BuckEYES Focus on the Future

When I was 10 years old, my mother had me participate in a “bring your child to work day” when she was working at an OD/MD practice. When I was shadowing the optometrist, I couldn’t help but wonder why they were always so happy and smiley and to me, it just showed me how much they truly loved their job. This was the start of my interest in optometry, and since I was 10, I have been set on this career ever since, strengthening my love for it by working as a technician at some private practices as I grew older.

It excites me to be in a profession that is evolving each day with new technology to better serve our patients and the continuity of care that I can have. This profession is growing tremendously each year and just looking back at the last 10 years, there have been so many advances that make me so excited for the future as well! I can’t wait to manage ocular disease and educate patients about the importance of their systemic health and how it can also relate to the eye as well!

In a practice, I’m looking for a place where I can serve my patients to my highest scope and I’m able to have technology that can help me diagnose and manage ocular disease. I want to be able to practice to my full knowledge and help others as much as I possibly can!

In 10 years, I would be very proud to see that I have patients that I have been seeing for multiple years in a row and the continuity of care that I am able to have with them, showing me that people know they are cared for by me. I want to build a relationship with my patients and truly give them the best care possible!

Growing up, I saw firsthand the lack of awareness about vision health and the disparities that exist in access to eye care. Those experiences inspired me to pursue a career where I could make a tangible difference in people’s lives. Optometry, to me, is more than a profession. It’s a calling to bring hope, clarity, and care to those who need it most. The chance to restore someone’s vision or improve their quality of life is what continues to drive me every day.

What excites me most about entering optometry is the opportunity to combine science, service, and human connection. I’m eager to be part of a field that continues to evolve with new technologies and research while never losing sight of the personal relationships we build with patients. Every exam room is a chance to educate, to advocate, and to empower someone to take control of their eye health. That blend of impact and compassion is what truly inspires me.

While I’m still exploring the many paths within optometry, I’m especially drawn to working in community-based or medically oriented settings that serve diverse and underserved populations. I’m looking for a practice or residency site that not only sharpens my clinical skills but also aligns with my values—one that emphasizes patient education, cultural sensitivity, and accessibility in vision care. I hope to train in an environment where I can continue to grow as both a clinician and an advocate for health equity.

Ten years from now, I would be most proud to see a world where access to quality eye care is no longer a challenge, but the norm. I hope to play a part in creating that reality—by helping to bridge gaps in vision care, advocating for underserved communities, and ensuring that everyone, regardless of background or circumstance, can receive the care they deserve.

I had plans going into my undergrad to pursue some form of health care, but I was really uncertain of where and how. My cousin, who had recently graduated from dental school, encouraged me to look into specialized medical professions outside of traditional medical school. And then lightning struck when, through a series of connections, I was able to shadow and talk with Erin Meffan (OD’17), and she completely sold me on the profession. As she hyped up the profession and showed me so many facets (bewildering me with a scleral contact lens on the first day I was in office), I was inspired to think back on receiving my first pair of glasses and how clearly (word choice intended) I remember that moment of putting them on and how my world was never the same. I wanted to be a part of those life-changing and impactful moments in peoples’ lives, and optometry was my way to do it.

I may be nearly done with school in a structured sense, but there will always be something new to learn and experience through patient care and our colleagues. I feel like optometry school has been learning everything twice: once in the classroom, and then again in with a real patient. Even at that, it will be re-learning the same concepts, with each encounter maybe being the same in name, but different person to person. Because optometry has so many different avenues to specialize in, I’m excited to steer my own ship towards what I want to experience next.

Currently I am looking into Ocular Disease residency sites with a hopeful emphasis on neuro-optometry and binocular vision. The eyeball is a strange beast to tame with all of the interacting systems, from accommodation and refractive error to systemic and local tissue health. I hope that wherever I end up is a place where I can further understand these systems at work (and when they don’t) and master how to best treat patients and their overall eye health, not just system by system. 

I would feel pride in being a trusted and heavily utilized referral destination for any healthcare provider. Building that trust means becoming a part of the greater optometric profession, in ways that I’ve seen many of the professors here at the college, and it’s inspiring to see all they have accomplished and how much it means to both the students and their colleagues in the profession at large. Getting there takes work, determination, and integrity, so combine that with expert clinical skills, and I see an outstanding practitioner. I hope to be on that path in 10 years.

I’ve always had a desire to pursue something in the medical field, but I couldn’t find a career that resonated with me. While driving home after an eye exam during my senior year of high school, my mom suggested that I should explore becoming an optometrist. The more I learned about the field, the more I fell in love with it because of the positive impact I could have on a person’s life by helping them maintain clear vision. I love the idea of being a primary eye care provider and being the first point of contact for my patient’s eyecare needs. Throughout my schooling I’ve been fascinated with the complexity of the human body, and optometry allows me the ability to assess the health of nearly the entire body with each eye exam.

I’m most excited to begin having real relationships with my patients. Throughout school, nearly each patient encounter is getting to know a new person. My hope is that as I see returning patients for their follow up visits, I can have a positive influence on them and truly get to know them as they get to know me. 

I’m planning to pursue residency training in the field of ocular disease and specialty contact lenses. I enjoy co-managing ocular disease along with ophthalmology, and I hope to match with a residency site that enables me to gain more experience in this area of eye care. I’ve also enjoyed fitting and troubleshooting contact lenses in patients with complex visual demands and hope that a residency in this area can further prepare me for my career. 

I will feel proud of my career when I can achieve a healthy balance that enables me to care for my patients, while also being a constant presence for my wife and children. While a career is something I have worked hard for and will continue to develop, it will always be secondary to the needs of my family. In my work, my hope is that each encounter is a positive impact on the life of my patient so they can know that they are seen and heard when they come into my care.