I’ve Got This: Dr. Sheri Rowen on Confidence, Courage, and Starting Again
In this episode of Chu on This!, Dr. Katie W. Chu sits down with internationally recognized cataract and refractive surgeon Dr. Sheri Rowen for a warm and deeply personal conversation about confidence, reinvention, motherhood, mentorship, breaking barriers, and learning to appreciate the person behind the professional achievements.
Sheri shares the bold decision that brought her from Baltimore to California after decades of building a successful East Coast career. With her daughters establishing their lives in California and grandchildren on the horizon, she realized she did not want to become a cross-country grandmother. So she closed her practice, moved west, and began an entirely new chapter.
But starting again is just one part of Sheri’s remarkable story.
Looking back on her medical career, Sheri reflects on entering medicine at a time when women represented just 11 percent of her class. During her surgical training at Johns Hopkins, she was the only woman among 55 surgical residents. She went on to build a pioneering career in ophthalmology, embracing emerging cataract surgery techniques, participating in an early FDA trial for implantable collamer lenses, and teaching surgical techniques to physicians around the world.
Yet some of the most meaningful parts of her story are not the accolades or innovations. They are the people who helped her along the way.
Sheri reflects on the male colleagues who mentored and supported her at a time when there were few women in her field. Their willingness to teach, encourage, and create opportunities for her eventually inspired one of the accomplishments she is proudest of: helping create the CedarsAspens mentorship program so younger ophthalmologists could experience the same sense of guidance, support, and safety.
Katie and Sheri also connect over a side of their lives that patients and colleagues rarely saw. Both raised two daughters while navigating demanding medical careers and divorce. Katie shares the immense pressure of becoming a single mother to two very young children while running her practice, including the struggles hidden behind the happy face she presented to patients each morning. Sheri reflects on raising children during medical training and learning how to separate the difficulties of home life from the confidence and care her patients needed from her.
That leads to one of the central themes of the conversation: confidence.
Sheri remembers that even as a young resident, patients often told her how confident she made them feel, despite the fact that internally she was still learning and figuring things out herself. Over time, she came to understand how powerful that sense of reassurance can be in medicine.
Her internal reminder became simple: “I’ve got this.”
It was not about pretending to know everything. It was about trusting her training, remaining calm, and helping frightened patients know that whatever happened, they would face it together.
The conversation also explores honesty, perfectionism, gratitude, creativity, entrepreneurship, and the women both Katie and Sheri are still becoming. Katie reflects on learning to give herself grace and reconnecting with the creative side of herself that existed long before medicine. Sheri talks about becoming a better listener and developing a deeper appreciation for the life she already has.
Ultimately, this is a conversation about the person underneath the title. After decades of achievement, both women are discovering the freedom that comes from bringing more of themselves into their work and allowing “Katie” and “Sheri” to exist alongside “Dr. Chu” and “Dr. Rowen.”
This episode is a beautiful reminder that success is not only about what you accomplish. It is about who you become, who you lift up along the way, and whether you can look back at the life you have built with gratitude and know that you gave it your best.
Key Takeaways
Confidence isn’t about knowing everything. It’s about trusting yourself.
Sheri remembers patients telling her they felt confident in her care even when she was a resident and internally still learning. She came to understand that the confidence a physician projects can dramatically change a frightened patient’s experience. Her philosophy became simple: “I’ve got this. We are going to get through this together.”
Real success includes opening doors for the people coming behind you.
Sheri entered medicine when relatively few women were pursuing surgical careers, yet she benefited from mentors who believed in her and were willing to share their knowledge. Rather than simply appreciating that support, she chose to pass it forward by helping create a mentorship program that has supported future generations of ophthalmologists.
You don’t have to be perfect to be proud of the life you’re building.
Katie shares one of the hardest lessons she has learned: she does not have to be perfect. Sheri connects this to an important lesson from her own parents. She was never expected to have straight A’s, but she was expected to become the best version of herself. Both reflect on replacing comparison and perfectionism with grace, gratitude, and the knowledge that doing your best is enough.
Quotes from the Episode
“I don’t have to be perfect.”
“I’ve got this. We are going to get through this together.”
“You just want to be yourself and love yourself and be grateful. It creates tremendous happiness.”
About Dr. Sheri Rowen
Dr. Sheri Rowen is an internationally recognized ophthalmologist and Key Opinion Leader specializing in cataract surgery, LASIK and refractive surgery, ocular surface and dry eye disease, and oculoplastic surgery. She also works with emerging healthcare companies, helping innovative technologies navigate funding, strategic development, clinical adoption, and approval processes.
Throughout her career, Dr. Rowen has been at the forefront of advances in cataract and refractive surgery. She was among a small group of physicians pioneering topical clear corneal cataract surgery with foldable lenses in the early 1990s and went on to teach these techniques internationally. Through live surgery and education, she helped introduce emerging approaches to physicians in countries including France, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, and Australia.
She has served as a Clinical Instructor at the Wilmer Eye Institute and Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Maryland, where she helped train future generations of physicians.
Dr. Rowen is board-certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American College of Surgeons. She is President Emeritus of the CedarsAspens Society and has played an instrumental role in developing mentorship opportunities for ophthalmology residents and fellows.
Her contributions to the profession have earned numerous honors, including a 20-year Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology for her continued commitment to education. She has also been recognized among the Top 100 Power List of global ophthalmologists.
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