Welcome

Welcome to my site! I've created this site in order to help people get to know me a little better. I hope that you enjoy your time reading about who I am and what has helped me to become who I am today.

I will also post all of the articles that I write for OptometryStudents.com for you to read  and see some of my interests in my profession.

Click on the Tabs above to see more information on me.

• "About Ross" A brief introduction of me and my beautiful family.
• "Optometry"  My life's work
• "Motivations" Things that have inspired me 

I would love to hear from you! Feel free to get in touch with me through Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.

If you have an questions or comment, you can contact me by email or by simply leaving a comment on the blog.

I want to thank you again for visiting my site and I hope you have gained a little more insight into who I am.

-Ross

Optometry Student to Successful Optometrist: Dr. Chad Fleming OD, FAAO, Business and Career Coach at AOA Excel, tells us how.

Here is my newest post on OptometryStudents.com with an early look here on my blog.

Optometry Student to Successful Optometrist: Dr. Chad Fleming OD, FAAO, Business and Career Coach at AOA Excel, tells us how.

 

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Chad Fleming about how an optometry student might prepare himself/herself to be a successful optometrist. Dr. Fleming is an accomplished optometrist practicing in Wichita, Kansas where he manages patient care, as well as the business aspect of his practice. When Dr. Fleming isn’t dedicating his time to growing his practice he is working as the Business and Career Coach for AOA Excel. As a Business and Career Coach he helps optometrists and optometry students understand the ins and outs of optometry as a business. Dr. Fleming publishes an article highlighting important business topics on a regular basis on his website, OptometryCEO.com.

The following is my conversation with Dr. Fleming.

What are the three most important attributes/skills that a graduating optometry student should have in order to be successful?

Dr. Fleming:

• Communication - In order for a student to become a successful optometrist, they will need to know how to communicate well with their patients to explain the conditions they have been diagnosed with and the treatment plan they has chosen for them. Communication is very important when an optometry student is negotiating the terms of his employment upon graduation. An optometrist must be willing to communicate with a prospective employer truthfully and with integrity when discussing you intentions. In many cases, if the optometrist has integrity the prospective employer is far more willing to work with you or even make sacrifices to keep you with then.
• Initiative - Initiative is a very valuable attribute to have when graduating from optometry school. If an optometry student has been looking at ways to better themselves years before graduating, they will have built a repertoire of skills that a potential employer would love to bring to their practice. Optometry students that have taken the initiative to find a practice where they feel they can grow and succeed are more like to do just that.
• Care about your patients - Surprisingly patients are able to tell when their eye doctor is just punching their time card to earn a buck. Doctors that take the time necessary to get to know their patients and really address their needs are far more likely to be successful. Think of it this way, if your patients like you they are more likely to recommend you to their friends and family. These patients are more likely to listen to your diagnosis and management plan. These patients are also more likely to pay attention to your recommendation concerning lenses, frames and materials. Needless to say caring about your patients is a win-win situation.

How can a new grad earn a spot at a practice that wants them to be there but doesn't yet have the patient base to sustain another doctor?

Dr. Fleming:

• Be patient and be willing to find a second part-time job somewhere else, but make sure the place you want to be long-term knows it.
• Be willing to see the potential of that practice and therefore be willing to get paid less for the short-term in order to earn a long-term gain.
• Communicate with the owner/employer honestly and frankly. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Tell the owner of this practice what you think of the practice and why you want to be there. Tell them how much money you need to be making in order for you to work there full-time. An employer is far more likely to make concessions for a doc they can trust to be honest with them.

What is one of the most common mistakes you see optometry students make when preparing to graduate and find a job?

Dr. Fleming:

• The most common mistake that I see 4^th year optometry students make when searching for a job opportunity is they narrow their options down. Most of the time they narrow down their options to a small geographic area and become unwilling to look at possibly better options outside of their designated area. It is important that you leave your options open to places you have ever thought of practicing before because you never know what your circumstances might be when you graduate. Keeping your options open as to where you might practice allows you to learn from the various doctors you meet. By discussing the possibility of practicing with various doctors you can see how all of the different practices you interview at are managed, and you can gain an opinion on which way to practice best fits you. It is also important that from all of your different interviews and discussions you can see how finances will be for you, and at the practices you’re visiting. Remember however, money is not all that matters. There are plenty of ODs out there could be making more money but love the office and staff they are at and the patients they see.

