Raymond N. Sjaarda, M.D. (pronounced sharda) is of Dutch heritage although his family immigrated to the United States in the late 1800's. He was graduated from Duke University School of Medicine in 1985 and completed his specialty training in ophthalmology at the Cullen Eye Institute of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He performed his medical and surgical subspecialty training in Baltimore with Drs. Ronald Michels, Bert Glaser, and Robert Murphy, formerly of Johns Hopkins University. He has been in practice in Baltimore since 1991. He was a former partner of the Retina Institute of Maryland until he and Dr. John Thompson co-founded Retina Specialists in 1996 to continue their pursuits of delivering quality, compassionate care with the latest and most proven techniques.

Dr. Sjaarda is an active researcher, involved in many current and past clinical research investigations assessing new treatments for the diseases of the retina and vitreous. He has received grants and other support for this work including a Fight for Sight research grant of Lions Club International. He has presented his work at many national and international meetings including the annual meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Vitreous Society, the Retina Society, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, all of which he is a member. He has been an invited lecturer and guest professor and has published numerous articles, abstracts, and book chapters. Dr. Sjaarda has trained many retina specialists and general ophthalmologists and continues to be involved in resident education in Baltimore. First and foremost, Dr. Sjaarda is a successful practicing clinician dedicated to giving the best results to his patients.