Dr. Joann Hensel

Dr. Joann Hensel, M.D., is a native of Beaumont having graduated from Forrest Park High School in the 1970`s. She had a strong motivation to enter the field of ophthalmology as both her grandmother and later her mother lost their eyesight to age related macular degeneration. Dr. Hensel enjoys visiting with her patients and helping them to understand their eye problems. The more information that a patient has, the better able they are to provide feedback and to participate in their own care.

Dr. Hensel graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas in Austin. She attended Texas Tech University of Medicine in Lubbock. She did her internship and residency in ophthalmology at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, serving as chief resident her senior year. She is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and has been a diplomat of the Board since 1984. After completing her residency and after being in private practice for two years, she had the opportunity to volunteer her services to helping the poor at Kasturba Medical School in Manipal, India. She participated in several peripheral eye camps. Their team would travel for several hours away from Manipal to remote locales In Southwestern India. Literally hundreds of local people would have pre-operative testing and surgery within a three-day period. “The surgical techniques were crude compared to the state-of-the-art technologies we have available to us in the United States “she said, “but the results were quite good and the rate of infections surprisingly low. Ten weeks afterwards the team would return, examine the patients, and give them each a pair of glasses. She said, “it was exciting to see the joy of these people having had their eyesight restored to them. Some of them had not been able to see for years and they were thrilled.”

Dr. Hensel returned to Southeast Texas in 1986 and joined the College street location of our practice. She along with Mitch Ren, M.D., Michael Mapp, M.D., and John Miller, M.D., offer the highest quality medical and surgical care for their patients. She is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the Texas Ophthalmological Association. She is also an active member of Trinity United Methodist Church and has served on committees there. Her main interests outside of ophthalmology are traveling and watching the University of Texas Longhorns play football.