Esther V. Rettig, M.D., President and founder of Esther V. Rettig, M.D., P.A. received her medical degree from the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in 1993, completed her internship at Evanston Hospital in Illinois, and later finished her residency in ophthalmology at the Mayo Clinic. Her special interests include cataract, glaucoma and oculoplastics.



She was raised by Dutch-Indonesian parents (Arthur and Margaretha Smith) in Massachusetts, 25 miles west of Boston. After her younger brother, Andrew, and sister, Cindy, were born, the Smith family moved to Mesa, Arizona, where she graduated from high school in the top 1% of her class.



She attended the University of Arizona for one year and then transferred to Wellesley College in Massachusetts, dual majoring in chemistry and Biblical studies. After graduating magna cum laude in 1987, she took a position as a research technician at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary where she studied MRI and eye tumors. It was there that she began publishing research articles in prestigious ophthalmology journals and continued to do so during and after her medical school training. She broadened her experience with Medical Group Missions to the Dominican Republic and to Jamaica. She has also presented several research projects at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

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Dr. Rettig has participated in Leadership McPherson, has become a member of the Chamber, and received one of the Women of Achievement awards in 2003.