Science is a human activity and like all human activities, it has its share of drama and pathos. The scientific product is often an interaction of certain ways of thinking, personality traits, and circumstances. This essay examines these factors and how the melding of that could lead to breakthrough discoveries. It may in some instances, go wrong, or take a morally ambiguous path.

Clinician-scientists are becoming increasingly rare in medicine as a whole, but especially in ophthalmology. There is a structural gap between MD-PhD training and K-series awards where interested candidates go through residency and fellowship without any structured research exposure or involvement. Furthermore, the success rate of the MD-PhD and K awards leaves much to be desired. The authors p...