In the future OptometryStudents.com will be doing a three part series highlighting the three attributes that Dr. Fleming mentioned during his interview. In this three part series we will discuss how we can develop these attributes as optometry student and how they benefit us in our future careers.

I want to thank Dr. Fleming for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk with me. I would also encourage all of the 4^th year students to follow Dr. Fleming on his blog at OptomtryCEO.com and visit AOA Excel for help in finding a job that is best for you.

Spanish/English Translations of the Most Common Eye Conditions

Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) trips have to be some of the most challenging and rewarding trips during your optometry school careers. Challenging because some of us are trying techniques we learned in school for the first time, while others are seeing a whole bunch of people in a small amount of time. For everyone, there is a pretty nasty language barrier to try and work with to help your patients understand what is going on and how you can help them.
I do know a guy that is pretty good with that nasty Spanish language barrier… ME! I lived in Mexico for 2 years and learned quite a bit of Spanish. In fact, when I came back to the states it took me about a month to not speak “spanglish.” So, this is my plan after talking with my SVOSH president here at Southern College of Optometry (SCO). I was told that the biggest challenge isn’t necessarily doing chair skills  the refraction, or DFE, it’s explaining to the patient what kind of disease process they have going on in their eyes. The conditions that I feel will most likely be seen on these SVOSH trips are: diabetes, hypertension, glaucoma, dry eye, pterygiums, and cataracts.
So lets get started!

Diabetes (Diabetes)
Al examinar sus ojos podemos ver los afectos de la Diabetes en sus ojos. La Diabetes afecta las venas y arterias pequeñas. La Diabetes causa daño a estos vasos sanguíneos en una manera que los vasos sanguíneos pierden fluido en la retina y otras partes del ojo. El fluido que sale de los vasos sanguíneos pequeños en sus ojos, causa daño a su lente adentro de sus ojos, a su retina, y su nervio optico. Recomendamos que vaya a un doctor del cuerpo para recibir tratamiento para su Diabetes.
English Translation
Upon examining you eyes we can see the effects of diabetes in your eyes. Diabetes affects the small veins and arteries. Diabetes causes damage to these blood vessels in a way that they lose fluid in the retina and other parts of the eye. The fluid that leaves the small blood vessels in the eyes causes damage to the lens inside your eyes, your retina, and your optic nerve. We recommend that you go to a primary care doctor to receive treatment for your diabetes.

Hipertension (Hypertension)
Al examinar sus ojos podemos ver los afectos de la Hipertension en sus ojos. La Hipertension causa daño a sus vasos sanguíneos de sangre en sus ojos. La Hipertension causa que sus arterias pequenas se hagan mas duras. Cuando ese afecto pasa, su retina y ojo en general tiene dificultad quitando la sangre vieja del ojo. Cuando su ojo no puede quitar la sangre vieja, su ojo impieza a dañarse. Recomendamos que usted vaya a un Doctor del cuerpo para recibir el tratamiento necesario para controlar su Hipertension.
English Translation
Upon examining your eyes we can see the effects of Hypertension in your eyes. Hypertension causes damage to the blood vessels in your eyes. Hypertension causes that the small arteries harden. When this effect occurs, your retina and eye in general has difficulty getting rid of the old blood in your eye. When your eye cannot get rid of the old blood, your eyes begin to become damaged. We recommend that you go to a primary care doctor to receive the necessary treatment to control your Hypertension.

