check out our surgery residency interview questions and answers too for more practice! In this blog, we’ll talk about how competitive ophthalmology residency is, how to prepare for an ophthalmology residency interview and some sample questions that are commonly asked of applicants.

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free initial consultation here <<

Article Contents 9 min read

How competitive is ophthalmology residency.

Ophthalmology is not among the most competitive residencies in the medical specialties, but it is also not the easiest to match into. While ophthalmology as a medical specialty is not the most popular choice, it is a highly rewarding and diverse career for many. Ophthalmology boasts some of the highest job satisfaction rates among doctors, less stress in general, better working hours and good pay. It is also, though, one of the longest in terms of how long residency training is.

The specialty is an intriguing combination of medical and surgical disciplines, treating both disease and wellness cases. Patients are also diverse, spanning all ages and walks of life. Each case is different, and you can expect to see many different diagnoses in your work. The field of ophthalmology is also continuously innovating, as technology advances and new research is undertaken.

If you’re asking how to prep for your residency application and upcoming interviews, its important to know the application and residency match deadlines, as well as what programs are looking for in their applicants.

Applicants should note that ophthalmology uses the San Francisco Matching Program (SFMP) rather than the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) like most other specialties. As a result, ophthalmology has its own match day in early February, and its own application deadlines. Also read up on your residency match services so you’ll know what to expect and how to put together your application.

When you are invited for an interview, you should also take note that many interviews are being conducted online only, so prepare for video interviews and be sure to check your technology and do a practice run. If you do go unmatched, you can still improve your residency app and try again next match cycle.

Ophthalmology residency programs are of course looking for the best candidates in their interviews. Ideally, candidates will have a strong interest in the field, as well as clear strengths in both interpersonal skills and surgical and clinical experience. Having both will make for an excellent ophthalmology resident, so be sure to highlight your clinical experience, surgical ability while simultaneously emphasizing a background interest in the field, any research experience you have and your people skills. Patient skills are highly sought after, so if you need to know how to improve your patient assessment skills , start practicing now.

If you need help prepping for the interview itself, consider residency interview prep to work on your interviewing skills, which can provide you with mock interview sessions to get a feel for the process. It's also a good idea to come up with a list of questions to ask residency programs , too.

When scheduling your ophthalmology residency interviews, use the same tactic you would when scheduling medical school interviews . Chances are you will have applied to dozens of different programs, and you’ll need to avoid burnout if you attend multiple interviews. Its important as well to create your residency rank order list so you know what your top choices are.

Doing your research on the programs you want to apply for will pay off, as you’ll be able to tailor your application to fit and answer any tricky questions the interviewers might decide to ask you to test your knowledge of their program. Reading up on the latest developments and research in ophthalmology will be helpful too, as you’ll be able to discuss these topics in detail and show a genuine interest in the field if these topics come up during your interview.

You can calculate your chances of getting matched in ophthalmology with our residency match calculator !

Don't know how long your residency is? Read this helpful infographic

1. Why ophthalmology?

I decided on ophthalmology because it is a specialty that provides plenty of challenging cases and demands a great deal of both technical and interpersonal skill. As a personable individual who enjoys working as part of a team and collaborating with my colleagues, ophthalmology is also an ideal career choice. I relish the opportunity ophthalmology would give me to practice my surgical skills as well as indulge in a variety of medical disciplines including patient care and research. As an ophthalmologist I could also interact with virtually any kind of patient, since all individuals require at least routine eye care and well being.

2. What do you think will be the hardest part of starting residency?

Residency of course promises long hours, exhausting days and requires me to study and internalize a large volume of information. It also means a great deal of resilience, patience and being able to think on your feet and adapt to a constantly changing environment. I think the most difficult part of residency will be balancing my clinical hours with my study hours and personal time, however the challenges I faced in medical school and during my post graduate clerkship year have given me an idea of what to expect and provided me with the tools and techniques I will need to make my residency years a success.

3. What makes a good ophthalmology resident?

I think good ophthalmology residents need to be masters of multiple different disciplines. It’s a specialty that requires above average patient assessment and interpersonal skills, but also a high degree of technical skill, patience, and care. Being able to work well as part of a team, be flexible and willing to learn are also key traits. Lastly, I think having the desire to continue to learn and evolve in your discipline is an admirable skill as an ophthalmologist, as the specialty is one which rapidly changes and evolves. As a resident I think there is extra emphasis on this last quality, of being willing to learn, be a student and be coachable and open.

4. How do you know you’ll be a good ophthalmic surgeon?

During my clerkship year I worked under a ophthalmic surgeon supervisor to learn what kind of skillset is required and what I can expect in the operating room. My surgical supervisor was kind enough to write me a recommendation letter for my application and gave me some constructive feedback on my work during my clerkship. Based on her feedback and evaluation of me, I know I have the foundational skills necessary to be a good surgeon, as well as the foundational knowledge to build on as I continue learning during my residency years. I also have great faith in my ability to improve my technical skill, which I am already confident of.

5. What would you do if you did not become an ophthalmologist?

Ophthalmology was my first choice of specialty, but my second choice would have to be psychiatry. During my medical school rotations, I was fascinated by the cases we encountered in psychiatry. A common thread between these two specialties is in the way I can help patients. In ophthalmology, the focus is on well being, regular care and the treatment of disease. In psychiatry the focus is much the same. Patients still need a different type of care and ongoing support and you encounter unique and special cases. The types of patients you will encounter in both specialties also varies, since eye disease or mental health concerns can affect anyone.

Want to watch a video instead? Here are more residency interview questions and answers

6. Tell me about an attending you had that inspired you to want to be like them.

In medical school I had the pleasure of having an attending during my rotations who demonstrated the importance of building relationships with your patients. He was our general surgery attending, and he had a charming, warm sort of personality that appealed to all the staff, students and patients. He spoke with all patients as if they were all old friends, sometimes making them laugh, feel at ease or comforting them over bad news. Whatever the situation called for, he seemed to naturally know what to say and how to handle it. In all his interactions, he modeled respect and care, even in difficult situations. I think it is admirable to see a doctor maintain such a high level of regard and respect in his daily interactions even after years of practice.

7. What are your career goals for the future as an ophthalmologist? Where do you see your future in this field?

One of my career goals as an ophthalmologist would be to own a private practice in [City]. This would provide me with the job flexibility and benefits I want as well as allow me to fill a gap in medical care in the region, as there are few doctors specializing in ophthalmology in the area. Owning my own practice would also give me more time to pursue side interests in research projects, mentor future students and provide me with a good work-life balance.

8. What is the largest problem facing ophthalmologists today?

I think the largest problem facing the specialty is a lack of doctors specializing in ophthalmology. There is always a demand for more doctors, but this is a specialty that is not chosen as often due to its perceived difficulty and challenges. Along with the other problems plaguing the medical profession, I think we need more doctors in this specialty and especially more who are willing to work in underserved regions.

9. What from your past experiences has prepared you for a career in ophthalmology?

In high school and university, I used to play ping pong competitively, which is an unusual skill, but it demands excellent reflexes and hand-eye coordination to be successful, particularly to be an expert player. These skills translate well to surgery, especially ophthalmic surgery, which demands near-perfection in technical skill.

10. What are you looking for in an ophthalmology program?

I chose to apply to programs which offered flexibility, good benefits and a strong team mentality. Having a good balance between work and study is important to me, but so is working alongside a dedicated and skilled team. It was also important to me to find a program that emphasized the importance of strong mentorship relationships.

