Jill Rotruck, MD

Jill Rotruck, MD, is an ophthalmologist who specializes in pediatric eye care and adult strabismus. She provides both clinical and surgical management of strabismus/misalignment of the eyes, as well as amblyopia, pediatric cataracts, nasolacrimal duct obstruction, chalazia, and styes.

Dr. Rotruck decided to pursue a career in health care because she wanted to help people live full, happy lives. “For most of us, vision is such an important part of how we experience the world,” she says. “Helping to ensure that children are set up to develop the best vision they can has repercussions that impact so many aspects of their daily experience throughout their lifetime.”

For most adult patients, double vision and strabismus are extremely frustrating conditions to live with, Dr. Rotruck says. “I take great joy in working with them to improve their quality of life.” She also likes finding creating approaches to keeping pediatric patients engaged. “Kids are fun. I think we get to laugh and sing and play with toys much more than in the average adult clinic,” she says.

In addition to providing clinical care, Dr. Rotruck works alongside other Yale Medicine ophthalmologists on research projects to evaluate vision screening devices and technology for the burgeoning field of telehealth in pediatric ophthalmology. The Yale Eye Center started providing more telehealth options for select patients during the pandemic, which often makes care more convenient. “It has been great to decrease appointment times and trips to the office,” she says. Other research interests include binocular treatments for amblyopia, the use of optical coherence tomography in pediatric eye disease, and pediatric ocular infection.