Glaucoma (Glaucoma)
Despues de examinar sus ojos vimos que tiene Glaucoma. Glaucoma occura cuando el fluido que esta adentro de los ojos no sale de los ojos facilmente y la presion aumenta. La presion alta en sus ojos causa daño a su nervio optico y entonces causa que se pierda la vision de los lados. El tratamiento para esta enfermedad es con gotas recetadas para los ojos que baja la presion adentro de sus ojos.
English Translation
After examining your eyes we saw that you have Glaucoma. Glaucoma occurs when the fluid inside of the eyes cannot leave the eyes easily and the pressure increases. The high pressure inside of your eyes causes damage to your optic nerve and can cause the loss of peripheral vision. The treatment for this disease is with prescribed drops for the eyes that lowers that pressure inside of your eyes.

Ojos Secos (Dry Eye)
Despues de examinar sus ojos vimos que tiene ojos secos. Esta enfermedad pasa porque sus glandulas que producen lagrimas no le funciona al cien porciento. Cuando las glandulas que producen lagrimas no funcionan bien sus ojos se ponen secos y causa que sus ojos duelan y se pongan rojos. El tratamiento por esta condicion es gotas lubricantes y limpiando sus parpados diariamente. A veces damos gotas o pastillas con medicina que ayuda a sus glandulas a producir lagrimas mejor.
English Translation
After examining your eyes we saw that you have dry eyes. This disease happens because your glands that produce tears don’t function 100%. When these glands don’t function well your eyes become dry and cause your eyes to hurt and become red. The treatment for this condition is lubricants and cleaning your eyelids daily. Sometimes we give drops or pills with medicine that help your glands to improve tear production.

Carnosidad del Ojo (Pterygium)
Al examinar sus ojos vimos que tiene carnosidad del ojo. La carnosidad del ojo se presenta cuando alguien trabaja afuera en la luz del sol y con polvo en el aire. La luz del sol y el polvo en el aire causa irritacion a nuestros ojos y nuestros ojos responden con esta carnosidad. La carnosidad se puede quitar con cirugia pero nosotros no lo hacemos. Podria ir a un oftalmólogo que le puede dar mas informacion o opciones de que puede hacer. Recomendamos que use lentes oscuros que protege a sus ojos de la luz del sol y el polvo en el aire.
English Translation
Upon examining your eyes we saw that you have a pterygium. A pterygium happens when someone works outside in the sunlight with dust in the air. The sunlight and dust in the air cause irritation to our eyes and our eye respond with a pterygium. Pterygiums can be taken off with surgery but we do not perform it. You can go to an ophthalmologist and he/ she can give you more information and options on what can be done. We recommend that you use sunglasses that protect your eyes from the sunlight and dust in the air.

Cataratas (Cataracts)
Cuando examinamos sus ojos vimos que el lente adentro de sus ojos tienen cataratas. Las Cataratas aparecen cuando el lente adentro de nuestros ojos empiezan a tener obscuridades y cambios de color. Todas las personas despues de los 50 anos de vida tendran cataratas. Las Cataratas se pueden quitar con cirugia. La cirugia que el oftalmólogo hace es muy común y la conduce muchas veces al dia. Recomendamos que vaya a un oftalmólogo para recibir mas informacion de el concerniente a la cirugia.
English Translation
When we examined your eye we could see the lenses inside of your eyes have cataracts. Cataracts happen when the lenses inside of our eye begin to have obscurities and change color. Everyone that is older than 50 years old will have cataracts. Cataracts can be taken out with surgery. The surgery that an ophthalmologist performs is very common and is done daily. We recommend that you go see an ophthalmologist in order to receive more information from he/she concerning the surgery.

Here is this article in word doc form so you can print it off and take it with you on you SVOSH trip. SVOSH TRIP SPANISH PREP.  I hope this helps you on your trips wherever you may be going. Thank you for your service, you are changing the world one pair of eyes at a time!
Thanks to Jeannine Elizabeth Gutierrez for proofing this article. She is the Chief of Private Practice Optometry for OS.
Ross Chatwin
Director of Financial and Business Content
Southern College of Optometry Class of 2014

SUNY College of Optometry: Getting an MBA Just Got Easier!