11. Tell me about yourself

12. Tell me about a difficult time in your life. How did you overcome it?

13. How do you deal with stress?

14. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

15. Do you have any ties to the area?

16. Tell me about a mistake you made

17. Tell me about a time when you saw someone do something unethical. How did you react?

18. What is one meaningful clinical experience?

19. What would your peers say are your strengths and weaknesses ?

20. What are your career goals?

21. What is one challenge you faced and overcame?

22. What is one thing about yourself you want to improve?

23. Tell me about an interesting patient case during your ophthalmology rotation.

24. What do you do for fun? Tell me about your hobbies.

25. Tell me about your research experience

26. Tell me something about yourself that is not on your application.

27. What is your biggest accomplishment outside of medicine/academics?

28. How will you contribute to our program ? Why are you a good fit?

29. Describe an instance in a clinical setting where you experienced an interpersonal conflict. How did you handle it?

30. Why did you choose this program?

To prepare for your ophthalmology residency interview, prepare your answers to common questions ahead of time. Use mock interviews to practice your delivery so your answers come naturally. Also be prepared for any unexpected or tricky questions, so do your research on the programs you’re applying for and study up on recent developments in ophthalmology so you can discuss them in the interview.

While it is not the most competitive residency to match into, it is not the easiest specialty to match, either. Ophthalmology is somewhat competitive with a match rate of 68%.

Ophthalmology is a diverse and exciting specialty, using both medical and surgical disciplines with constant innovation and technological advancement. It is also a good choice for doctor quality of life and job satisfaction, as ophthalmologists tends to have lower stress, more flexible hours and good pay. 

Residency programs in ophthalmology look for candidates with strong academic scores, proven clinical skills and demonstrated personal skills, too. Along with your test scores and clinical experience, they will look closely at recommendation letters and your residency CV . Acing the interview is the final key to matching to your program of choice. 

To ace your residency interview, the best prep you can use is mock interviews. These can be done with professional help like residency consultants or interview coaches or on your own, but its best to prepare your answers ahead of time and practice in an interview setting as close as possible to the real thing. 

Ophthalmology residency programs will ask many of the common questions you can expect at any residency interview but be prepared for some unexpected questions about the field of ophthalmology to test your knowledge, or to take a deep dive into why you chose this specialty.

While the number of programs you apply to can vary depending on the applicant, we recommend applying to between 15-30, although there is no “perfect” number. 

To increase your chances of a residency match, craft a stellar application. First, research the programs you want to apply for and rank them, and then tailor your application for each program. After that, its all about preparing for the residency interview so you can ace it.

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Ophthalmology Inquiries on Reddit: What Should Physicians Know?

Amisha d dave.

1 University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

2 NVISION Eye Centers, Rowland Heights, CA, USA

Patients are seeking answers to personal medical questions on social media. Reddit, a popular social media site, has been overlooked as a source of data in the field of ophthalmology. We analyzed posts in the subreddit, r/Ophthalmology, to better understand the most common ophthalmic conditions patients are discussing online and how often those making posts are being advised to seek professional medical care.

Patients and Methods

This cross-sectional study analyzed posts and comments from March 18, 2018 to November 9, 2020. All posts and comments on r/Ophthalmology are public and were accessed using the Python Reddit API Wrapper. This text was analyzed for unique references to common ophthalmic conditions and for mentions and recommendations to different types of medical care.

Nine hundred and nineteen posts were collected from the above timeframe. An auto-moderator makes a comment on every post to discourage patients from asking personal medical questions. Despite this, over two-thirds of posts discussed medical treatment for eye conditions in either a post, comment, or both. Almost half of all posts mention “ophthalmology”, but only 9% go as far as to recommend ophthalmic care. One-third of posts have no reference to medical care. Within posts, flashes and floaters were the most common condition mentioned, making up 15% of unique mentions, followed by glaucoma (7.4%) and retinal detachments (6.7%). Within comments, cataracts were most commonly discussed, making up 12% of unique mentions, followed by glaucoma (8.9%).

These findings show that patients are seeking information about their eye health on the r/Ophthalmology subreddit and that Reddit users are engaging with these types of posts, instead of recommending professional care in most cases. It is important for ophthalmologists to recognize the most common conditions patients are asking about online and learn how they can do a better job of educating their patients in the office.

Introduction

Over the last decade, social media has increasingly become a resource for patients seeking information about their health. Studies have shown that the majority of patients are now seeking medical information online, 1 , 2 with patients preferring sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 3 These sites have grown to serve as free, attractive, and easy to use apps, with up to 85% of patients using social media to search for health information. 4 Physicians and others in the medical field have knowingly increased their presence on these platforms to better educate and disseminate factual medical information, understanding that social media may be the first place that patients turn to for advice and information. 5–7

As with many other fields of medicine, social media research in ophthalmology has primarily focused on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. 8–11 However, these are not the only social media sites that patients are turning to for medical advice. With over 52 million and growing daily active users, Reddit is a popular social media site that patients are frequently turning to for specific medical advice because of its discussion forum type format. 12 Reddit has proven to be a source of valuable patient information in other medical fields, such as dermatology, psychiatry, and radiology. 13–15 Despite its growing popularity, Reddit has yet to be fully explored within the field of ophthalmology.

Reddit offers a unique patient perspective because unlike other social media sites, its users are largely anonymous. This allows for them to make candid posts and comments in the various, individual communities that Reddit hosts on its site, known as subreddits. Within these subreddits, users are given the opportunity to upvote or downvote posts and comments to increase the visibility of information that the community deems useful. The vast majority of ophthalmology information can be found in two main ophthalmology subreddits, r/EyeTriage and r/Ophthalmology. A previous cross-sectional study analyzed the content of posts made in the r/EyeTriage subreddit, giving some insight into the information that patients are seeking within this community. 16

The goal for this study is to investigate the other ophthalmology subreddit, r/Ophthalmology, to determine what topics in ophthalmology are of greatest interest to Reddit users and whether ophthalmic care is being recommended to those seeking advice. This information will allow us to better understand the perspectives and discussion of the ophthalmology patient population on Reddit.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study analyzed posts and comments on the Reddit subreddit r/Ophthalmology to understand eye-related patient concerns. r/Ophthalmology was created on June 29, 2011 with the goal of answering general questions about eye topics by the public. 17 As stated by the “moderator”, u/arcadeflyer, specific patient questions should be redirected to a different subreddit r/EyeTriage. 18 Additionally, every post on the subreddit includes an automatic comment by an “automoderator” that explicitly states that questions from patients about their personal health will be removed. Despite this, many posts on the subreddit continue to be patient questions, providing a wealth of data for analysis. The subreddit is frequented by a wide variety of ophthalmic professionals, including ophthalmologists, optometrists, and ophthalmic technicians. Every user that makes a post is required to identify their background within the text and every user on the subreddit has the opportunity to self-identify their profession, which appear next to their username when they make posts or comments. Posts on the subreddit include advice, links, questions, topics for discussion, personal stories, and educational resources.

The public and anonymous posts and comments on r/Ophthalmology were accessed using the Python Reddit API Wrapper. This allowed the Python software to access the data structures within the Reddit interface and extract the necessary data. There was no interaction with individuals to retrieve this data and this data can be accessed without a Reddit account. Given the public and anonymous nature of this data, Institutional Review Board approval was not needed. 19 Posts and comments from March 18, 2018 to November 9, 2020 were analyzed and those that were deleted or removed on or prior to November 9, 2020 were not included in the analysis.

