Alumni Focus on Aaron Tarbett (OD’00)

DR. TARBETT'S STORY

Hometown

Uniontown, Ohio

Which institution did you attend for your undergraduate degree?

I attended the University of Akron for three years with a major in Biology.

Which degree(s), related to optometry, did you earn at Ohio State?

OD’00

Who were your mentors at the College of Optometry?

So many great ones, but just to name a few … Dr. Mark Bullimore (great guidance with that English wit), Dr. Michael Earley (best neuroanatomy teacher on the planet), Dr. Michael Polasky (“A good optometrist always has another test”), and Dr. Greg Good (“Always start your answer with ‘It depends…’”).

DR. TARBETT'S CAREER IN OPTOMETRY

Name of your employer(s) and title, including location.

I am an attending optometrist at the Salisbury VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. I manage and staff the specialty clinics, which include the polytrauma clinic, medical contact lens clinic, and the advanced low vision clinic.

Give us a glimpse of your typical day as an optometrist.

We begin our day at 7:30 a.m., meeting up with the residents and externs, making sure everybody is accounted for and ready to start the day. I, along with our residents and students, will see the polytrauma clinic, advanced low vision, or medical contact lens clinic in the morning, and then general clinic in the afternoon. The day is filled with discussions about eye care, the latest in disease and treatments, as well as the usual banter about sports or the latest recipes—we have a lot of good cooks in this clinic. We’ll wrap things up around 5 p.m.

Which optometric issues concern you the most?

Since our day is filled with educating residents and students, I’d have to say my biggest concern is the overabundance of optometry schools and the struggles we’re seeing with academics and board passage rates.

Why did you choose a career in optometry?

Probably like many, my optometrist I saw as a kid, Dr. Robert Bevington (OD’80). He loved what he was doing and always had a smile on his face, so I wanted to do what he did. And since optometry made decent money and you needed a healthy interest in science, it seemed a good fit to me.

Where do you hope to see your optometric career in five years?

I’ve walked many paths in optometry—starting in commercial, then private practice. I found my way to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. There I got to work with and take care of the great men and women who defend our country. Eventually, I became chief of the clinic, managing and caring for those wounded on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan at the height of those conflicts. I was fortunate to serve as the optometry consultant to the White House Medical Unit, caring for the First Family and Cabinet members during the Bush and Obama Administrations. Who knows where life will take you in five years? But with the great colleagues and patients I get to work with now, I’ll consider myself lucky if I’m still doing what I’m doing today.

What is one piece of advice you can give OPT-IV students as they prepare to graduate and begin their optometric careers?

Go where you want to go and do what you want to do … go on the adventure! But for all that is holy, live below your means.

What do eye health and eye care mean for you?

Since the eye is subject to so many aspects of health—metabolic, cardiovascular, hematological, neurodegenerative, etc.—it means, like it or not, we are responsible for managing patients’ health in some form or another.

DR. TARBETT'S OHIO STATE EXPERIENCE

What were your most memorable moments at Ohio State?

My memories are mostly of the strong bonds that formed from long hours of optics classes, commiserating with friends over clinical disasters, eternal study sessions, and the like—I do miss the singular focus of school. But a particular memory does stand out. On graduation day, Dr. Zadnik gave me a box of homemade cranberry chocolate chip cookies. It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to me that somebody so great thought of me on that day. And the cookies … absolutely phenomenal.

What do Ohio State and the College of Optometry mean to you and your family?

To me, it’s something akin to home. Ohio State was the school—and still is, for me—the college that represents Ohio. Ohio is where I was born and grew up. It will always be home. Likewise, my optometry career, something so integral to my identity, was born at the College of Optometry. So, it has a strong sense of home and family for me.

How do you stay connected with the College of Optometry?

I keep up with the alumni magazine and class reunions.

DR. TARBETT'S FUN FACTS

What are your current hobbies, volunteer work, and interests?

Most of my time is consumed by my 8- and 6-year-old girls … and trying to stay healthy for the family. In my downtime, mostly chess and reading occupy my time, with the occasional golf outing, snowboarding, scuba—pretty much anything except rock climbing. That’s just crazy.

What is your nickname?

The most common nickname I have is "Tarbs," but I’ve never understood how hard it is to remember Dr. Tarbett … I’ve gotten at least 30 different permutations of Tarbett over my career—Talbot, Talbert, Target, Tabitha, Tarheel … the list goes on and on.

If not an optometrist, I would be …

I don’t know. I never wanted to be anything else.