My Optometry Turn-ons

When I first graduated from optometry school, I assumed that as I practiced I would find an aspect of optometry that particularly interested me and could turn into somewhat of a specialty.  Now that I’m a few years removed from optometry school, here are a few things I’ve realized I’m passionate about:

1) Communication.  I feel strongly that every patient leaving my office should understand the current state of their eyes and their options for correcting any problems with their eyes.  I try to be very clear about all this during the exam, and if anyone sends me an email after their exam asking questions, I typically send a pretty detailed reply to make sure nothing is left unsaid or under-explained.

2) Good prescriptions.  Whether for glasses or contacts, I want things spot-on.  I was extremely picky about my vision growing up – probably to a fault – and I am picky about my patients’ vision.  This is why if you come in saying you recently got a glasses prescription somewhere else and only want contacts from me, I’ll still remeasure your glasses prescription to make sure things are as exact as I want them (we use the glasses Rx to determine the contact lens Rx).  And yes, I am aware of the fine line between a thorough exam and causing my patients a nervous breakdown from having to answer “1 or 2” too many times 🙂

3) Having options.  My prescribing philosophy is to offer each of my patients any and all options that I would consider for myself if I had their eyes.  If I’m offering you a separate pair of glasses specifically for the computer, it’s because if I had your prescription, I would probably want those glasses.  If I think you would benefit from part-time or full-time contact lenses, or from LASIK, I try hard always to bring up these options and how they could help enrich your life.  Before I had LASIK, I had prescription glasses, prescription sunglasses, and daily disposable contacts for part-time wear.  I had options for whatever came my way.

4) Technology.  I love my optomap because I think it gives me a better view of the back of the eye and a more perfect comparison from year to year to check for change.  I love my computerized refraction system because it makes the process of checking glasses prescriptions more efficient and more precise.  I truly believe the exam I can give you with my technology is better than the tradition exam with all manual equipment and dilating drops in your eyes (which isn’t to say there is never a reason to use dilating drops, just fyi).