After the extraction of posts and comments, the data was pre-processed to prepare it for analysis ( Figure 1 ). The “automoderator” comment was removed from each post and excluded from analysis. Following this, all text within post and comments was analyzed for unique references to ophthalmic conditions from the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO’s) Eye Health A-Z through a keyword search and the frequency of each reference was evaluated. To isolate posts and comments for references to different types of medical care, the data was parsed for posts and comments that included “ophth”, “opth”, “opto”, “eye doctor”, “professional”, “physician”, “primary care”, “appointment”, “medicine”, “medication”, “insurance”, “prescribe”, or “prescription”, similar to previous methodology analyzing medical Reddit data. 13 The resulting posts and comments were then evaluated to determine if they mentioned or recommended either ophthalmic care or other medical care. Medical care is defined as medical intervention, treatment, or professional evaluation.

Data processing and analysis flowchart.

Posts were considered to be “recommending” any type of medical care if (1) it was mentioned only within the comments of a post and not within the title or body of the post itself and (2) at least 1 commenter encouraged the original poster or another commenter to seek care. Posts were considered to be “mentioning” any type of medical care if (1) it was mentioned within the comments of a post or (2) within the title and/or body of the post itself. Posts that were found to both “recommend” and “mention” care were categorized as recommending care. Comments were considered to be “recommending” any type of medical care if the commenter encouraged the original poster or another commenter of the same post to seek care. Comments were considered to be “mentioning” any type of care if it was mentioned within the comment. Again, the presence of both a “recommendation” and “mention” was categorized as a recommendation of care. Posts and comments that referenced both ophthalmic care and other forms of medical care were considered references to ophthalmic care. Post and comments that did none of the above were also noted. Ophthalmic care was defined as references specifically to ophthalmologists, optometrists, and eye doctors. Counts of posts and comments in these various categories were then analyzed.

Statistical analysis was done in Python using built-in statistical packages for frequency and count analysis (Python Software Foundation. Python Language Reference, version 2.7. Available at http://www.python.org ).

A total of 919 posts with 5345 non-automoderator comments were posted between March 18, 2018 and November 9, 2020. While posts that ask patient-specific questions were said to have been removed by the automoderator, almost half (403/919) of the posts available on the subreddit were found to be referencing patient questions. Furthermore, two-thirds (612/919) of the posts involved conversation surrounding medical care either within the post, subsequent comments, or both. Of the 5345 comments analyzed, 1196 were found to reference any type of medical care.

Amongst the 919 posts analyzed from r/Ophthalmology, the majority either mention (49%) or recommend (9.5%) ophthalmic care ( Figure 2 , Table 1 ). 7.7% of the posts mention other medical care and a negligible amount (0.4%) go as far as to recommend other medical care. Amongst the 5345 comments, the vast majority (78%) made no reference to medical care ( Figure 3 , Table 1 ). Of the 1196 comments that referenced any type of care, 66% mentioned ophthalmic care and 11% recommended ophthalmic care ( Figure 3 ). Other forms of medical care were mentioned in 22% of comments and recommended in 1% of comments.

Number of References to Medical Care in Posts and Comments

References to medical care in posts.

References to medical care in comments.

Searching within posts for ophthalmic conditions found in the AAO’s Eye Health A-Z list demonstrated 312 unique instances of these keywords. This analysis revealed that posters were most commonly discussing flashes and floaters (48/312). Glaucoma (24/312), retinal detachments (21/312), and headaches (21/312) were also commonly brought up by posters. Almost half (61/125) of the ophthalmic conditions within the Eye Health A-Z list were absent from post discussions in this subreddit. A chart of commonly discussed ophthalmic conditions in posts of this subreddit can be found in Figure 4 .

Top 20 ophthalmic conditions mentioned in posts.

Similar analysis within the comments of posts led to the discovery of 586 unique references to ophthalmic conditions. The most common condition within the comments, cataracts (71/586), differed from that discussed within posts. However, glaucoma (52/586) and flashes and floaters (45/586) were found to be common between the two analyses. A chart of commonly discussed ophthalmic conditions in comments of this subreddit can be found in Figure 5 . The conditions discussed within the comments were also found to be slightly more diverse than those in the posts, with only 54 of the 125 conditions absent from conversation. Fifty-eight of the conditions were found to be discussed in both the posts and the comments.

Top 20 ophthalmic conditions mentioned in comments.

The r/Ophthalmology subreddit is a popular social media platform for patients to seek and share information about eye concerns. Analysis of the interactions show that close to two-thirds of posts discuss medical concerns despite these posts being strongly discouraged and deleted from the subreddit. The persistence of posts seeking medical advice on this platform suggests that there is a need for increased patient education on ophthalmic conditions. Patients were found to discuss a variety of topics within this group, with conversation in posts and comments largely being dominated by discussion surrounding retinal detachments, cataracts, and glaucoma. As these are common ophthalmic concerns of patients seen in-office, this study highlights topics that could benefit from increased patient education.

While it is clear that patients are looking for medical information within this subreddit, these results also demonstrate that 75% of comments did not mention or recommend users to seek any type of medical care. Of the comments that referenced care, only a minority went as far as to recommend some type of medical care. These findings highlight the discrepancy between the number of users seeking medical advice on this platform and how often they are told to see a professional for their concerns. This can partially be attributed to the growing amount of self-diagnosis that patients partake in, given the amount of health information accessible to them, and medical advice they receive from others on the internet. Patients may be hopeful to receive medically accurate information about their concerns online, however a previous study suggests that ophthalmologists make up a minority of the self-identified users that frequent the other ophthalmology subreddit, r/EyeTriage. 16 This can result in a greater reliance on the advice of other Reddit users, increasing the risk of misinformation. In addition, many of the posts and comments mentioning ophthalmic care do so in the context of users wondering or unsure if they should seek this type of care. A study analyzing the r/EyeTriage subreddit also found that patients posting about ophthalmic concerns demonstrated anxiety and worry with patients most commonly seeking diagnoses, highlighting the potential vulnerable state that patients may be in when seeking ophthalmic care information online. 16 This suggests that there is room for improvement in educating patients about circumstances in which they should seek ophthalmic care. Ophthalmologists can play a key role in improving patient education about a variety of sight-threatening conditions by understanding what ophthalmic information patients are seeking online as a result of this study. This type of education will improve patient outcomes and better educate those who may be giving advice to others online.

When considering what patients are discussing within posts, the increased frequency of flashes and floaters appearing in conversation suggests that patients are turning to this platform to ask others what they should do when experiencing these symptoms. While one of the most common reasons for acute onset flashes and floaters is a posterior vitreous detachment, patients should be aware that they need to be appropriately evaluated in order to rule out a possible retinal detachment. 20 , 21 Patient education strategies aimed to decrease delayed presentation of certain ophthalmic concerns may be useful tactics for ophthalmologists to use in office. One particular acronym, FLASH, can help patients remember the following symptoms for vision-threatening eye emergencies: flashes and floaters, loss of vision, aching pain, second image, help. 22 This education can also help address the other commonly brought up topics in posts, glaucoma and headaches. Patients experiencing acute angle closure glaucoma may often presents with headaches and blurry vision, 23 both of which are encompassed by the acronym. This can help patients with these concerns know to seek immediate medical attention as opposed to turning to the advice of those on the internet. It is important to note that patients are not exclusively bringing up acute medical concerns in posts. Posts are also made by those seeking more information about chronic conditions they may have such as glaucoma, astigmatism, dry eye, and uveitis. These results can help guide further patient education both on social media and in the office.

