The editorial by Fong et al1 in theJuly 2003 issue of the ARCHIVES raises the question of what the ophthalmologist'srole is when confronted with patients with age-related macular degeneration,for which we do not yet have a cure. Recently, I observed 2 very skilled ophthalmologistsin vision rehabilitation consultations with patients with age-related maculardegeneration, and in each physician's setting, a patient left the examiningroom stating that this ophthalmologist was the best physician he or she hadever seen. What had the ophthalmologists done? They had not reattached a retina.They had not taken out a cataract. They had not performed refractive surgery.