At the beginning of this month, SUNY College of Optometry entered in to an agreement with SUNY Empire State College to offer an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Optometry Business Management. This certificate entails 6 courses worth 18 credits that can be put towards earning a Masters of Business Administration from SUNY Empire State. The proposed curriculum will have two courses administered to optometry students at SUNY College of Optometry while the other four courses will be online through the SUNY Empire State website. The agreement and curriculum still need to be approved by multiple authoritative boards, but getting to this point has taken some time.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Philpott Ph. D. and Vice President of Student Affairs at SUNY College of Optometry told OptometryStudents.com,

“About a year ago, the college conducted a critical student focus group. During the course of this event, we learned that many of our students do, indeed, want to receive advanced training in business, but they may or may not wish to finish an entire MBA program at this time. Our students provided the insight to develop a flexible certificate program, one that can be fully applied to the MBA should they choose to pursue it now or in the future.”

Dr. Philpott was also very pleased that the school was able to have a role in developing the certification process.

I was also able to get a word with Matthew Geller, SUNY 2013 optometry student who had this to say.

“For me, SUNY was a phenomenal experience and the clinical knowledge I picked up over 4 years has set me up to be a top new graduate O.D. with the ability to handle almost any case thrown my way. One thing I always wanted more of at SUNY was business experience and education in this area. So when I see that SUNY has stepped up offer this program I can’t help but smile and grow excited for the future graduates at SUNY. If they had this program when I was in SUNY you could bet your last penny I would be there. I urge all future SUNY students to take advantage of this program, the future of optometry will need students with this degree.”

As a current 3rd student as Southern College of Optometry, I am very excited about the prospect of getting an MBA while in optometry school (maybe not the school work so much). If we look at the trends of the medical schools over the last 10 years, many medical schools are offering MD/MBA programs to their students. This trend is now being seen in other medical professions such as optometry and SUNY is leading the way. Optometry is an art and a science but often we forget that it is a business as well, and the business-end of optometry will demand your attention more than you expect.

Many students are terrified by the idea of having to run a small business while trying to keep every patient they see happy and healthy. This is the reason so many students are willing to go to school a little longer and be in debt a little more. Adding to your competency as a small business owner will not only benefit yourself financially but also will help to further the profession of optometry by ensuring highly qualified ODs succeeding in an ever-changing medical world. My favorite saying is “Anything worthwhile isn’t easy,” and in this case it may not be easy to take some extra classes on top of a very hard curriculum, but in the end it definitely is worth it.

Ross ChatwinDirector of Financial and Business Content; OptometryStudents.comSouthern College of Optometry Class of 2014

Thanks you to Dr. Jeffrey L. Philpott Ph. D. and Dr. David A. Heath O.D., Ed. M. for their input for this article.

Picking the Right Optometry School for You!

After my first year of optometry school I was given the opportunity to serve as a Student Ambassador for Southern College of Optometry. Since that time I have met many prospective students that have come to the college for their interviews and tours of the school and without fail, I have been asked every time, “How did you choose which optometry school to attend?” First of all let me say it is not an easy decision and I do not envy those that are in the middle of this arduous process. There are quite a few things that you have to take into account when deciding where to live for the next 4 years of your life. In this post I hope to be able to give a few pointers on how I made my decision to attend my school.
These three questions helped me make my final decision on which school I should attend.
How much am I willing to pay?

• Can I get a scholarship?
• Will I get state residency?
• Is the education offered worth the price?

Will this school help me achieve my goals?

• Do I want to do research?
• Do I want to develop new technologies or devices?
• Do I want to be a great clinician?

What will be my clinical experience at this school?

• What is the school’s clinical patient base like?
• Will I get the exposure I need to become the doctor I want to be?
• Is the school’s eye clinic a place of learning?

There is one more thing that cannot be overlooked when deciding which optometry school is the one for you – THE FEELING! Some people call it the Gut Feeling, others call it The Feeling in Your Bones, I call it THE FEELING and it hasn’t led me astray yet. So, when you go to the many wonderful schools of optometry ask yourself the above questions, but also try and remember how the different schools make you feel and choose from there. I hope that this post has helped you make one of the biggest decisions in your life. I know you’ll make the best decision for you! Good luck!

Ross Chatwin
Student Ambassador Class of 2014
Southern College of Optometry
rossjchatwin.com