Within comments, users of the r/Ophthalmology subreddit are found to be commonly discussing similar topics to those found in posts. This suggests that the comments may be frequently used for other users to give advice on topics brought up in posts. As there is no qualification necessary for a layperson to give medical advice online, it is important that eye professionals are acutely aware of the discussions taking place. The knowledge of the results of this study can help inform ophthalmologists and optometrists on what education they should focus on disseminating. The benefit of this is twofold: (1) Patients are inherently better educated about eye conditions and can more appropriately assess when to seek medical care and (2) if they are giving advice on the internet, they will be less likely to spread misinformation to others. Methods of patient education can be divided into social media resources and non-social media resources. Outside of social media, ophthalmologists can make use of the variety of patient education resources available through the AAO, including pamphlets, videos, and diagrams. 24 Many ophthalmologists also have personalized patient education information sheets that can be included in after-visit summaries. These resources are additionally helpful from a patient perspective because they can include links to reputable resources that patients can rely on to further their own education on particular topics. These types of resources tend to be more static, whereas the wide spectrum of social media platforms can give ophthalmologists creative freedom to decide how to disseminate patient education, including text, photo, and video-based material. While engaging in social media can be time-intensive, it is important for physicians to recognize that up to 80% of their patient population is seeking information about their health online. 25 Within the field of ophthalmology, social media has been gaining more momentum and the AAO provides guidelines that may help ophthalmologists use social media to market their practices. 26 Extending use of social media to educate patients can help ophthalmologists reach those who may otherwise lack other resources to access health information while also helping to build their practice. 25

Reddit as a social media platform for health information offers unique advantages and perspectives. Unlike other social media sites, Reddit allows for patients to easily create accounts that give them anonymity. This has been found to facilitate more supportive and instrumental conversation about medical conditions, especially in situations where stigma may be involved. 27 The platform creates a space in which patients do not feel like they are broadcasting their concerns or revealing too much personal information to those that they know, as they would on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. 28–30 The r/Ophthalmology subreddit may possibly attract more ophthalmologist subscribers than that of r/EyeTriage given that the subreddit more adamantly discourages patient-specific questions. Physicians are well aware of the professional consequences of giving specific medical information on the internet. 31 The anonymity provided by Reddit and the rules of the r/Ophthalmology subreddit gives ophthalmologists the freedom to interact within the group without feeling obligated to respond to patient questions, making it more likely that they have a greater presence there than in r/EyeTriage. This makes the subreddit an accessible platform for ophthalmologists to disseminate education materials for patients while getting input from other users of various backgrounds, already found to be effective in other fields of medicine. 32 , 33 This type of engagement with patients and others can help increase overall ophthalmic knowledge in the general population.

This study is not free of limitations, both with Reddit itself as a data source and the study methodology. As this study relies on data directly from the r/Ophthalmology subreddit, it is important to consider that this forum is also frequented by others with an interest in ophthalmology, such as medical students, residents, and other eye professionals. With 56% percent of available posts discussing topics outside of medical advice, conversations would be expected to fall outside of mentioning or recommending any type of medical care, serving as a confounder when attempting to determine whether patients are appropriately being recommended to seek care. Additionally, the subreddit rules make it likely that more posts were made discussing patient-specific questions but were deleted prior to data extraction from the site. Further research into the posts and comments in this subreddit since the time of data extraction may prove valuable in better understanding the conversations about ophthalmology on this social media platform. In evaluating the conditions that patients are discussing on r/Ophthalmology, it is possible that conditions outside of those included in the AAO’s Eye Health A-Z list were discussed and not captured in these results. A more exhaustive list of ophthalmic symptoms and diseases may yield greater information about topics of conversation. The pre-processing methodology used to identify posts and comments with references to medical care has been previously described, but may have unintentionally excluded a small number of conversations related to patient questions. Future studies analyzing Reddit data may benefit from a more robust natural language processing approach to thoroughly process this complex data source.

In summary, Reddit data, specifically the r/Ophthalmology subreddit, offers unique insight into the conversations that patients are having about their eye health on social media. Patients were found to ask specific questions about their health on the platform, leading to increased self-diagnosis and spread of medical advice from other Reddit users. Within these patient-specific conversations, ophthalmic care was often mentioned, but there is room for increased patient education in this space to better inform patients about both acute and chronic ophthalmic conditions. Ophthalmologists, and others in the vision community, can use the results of this study to tailor patient education towards commonly discussed ophthalmic conditions found in the r/Ophthalmology subreddit. This approach can help improve patient safety while decreasing the spread of misinformation.

Funding Statement

There is no funding to report. The abstract of this paper was presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2021 as a poster presentation with interim findings. The poster’s abstract was published in “Abstract Issue 2021” in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science: https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2773677 .

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Two doctors and the 'ketamine queen' are charged in the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry

A web of people motivated by greed — two doctors, a live-in-personal assistant, an acquaintance and a drug dealer known as the “ketamine queen” — conspired to provide Matthew Perry with the ketamine that caused his accidental overdose death last year, federal authorities announced Thursday.

The five individuals have all been charged in connection with Perry’s death. As his descent into ketamine addiction deepened last fall, they took advantage of the actor’s vulnerable condition to enrich themselves, authorities said. 

“They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference. “But they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well being.”

Perry, 54, was found face down in the heated end of a pool at his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office attributed his death to the acute effects of ketamine, an anesthetic with psychedelic properties.

According to an 18-count superseding indictment, the events leading to Perry’s death began in September when a Santa Monica doctor, Salvador Plasencia, learned that Perry wanted ketamine. Long known as a club drug, it’s increasingly used to treat people with depression and other mental health issues but carries serious medical risks.

Plasencia reached out to another doctor, Mark Chavez, of San Diego, who had owned a ketamine clinic. Soon the two physicians were discussing how much to charge Perry for the drug.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia said in a text message to Chavez, according to the indictment. “Lets find out.”

Plasencia went on to provide ketamine to Perry and his assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59. Plasencia repeatedly injected Perry with the drug himself and also instructed Iwamasa on how to do it, the indictment says. 

“It was like a bad movie,” Plasencia wrote in a text message to Chavez, the indictment says.

From September until Perry’s death in late October, the doctors provided him with about 20 vials of ketamine at a price of $55,000 in cash, federal prosecutors said. 

In mid-October, Iwamasa sought an additional source of ketamine for his troubled boss, the indictment said. He reached out to an acquaintance of Perry’s, Erik Fleming, who then reached out to a major underground seller known as the "ketamine queen." 

A dual U.S. and U.K. citizen who lived in North Hollywood, Jasveen Sangha had been selling ketamine and other drugs for years, according to federal prosecutors. 

She knew that ketamine could be fatal. In August 2019, a man overdosed on ketamine provided by Sangha, prosecutors said. Afterward, one of the man’s family members sent a text to Sangha. "The ketamine you sold my brother killed him," they wrote. "It's listed as the cause of death."

According to prosecutors, Sangha then typed a question into Google: “Can ketamine be listed as a cause of death.”

She began providing the drugs to Perry through Fleming, and he coordinated the sales with Iwamasa, the indictment says. On Oct. 28, Iwamasa injected Perry with at least three shots of ketamine using syringes provided by Plasencia, according to the indictment.

The actor, best known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom “Friends,” was found unresponsive in his pool later that day.

“Matthew Perry’s journey began with unscrupulous doctors who abused their position of trust because they saw him as a payday,” Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Millgram said at the Thursday news conference. “And it ended with street dealers who sold him ketamine in unmarked vials.”

Sangha, 41, and Plasencia, 42, were both arrested Thursday in Southern California. They were charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Sangha was also charged with several other drug-related offenses.

Plasencia, who appeared shackled and in dress clothes during a court hearing Thursday, pleaded not guilty. His bond was set at $100,000.

The judge overseeing the case agreed to allow the non-controlled substance part of Placensia’s practice to remain open if he posts a note at his office explaining the charges and seeks releases from patients stating that they understand the allegations against him.

