Welcome to WO Voices, a podcast series from Women In Optometry, featuring women ODs and others who talk about some aspect of practice, business, career choices, family, volunteer interests, leadership in the profession and more. Hosted by WO editor Marjolijn Bijlefeld, WO Voices is a chance to share ideas within the WO community and beyond. It’s another platform to bring women’s voices in the profession to the fore. If you’d like to join us on a podcast episode, we’d love to hear from you.
Carol Alexander, OD, FAAO , Head, North America Professional Relations at Johnson & Johnson Vision, discusses how she followed leadership opportunities. One key piece of advice: if you say yes, give it your all.
Eighteen years after her graduation, Michelle Ahumada, OD , opened her own practice in Rancho Mission Viejo, California. She talks about what led her to move ahead with her dream - and how others can, too.
Kimberly Friedman, OD, FAAO , of Moorestown, New Jersey, talks about the choices she made to find balance between her career, work for the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians and her family. She also talks about how practicing and teaching yoga brings her balance in a literal sense.
Lori Grover, OD, PhD, FAAO , and Melissa Zaleski, OD, MPH , discuss strategies for creating a professional network once the infrastructure of a school-based program has ended.
Julie Tyler, OD, FAAO , of Nova Southeastern College of Optometry, discusses the unexpected ways that mentorship, leadership and professional collaboration have revealed themselves.
Caroline Guerrero Cauchi, OD, FIAO , of La Mesa, California, talks about the upcoming orthokeratology meeting ( orthokmeeting.com ) May 15-19. She describes the steps she took and teaches to help others bring myopia management techniques and counseling into their practices. Take me back to the Specialty Services cover story package....
Rachael Wruble, OD, FAAO , of Belmont and Charlotte, North Carolina, says a job offer is more than a salary. Here are her suggestions for negotiating a deal that will make you happy.
Athena Brasfield, OD , wants to close the disparity in access to eye care. Her practices in the desert communities of Indio and Coachella, California, show that an efficiently run practice can be profitable and serve the mission of bringing eye care to the underserved.
Evidence-based practices matter in helping to establish which services are of high value and which ones are of low value, says Lori Grover, OD, PhD, FAAO . Dr. Grover serves on the board of trustees for the American Optometric Association (AOA) and is the author of several AOA evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. ODs, she says, need to help establish that the work they do meets these high-value levels.
Jenny Coyle, OD, MS, FAAO , Dean of the Pacific University College of Optometry, discusses how much optometric education and optometry students have changed in the 30 years that she has been on campus at Pacific. She shares her enthusiasm for mentoring and encouraging the next generation of ODs and leaders. [Dr. Coyle becomes the Dean of Optometry at Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University as of Dec. 1, 2019.]
Theresa Colonna, OD , of Westminster Eyecare Associates in Providence, Rhode Island, discusses the importance of using checklists for systematic, consistent employee reviews. The practice has 65 employees, so a method of standardizing the review process was critical.
Rachel A. “Stacey” Coulter, OD, MSEd, FAAO, FCOVD , associate professor in NSU’s College of Optometry, discusses the importance of pediatric optometry, why she's passionate about it and how ODs can find their comfort level with kids.
Sherrol Reynolds, OD, FAAO , president of the National Optometric Association talks about the organization's rich 50-year-history and its mission to advance the visual health of the minority population and recruit and support minorities in optometry.
Theresa Colonna, OD , of Westminster Eyecare Associates in Providence, Rhode Island, has mastered a strategy for consistent and thorough staff training in the use of instrumentation and procedures: customized video. Hear how she developed this process as the staff at this practice grew to 65 employees. And you can learn more about the videos themselves here .
Pamela Lowe, OD, FAAO , of Niles, Illinois, discusses the three essential pillars to a successful practice and professional life: advocacy, education and practice management.
Sherrol Reynolds, OD, FAAO, president of the National Optometric Association talks about Three Silent Killers, one of the public awareness campaigns from the NOA focused on diabetes, high blood pressure and glaucoma. Call the NOA at 877-394-2020 for brochures.
Pam Theriot, OD, FAAO , is the author of Alleviate Dry Eye, an eight-week program and workbook for patients. The program uses a four-step treatment plan plus journaling and lifestyle habits. Week 2 emphasizes the need to schedule an eye exam. Visit pamtheriot.com to learn more.
Kerry Giedd, OD, FAAO , of Orlando, Florida, has been traveling to the Dominican Republic for years to provide refractive eye care services. It's a family affair and opportunity for service; her husband and three children just went along on a trip she took in November.
Sharing this from our friends at Review of Optometric Business and CareCredit. Dr. Jill Showalter describes how she can make specialized eye care services more accessible to more patients by accepting patient financing.
Shauna Thornhill, OD , of Amarillo, Texas, discusses how her annual Sight Before Christmas project has grown. Each year, her practice donates about 200 no-cost eye exams and collects more than 1,000 toys for children in the area. She's optometry's own right jolly old elf. *2020 Update: Dr. Thornhill is still hosting her 9th annual Sight Before Christmas toy drive but is also collecting donations via this Amazon wishlist for those who cannot bring a toy to the store....
Sandra Young, OD, author of Visionary Kitchen: A Cookbook for Eye Health and Heal Your Dry Eyes: Nutrition and Recipes, discusses how certain foods can support a healthy ocular surface. Plus, you’ll learn about sea buckthorn!
Rachael Wruble, OD, FAAO , of Belmont and Charlotte, North Carolina, is the 2018 Theia Award Young OD winner. Listen as she shares negotiating tips that she's used in her career and her advocacy roles.
Lauretta Justin, OD, of Millennium Eye Center in Orlando, Florida, talks about the advantage of a four-hour final work interview. It's one of the elements of pulling together a team that can do magic for a practice.
Lauretta Justin, OD, of Orlando, Florida, talks about the lessons learned in opening a practice and the importance of developing a mission plan.
Whitney Hauser, OD , says that doctors don't need to invest in expensive technologies to start diagnosing and treating patients with dry eye symptoms. As doctors become more familiar with it and assess their community's need, they can scale up. Take me back to the Specialty Services cover story package.
Sandra Young, OD, author of Visionary Kitchen: A Cookbook for Eye Health and Heal Your Dry Eyes: Nutrition and Recipes, joins us to share recipes and menu planning strategies that complement ocular health.
Lauretta Justin, OD , of Orlando, Florida, shares strategies for working with children with special needs, many of them gleaned from her own experience navigating doctors' visits and other events with her own sons.
Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS , from Sacramento, California, and Melissa Zaleski, OD, MPH , from Tampa, Florida, return to ask each other questions and share some strategies for staying grounded and enthusiastic about their work. Dr. Barnett is the co-author of Contemporary Scleral Lenses: Theory and Application and Dr. Zaleski graduated in 2018 from Nova Southeastern University with an optometry degree and also earned a Masters of Public Health.
Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS , from Sacramento, California, and Melissa Zaleski, OD, MPH , from Tampa, Florida, share their perspectives as an experienced OD and new graduate. Dr. Barnett is the co-author of Contemporary Scleral Lenses: Theory and Application and Dr. Zaleski graduated in 2018 from Nova Southeastern University with an optometry degree and also earned a Masters of Public Health.
Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS , from Sacramento, California, is a leading authority on scleral lenses. She's the co-author of Contemporary Scleral Lenses: Theory and Application, and here she shares the passion that drove her to fitting scleral lenses—and why she hopes more doctors will, too. Take me back to the Specialty Services cover story package.