Plasencia's next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28.

A lawyer for Plasencia, who operated a clinic in a strip mall in Calabasas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The owner of a local business, who asked not to be named for fear of harassment, said he met Plasencia briefly about two months ago after noticing a sign for weight loss medication at the clinic.

Plasencia offered him weight loss drugs without a consultation, the business owner said. The local business owner declined. “I’m glad I didn’t do it,” he said.

On Thursday afternoon, a sign advertising weight loss medication remained outside Palencia’s clinic but the front doors were locked. A handwritten note said the urgent care would be closed for the day.

After Perry’s death, federal agents and detectives searched Sangha's home. They found approximately 79 vials of ketamine, three pounds of orange pills containing methamphetamine, hallucinogenic mushrooms and cocaine.

Sangha appeared in court wearing large round glasses and a bright green baggy Nirvana T-shirt. After she pleaded not guilty, a judge ordered her to be held without bail, saying she was a flight risk.

Sangha was previously arrested in March in a separate federal drug case in which she was accused of being "a large volume drug dealer." She was released from custody in that case after she posted a $100,000 bond, according to court records.

Iwamasa, Perry's 59-year-old assistant, pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing a death. He admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including on the day the actor died, according to prosecutors.

Chavez, 54, the physician based in San Diego, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, prosecutors said. He admitted to selling ketamine to Plasencia, according to prosecutors.

Fleming, 54, the acquaintance who helped Perry procure ketamine, pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry — drugs that he received from Sangha, according to prosecutors.

Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety, but his last session took place more than a week prior to his death. The medical examiner noted that the ketamine in Perry’s system “could not be from that infusion therapy” given its short half-life. 

The levels of ketamine in his body were high — equivalent to the amount used for general anesthesia during surgery, according to the medical examiner. The coroner ultimately ruled his death an accident.

Perry had been open about his lengthy struggles with opioid addiction and alcoholism, which he chronicled in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.”

It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to investigate — and in some cases bring charges against — the people who supplied the drugs that caused a high-profile death.

After the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, his private physician, Dr. Conrad Murray , was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for providing the singer with a fatal dose of powerful drugs. More recently, federal prosecutors in New York brought charges against four men who supplied actor Michael K. Williams with the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed him in 2021.

The family of “Dateline” correspondent Keith Morrison, who is Perry’s stepfather, said in a statement that they welcomed the news of the law enforcement action.

“We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously,” the family said. “We look forward to justice taking its course.”

Andrew Blankstein is an investigative reporter for NBC News. He covers the Western U.S., specializing in crime, courts and homeland security. 

Eric Leonard is an investigative reporter and joins NBC4 with more than 20 years of experience in the news business.

Rich Schapiro is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

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Highlights: Harris to hold rally in North Carolina, highlights from Trump’s NJ news conference

With consumer goods placed on tables near him, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

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Today’s live coverage has ended. See what you missed below and find the latest on the 2024 presidential election at apnews.com.

Donald Trump held a press conference Thursday in Bedminster , New Jersey in which he said he thinks he’s “ entitled to personal attacks ” on his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris, saying he’s “very angry” at her because of the criminal charges he faces.

Earlier, Harris joined President Joe Biden to announce a deal to lower drug prices , their first joint speaking appearance since she replaced him at the top of the Democratic ticket, as they both struggle to convince voters that costs will trend down after years of above-normal inflation.

What to know:

• Harris is set to unveil her economic agenda. Her upcoming speech in North Carolina will preview policies around price gouging on groceries and cutting other costs, as her campaign zeroes in on food and housing prices.
• Trump addressed inflation and the economy Thursday. The Republican presidential nominee blamed inflation directly on government spending, sidestepping some of the more complex realities of global supply chain interruptions during the pandemic and global oil price spikes after Russia invaded Ukraine.
• Vance and Walz plan to debate later this year. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance have agreed to debate each other on Oct. 1, setting up a matchup of potential vice presidents as early voting in some states gets underway for the general election .

Trump warns that anti-Israel protestors will descend on next week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Trump said that “hundreds of thousands of people that are opposed to Israel” are planning to protest around the events. “There will be no jihad coming to America under Trump,” he said, to applause from the crowd.

Trump called Democrats “a radical group of people,” again criticizing Harris for not attending Netanyahu’s recent speech before a joint session of Congress, traveling to Indiana instead .

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, also did not attend the speech, stumping in Ohio and Virginia.

Harris, however, met with the prime minister privately.

Of Trump, Adelson said there’s just one president in her lifetime that fully shares the values she’s been talking about. “That president is Donald Trump,” she said, to cheers from the gathered crowd, adding that it was a “promised kept” when Trump moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, as well as recognizing the Golan Heights and withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.

Trump is being introduced by GOP mega-donor Miriam Adelson, an Israeli-born, naturalized U.S. citizen who earned a medical degree from Tel Aviv University and founded drug abuse treatment and research centers in Las Vegas and Tel Aviv.

In her remarks, Adelson talked about the impact of the Israel-Hamas war, saying that “Israel is being demonized,” adding that, “in too many parts of the world, it is open season against the Jews, and antisemitism becomes acceptable.” Miriam is the wife of the late Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate considered one of the nation’s most powerful Republican donors, who died in 2021 .

The Adelsons donated $30 million to Trump’s campaign in the final months of the 2016 race, and Miriam Adelson is behind some major spending aimed at boosting Trump’s current campaign. Preserve America super PAC, a pro-Trump group backed by her, has reserved $45 million worth of advertising through the end of August.

As president, Trump awarded Miriam Adelson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the highest honor the nation reserves for a civilian — in 2018.

Trump repeats false claims that Minnesota law requires tampons in boys’ bathrooms

CLAIM: Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “signed a bill that all boys bathrooms in Minnesota will have tampons.”

FACTS: Walz signed a bill in 2023 that requires Minnesota public schools to make tampons available to “all menstruating students.” The law does not mention gender. The relevant section of the law reads: “A school district or charter school must provide students with access to menstrual products at no charge.

The products must be available to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12 according to a plan developed by the school district. For purposes of this section, ‘menstrual products’ means pads, tampons, or other similar products used in connection with the menstrual cycle.”

That means a school system could theoretically opt to place dispensers in all bathrooms. But there is no legal requirement that tampons be distributed in boys’ bathrooms — because a system could satisfy the law with dispensers in girls’ restrooms.

Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed he won Pennsylvania in the 2020 election. He did not.

CLAIM: “I won Pennsylvania and I did much better the second time. I won it in 2016, did much better the second time. I know Pennsylvania very well.”

THE FACTS: Trump did win the state in 2016, when he beat Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the presidency. But he lost the state in 2020 to President Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native. According to the official certified results Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received 3.46 million votes, compared to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence with 3.38 million votes.

Trump is arguing that his presidency brought more national unity than he gets credit for and that he is not actually as brash or bombastic as he often seems on the campaign trail.

“I think I’m doing a very calm campaign,” he said after being asked about some criticism from Republicans who want him to focus less on personal attacks. “Some of you will say, ‘he ranted and raved,’” Trump said, referring to journalists.

“I’m a very calm person, believe it or not,” he said.

He pointed to a criminal justice overhaul enacted when he was president. He did it with Democratic support."When you do that, that’s a big step,” he said, describing a negotiation process involving unusual allies. “Our country was coming together. Success will bring our country together again.”

Trump says he’d welcome Nikki Haley on the campaign trail if she wanted to stump for him.

Asked if he would want Haley to rally support for him, Trump said, “I’d love to have her go around and campaign.”

“I fought Nikki very hard,” Trump said. “I beat her in her own state by legendary numbers. I get along with her fine.” The former South Carolina governor, who was the last remaining GOP opponent against Trump in the primary campaign and served two years as his administration’s ambassador to the United Nations, shuttered her campaign after Trump’s big wins on Super Tuesday.

She didn’t endorse Trump immediately but has since and spoke at last month’s RNC in Milwaukee in support of his candidacy. Otherwise, she has not campaigned for him.

Trump says he feels that he’s earned the right to take on his political opponents in a personal way, citing what he termed the way the justice system has been “weaponized” against him.

It’s a theme Trump often hits in his rally speeches, citing the legal cases against him and characterizing them as politically motivated attacks by Democratic prosecutors and the Biden Justice Department.

On Thursday, asked if he felt he needed to run a more disciplined campaign in the closing months ahead of Nov. 5 and pivot away from making personal attacks on Harris, Trump said, “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks, I don’t have a lot of respect for her, I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible president.”

Trump went on to say of Harris that “people don’t know who she is,” explaining that he doesn’t typically use his opponent’s last name because, “You can ask the man on the street, what’s the last name of Kamala?’ Nobody knew.”

Trump’s been encouraging supporters to vote for him early, but he again called for “one-day voting” in elections.

“We should have one-day voting, paper ballots,” Trump said, in part of a response to a question about credit card debt.

Saying that large numbers of early voting is “ridiculous,” Trump also called for “voter ID, and we should have proof of citizenship” for voting in U.S. elections.

Trump claimed the U.S. could suffer an economic collapse akin to the 1929 crash that preceded the Great Depression if Harris wins the election.

CLAIM: “We’re going to have a crash like the 1929 crash if she gets in.”

THE FACTS: Countering Trump’s gloomy predictions, the economy has shown recent signs of strength and stability. On Thursday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.6%, its sixth gain in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also increased, as did the Nasdaq composite.

Recent economic reports show that shoppers increased their retail spending last month and fewer workers sought unemployment benefits.

Fears that the economy was slowing emerged last month following a sharp drop in hiring and higher unemployment rates. But those worries were assuaged earlier this month when a better-than-expected jobless numbers led to Wall Street’s best rally since 2022.

Trump was asked if he had reflected on his assassination attempt and why he felt his life had been saved.

Calling it “a miracle” that he wasn’t more seriously harmed, Trump said that “God has something to do with it. ... And maybe it’s, we want to save the world.”

At the Republican National Convention, Trump spoke in depth about the shooting and said that he wouldn’t make a habit of talking about it, although he has done so frequently at campaign events since.

Trump made it more than 45 minutes into his remarks before bringing up his grievances over the 2020 election. He again implied — falsely — that the election was rigged as he bragged about getting “millions more votes” than he got in 2016 plus “other votes that we can talk about at a different day.”

Indeed, turnout in 2020 was considerably higher than in 2016. Trump’s national vote total jumped from just shy of 63 million to 74.2 million. But Joe Biden got almost 81.3 million votes, up from Hillary Clinton’s 65.9 million votes four years earlier.

Much of Trump’s remarks have been aimed to focus on the economy, and — more than 40 minutes into his event — he made reference to the food items and household goods set up in a display behind him.

“I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time,” Trump said, noticing the cereal box. “I’m going to take them back to my cottage.”

At about 45 minutes in, Trump started taking questions.

But there have been some stem-winding moments, reminiscent of his rallies, where remarks can run an hour and a half.

Trump is promising to eliminate all incentives and mandates that push the U.S. auto market toward electric vehicles. But he’s insistent that he does not oppose EVs — just that he wants market forces and consumer choices to guide the economy.

Trump is going after remarks that Harris made in a Senate confirmation hearing in 2018. He said that Harris had compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the Ku Klux Klan.

In 2018, Harris, then a senator, aggressively questioned acting Director Ronald D. Vitiello of ICE about a comment he had made on social media that compared the Democratic Party to the KKK.

After a heated exchange during the hearing, Harris asked Vitiello, “Are you aware that there’s a perception that ICE is administering its power in a way that is causing fear and intimidation — particularly among immigrants and specifically among immigrants coming from Mexico and Central America?”

Donald Trump is 30 minutes into what his campaign billed as a news conference, but he has yet to take questions. He stuck largely to prepared remarks on inflation but has stretched his remarks with various broadsides and anecdotes.

Trump misstated Harris’ role in overseeing border security during his press conference Thursday in Bedminster, N.J.

CLAIM: “She was the border czar but she didn’t do anything. She’s the worst border czar in history ... She was the person responsible for the border and she never went there.”

THE FACTS: Biden tapped Harris in 2021 to work with Central American countries to address the root causes of migration and the challenges it creates. Illegal crossings are one aspect of those challenges, but Harris was never assigned to the border or put in charge of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees law enforcement at the border .

Trump is hammering Harris as a politician who wants to “defund the police.” His characterization of her previous statements is not accurate.

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Harris expressed praise for the “defund the police” movement and questioned whether money was being effectively spent on public safety. But she has not advocated abolishing police forces, the insinuation behind Trump’s line of attack.

Harris did an interview in June 2020 with the “Ebro in the Morning” radio show in New York noting, “This whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities.” Her comments were part of a wider critique that police departments have to confront more social problems because other public programs — education, social services, mental health care — are often not funded well enough.

The Biden administration tried to overhaul policing, but the legislation stalled on Capitol Hill, and Biden ultimately settled for issuing an executive order . The administration also pumped more money into local departments.

The pivot to criticizing the Biden-Harris administration on immigration has been a theme of many of Trump’s speeches and events during this campaign cycle, and it’s one the GOP nominee is again renewing during his Bedminster remarks.

After listing off programs he said Harris would threaten as president — saying “she will destroy Medicare, she will destroy Social Security” — Trump then turned back to immigration concerns, overstating the number of people who have come across the U.S.-Mexico border during Biden’s time in office.

It’s a regular feature of modern U.S. elections for Republican nominees to cast Democratic nominees for various offices as “too liberal” or even “socialist.”

Trump has elevated that line of attack on Harris. “She wants to change a free-enterprise-type country into a communist-type country,” he insisted.

Trump’s argument depends heavily on certain positions Harris took as a U.S. senator from California and candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Harris once co-sponsored Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” Senate proposal, but she has backed away from that since the 2020 campaign.

The Biden-Harris campaign in 2020 advocated for a “public option” plan to be added to existing private health insurance exchanges set up under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. That policy would not, as Trump claims, end private health insurance or private health care.

Trump is warning that his Democratic opponent would upend not only the U.S. economy but also American relationships abroad.

“If Kamala wins the election, the worst is yet to come,” Trump said, claiming that Harris is “far more radical” than Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and “wants to change a free enterprise type country into a communist type country.”

On foreign relations, Trump warned that “you’ll have a real problem in the future because people don’t respect her in the world.”

Turning to the grocery items that are surrounding him, Trump quoted various inflation statistics for various staples of U.S. household diets.

But he blasted Harris’ talk of taking on price gouging, including on food, calling it “communist price controls” and “the Maduro plan,” a nod to the authoritarian socialist leader of Venezuela. “She wants price controls,” he said. “They don’t work. ... They lead to food shortages.” He’s adding references to higher car insurance premiums and fuel costs.

So far, Trump has not introduced any of his proposals to confront the situation. He’s opting instead for blaming Harris, because she is Biden’s top lieutenant, and recycling his sweeping predictions that a President Harris would tank the economy.

Trump is opening his latest news conference with renewed attacks that Harris “broke the border and broke the world.”

He is highlighting her role as vice president casting the tie-breaking Senate vote on major spending initiatives for the Biden administration.

As the economy takes center stage in the presidential contest, Trump is blaming inflation directly on government spending — sidestepping some of the more complex realities of global supply chain interruptions during the pandemic and global oil price spikes after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Harris, in turn, has focused the blame on corporate greed, glossing over the effects of considerable stimulus spending by the U.S. and other governments around the world.

Trump has started a news conference outside at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey, where he is speaking surrounded by groceries set on tables.

The former president and Republican nominee is trying to step up his attacks on Vice President Harris, shifting blame for rising prices from Biden to her as she becomes her party standard-bearer.

Trump delivered what was billed as a major address on the economy a day earlier in North Carolina but he spent most of the 75-minute speech on his usual grievances. The news conference marks another opportunity for him to focus his argument on what many political observers believe can be a weak spot for Harris.

For her part, Harris is planning an address on the economy Friday in North Carolina.

At a rally yesterday in North Carolina that his campaign billed as a big economic address, Trump made little effort to stay on message. He mixed pledges to slash energy prices and “unleash economic abundance” with familiar off-script tangents.

He aired his frustration over the Democrats swapping the vice president in place of Biden at the top of their presidential ticket. He repeatedly denigrated San Francisco, where Harris was once the district attorney, as “unlivable” and went after his rival in deeply personal terms, questioning her intelligence, saying she has “the laugh of a crazy person” and musing that Democrats were being “politically correct” in trying to elevate the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

The former president will meet members of the press at his New Jersey golf club at 4:30 p.m. ET for his second news conference in as many weeks as he adjusts to a newly energized Democratic ticket.

He’ll be flanked by popular grocery store items as he seeks to highlight the rising cost of food.

The event comes one day after the Labor Department announced year-over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July — the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading. But consumers are still feeling the impact of higher prices and the Trump campaign is hoping to capitalize on those frustrations.

▶ Watch Trump’s New Jersey news conference live

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has released a video of her chatting with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as the pair discuss their upbringings and tastes.

Running just under 10 minutes and filmed last week when the pair made a joint campaign appearance in Detroit, the video recalls a similar one then-candidate Joe Biden had with former President Barack Obama during the 2020 campaign.

Walz likens the election to a football game, saying it’s “halftime in America” and he feels like the campaign is trailing by a touchdown, adding, “I kind of like the idea of being a little bit behind.”

Harris, who’s played up her running mate’s former career coaching high school football responds, “I’m looking at Coach Walz right now.”

The vice president asks her running mate about liking what he describes as “white guy tacos,” which he says are ground beef and cheese but no sauce — prompting Harris to note that she’s grown chili peppers at the vice president’s residence.

He tells her about his love of Bruce Springsteen and Harris talks about growing up with the music of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis and John Coltrane and her love of Prince. She says she’s “more of a hip hop girl” while her husband, Doug Emhoff, is more partial to Depeche Mode.

Harris talks about supporting policies that don’t “let people fall through the cracks” and trying to unify rather than divide the country.

In the weeks since launching her presidential campaign, Harris hasn’t sat for a major media interview — making her chat with Walz one of the closest approximations.

Former President Donald Trump will speak at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday flanked by popular grocery store items as he seeks to highlight the rising cost of food.

Staff were seen laying out a selection of items, including tubs of instant coffee, sugary breakfast cereals, pastries and fruit, on tables behind the lectern where he’ll speak at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

The event comes one day after the Labor Department announced year-over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July — the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading.

But consumers are still feeling the effect of higher prices — something Trump’s campaign is banking on to motivate voters this fall.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have appeared together for the first time since she replaced him as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Biden and Harris spoke at an event at a Maryland community college to talk about the administration’s work to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

They also praised each other.

Harris, who spoke first, said it’s her “eternal and great honor” to serve with Biden, whom she called an “extraordinary human being and American and leader.”

Biden said of Harris, “She’s going to make one hell of a president.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrive to speak about their administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs during an event at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Md., Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling is touting extensive officer training as a critical part of the city’s preparations for the Democratic National Convention next week.

Roughly 50,000 people are expected in Chicago for the convention, including thousands of anti-war activists who plan to demonstrate near the United Center where Vice President Kamala Harris will officially accept the party’s nomination.

Snelling maintained that the Chicago Police Department — working alongside federal law enforcement agencies — is prepared to deal with large crowds and any security concerns.

“There’s a possibility that things could take a turn. Something could happen that we don’t expect,” Snelling told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “We know that our officers can respond in a professional manner with training behind them. They’ll be more effective in decision making. And then the response becomes greater and better.”

FILE - Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign event, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed paperwork Thursday, June 20, 2024 to get on the ballot for the November election in swing-state Pennsylvania, the state’s election office said. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign suffered a blow this week when a judge in New York invalidated his petition to put his name on the state ballot, a ruling that could potentially create problems for the candidate as he faces challenges elsewhere.

Kennedy’s attorneys filed an appeal Wednesday to a ruling this week from Justice Christina Ryba, who said the residence listed on his nominating petitions was a “sham” address he used to maintain his voter registration and to further his political aspirations. The judge ruled in favor of the challengers, who argued Kennedy’s actual residence was the home in Los Angeles he shares with his wife, the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Cheryl Hines.

New York is just one of more than a half-dozen states where challenges have been made to Kennedy’s petitions from Democrats and their allies. Some of the challenges allege he falsely listed the same New York address that was the subject of litigation in that state, or that there were problems with petition signatures.

Donald Trump is asking the judge in his New York hush money criminal case to delay his sentencing until after the November presidential election.

In a letter made public Thursday, a lawyer for the former president and current Republican nominee suggested that sentencing Trump as scheduled on Sept. 18 — about seven weeks before Election Day — would amount to election interference.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche wrote that a delay would also allow Trump time to weigh next steps after the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule Sept. 16 on the defense’s request to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July presidential immunity ruling .

“There is no basis for continuing to rush,” Blanche wrote.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Byron Center, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

To attendees gathered at a VFW post in New Kensington on Thursday in western Pennsylvania, Vance lauded Trump for putting “in place real policies that really benefit the veterans who served in our military.”

As he opened his remarks, Vance asked attendees to hold a brief moment of silence to commemorate the deaths of 13 service members killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan three years ago, a move by Biden he said occurred “in the most disgraceful way,” also laying blame on Harris.

Vance was introduced by several veterans now serving in Congress, including Florida Reps. Brian Mast and Mike Waltz. Pat Harrigan, a Republican running for the U.S. House in North Carolina, levied harsh criticism on Tim Walz’s record, calling the Minnesota governor “a coward who betrayed his men at their greatest time of need.”

Since Harris named Walz - a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard - as her running mate, Vance has repeatedly questioned his rival’s military credentials, accusing him of retiring to avoid deploying with his unit and saying Walz misled voters about serving in a combat zone, when he was deployed to Italy in 2003 in a supportive, not combat, role.

As he ramped up for a congressional bid in 2005, Walz’s campaign in March issued a statement saying he still planned to run despite a possible mobilization of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq. According to the Guard, Walz retired from service in May of that year. In August 2005, the Department of the Army issued a mobilization order for Walz’s unit. The unit mobilized in October of that year before it deployed to Iraq in March 2006 .

“Kamala Harris, showing terrible judgment, has decided that her way out of this political problem is to claim that she and Tim Walz are the victims,” Vance said, referencing comments by the campaign pushing back on Republicans’ criticism. “I think the victims are the veterans who are having their service disparaged because the guy who wants to be their vice president is lying instead of telling the truth.”

Vance said he became a member of the VFW Post at which he spoke, saying he’d be back in the future to “have some pancakes, maybe a cigarette, whatever.”

Vice President Kamala Harris has a perceived advantage over former President Donald Trump on several leadership qualities such as honesty, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds, although Americans are slightly more likely to trust Trump on the economy and immigration.

Nearly half of Americans say that “committed to democracy” and “disciplined” are attributes that better describe Harris. About 3 in 10 say these qualities better describe Trump.

About 4 in 10 say Harris is someone who “cares about people like you” while about 3 in 10 say that about Trump. About 4 in 10 say “honest” better describes Harris and 24% say that quality better describes Trump.

▶ Read more about the AP-NORC poll

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to hold a rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday in the same venue where Republicans gathered for their national convention last month.

Harris will hold the event at the Fiserv Forum while the Democratic National Convention is underway about 100 miles to the south in Chicago, the Harris campaign said Thursday.

The stop will mark the third time since Harris become the Democratic presidential nominee that she’s come to swing state Wisconsin, a nod to the importance of the state. She held her first rally of the presidential campaign outside Milwaukee and last week stopped in Eau Claire, in western Wisconsin, with her newly selected running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

The campaign didn’t say if Walz would be with Harris on Tuesday. The rally is scheduled during the second day of the Democratic National Convention.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, running mate to Republican Donald Trump, planned to be in Milwaukee on Friday to speak at the Milwaukee Police Association. That would be his second visit to Wisconsin as the vice presidential nominee. He was in Eau Claire last week at the same time as Harris and Walz.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance have agreed to debate each other on Oct. 1, setting up a matchup of potential vice presidents as early voting in some states gets underway for the general election.

CBS News on Wednesday posted on its X feed that the network had invited both Vance and Walz to debate in New York City, presenting four possible dates — Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1 and Oct. 8 — as options.

Walz reposted that message from his own campaign account, “See you on October 1, JD.” The Harris-Walz campaign followed up with a message of its own, saying Walz “looks forward to debating JD Vance — if he shows up.”

Vance posted on X that he would accept the Oct. 1 invitation. He also challenged Walz to meet on Sept. 18.

And she’s zeroing in on corporate price gouging.

Her campaign says Harris plans to push for a federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries. She’s putting particular emphasis on rising meat prices, which she says account for a large part of rising grocery bills.

Year-over-year inflation has reached its lowest level in more than three years. But many Americans are still struggling with food prices, which remain 21% above where they were three years ago. Republican Donald Trump has been pointing to inflation as a key failing of the Biden-Trump administration and its energy policies.

Former President Donald Trump invited reporters to his New Jersey golf club Thursday for his second news conference in as many weeks as he adjusts to a newly energized Democratic ticket ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention.

Trump will meet the press as he steps up his criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris for not holding a news conference or sitting down for interviews since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed her to replace him.

▶ Read more about Trump’s scheduled news conference

The Biden administration is taking a victory lap after federal officials inked deals with drug companies to lower the price for 10 of Medicare’s most popular and costliest drugs, but shared few immediate details about the new price older Americans will pay when they fill those prescriptions.

White House officials said Wednesday night they expect U.S. taxpayers to save $6 billion on the new prices, while older Americans could save roughly $1.5 billion on their medications. Those projections, however, were based on dated estimates and the administration shared no details as to how they arrived at the figures.

Nonetheless, the newly negotiated prices — still elusive to the public as of early Thursday morning — will affect the price of drugs used by millions of older Americans to help manage diabetes, blood cancers and prevent heart failure or blood clots.

The drugs include the blood thinners Xarelto and Eliquis and diabetes drugs Jardiance and Januvia. Medicare spent $50 billion covering the drugs last year.

In his first solo appearance as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz warned cheering union members Tuesday that Donald Trump would wage war on working people and threaten Medicare and Social Security as he kicked off a five-state fundraising swing.

He spoke of a grim future for unions if Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are elected, describing a nation where bargaining rights, overtime pay and other protections would be scuttled. He said Trump and Vance have “waged war on working people.”

However, Trump also has courted union support. When he accepted the Republican nomination, he said that he would rescue the auto industry from what he called “complete obliteration.”

Read more about Walz’s 5-state fundraising blitz

Whatever possessed Vice President Kamala Harris to pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, it probably wasn’t a desire to inflame arguments about apostrophes. But it doesn’t take much to get grammar nerds fired up .

“The lower the stakes, the bigger the fight,” said Ron Woloshun, a creative director and digital marketer in California who jumped into the fray on social media less than an hour after Harris selected Walz last week to offer his take on possessive proper nouns.

The Associated Press Stylebook says “use only an apostrophe” for singular proper names ending in S: Dickens’ novels, Hercules’ labors, Jesus’ life. But not everyone agrees.

While there is widespread agreement that Walz’s is correct, confusion persists about Harris’ vs. Harris’s. Dreyer’s verdict? Add the ’s.

▶ Read more about the political world’s latest grammar debate

Vice President Kamala Harris talks to the media, Friday, June 25, 2021, after her tour of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. Harris visited the U.S. southern border as part of her role leading the Biden administration’s response to a steep increase in migration. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Vice President Kamala Harris was never the “border czar,” as her critics claim.

Biden administration officials say she was assigned to tackle the “root causes” of migration from the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that were responsible for a large chunk of border crossers.

A review of Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record that is more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies. It also provides insights into how Harris — who took over as the Democratic standard-bearer when Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month — might tackle one of the nation’s most vexing concerns.

▶ Read more about Harris’ work on immigration

The Democratic National Committee will offer a schedule of trainings, panels and other programming it’s calling “DemPalooza” during the party’s convention in Chicago next week. The name is a play on the Lollapalooza music festival Chicago plays hosts to every year.

“DemPalooza” events will range from trainings on how to use organizing tools to polling briefings and skills workshops. The DNC says these programs are part of its and the Harris campaign’s efforts to organize and reach voters in an evolving media environment and provide opportunities for Democrats to take what they’ve learned back to the communities that will decide the November presidential election.

President Joe Biden leaves after speaking about prescription drug costs at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., Dec. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is taking a victory lap after federal officials inked deals with drug companies to lower the price for 10 of Medicare’s most popular and costliest drugs, but shared few immediate details about the new price older Americans will pay when they fill those prescriptions.

▶ Read the full story here .

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. Trump is expected in court for an important hearing in his New York hush-money criminal case. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

Donald Trump has lost his latest bid for a new judge in his New York hush money criminal case as it heads toward a key ruling and potential sentencing next month.

In a decision posted Wednesday , Judge Juan M. Merchan declined to step aside and said Trump’s demand was a rehash “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about his ability to remain impartial.

It’s the third time Merchan has rejected such a request from lawyers for the former president and current Republican nominee. They contend the judge has a conflict of interest because his daughter works as a political consultant for prominent Democrats, including Kamala Harris when she sought the Democrats’ 2020 presidential nomination. Harris is now the party’s nominee against Trump.

The judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, met Harris occasionally in 2019 but never “developed an individual relationship” with her, consulting firm founder Mike Nellis told the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in a letter Tuesday. The firm, Authentic Campaigns Inc., has not worked for Harris’ campaign, President Joe Biden’s now-ended reelection bid or the Democratic National Committee in the 2024 election cycle, Nellis said.

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Any personal statement tips for optometry school app?

I wrote my first draft. I incorporated how I was not sure what I wanted to go into and how I started to shadow a family optometrist and I talked about my experience there. I also included a few struggles as far as school grades go but I continued to get back into shadowing and joined clubs that go to disadvantaged communities to conduct vision screens. I talked about my motivation for continuing my education is my parents and also to help these communities

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