Social determinants of health, collectively, are "all the non-medical elements that shape somebody's daily lives that affect and influence how they experience and access health care," says Amy Roan Moy, OD, FAAO, CPCO, FNAP, an adjunct associate professor of clinical optometry at the New England College of Optometry. In this 19-minute podcast, she reviews ways that optometrists, lawmakers and communities can be better prepared to deliver culturally safe health care by understanding the social determinants of health. 

On a 50th birthday trip to Paris, Dr. Lauretta Justin, founder of CEO of You and Optometry Divas, planned a photo shoot that led to her writing a book about practical yet inspired goal-setting. Listen to her tips here and download the book for more guidance. 

Opticals combine providing medically necessary eyewear and fashion. So WO turned to Liza Amlani, principal and founder of Retail Strategy Group, to ask if there are missed opportunities in retailing and marketing opticals. In the first of this two-part podcast, she suggests optometrists and opticians can think outside of the box, especially in terms of simply "filling a need to get new eyewear." 

Emily Bjore, OD, of Eagen, Minnesota, and her husband had accumulated nearly $400K in student loan debt. Hear how they decided to scrap the 30-year-repayment plan and accelerate the payment—and stuck with it, even after a serious illness. 

You don't have to look far to find an opportunity to flex your leadership muscle, says Michele Andrews, OD. "Start where you are." Dr. Andrews says opportunities to see leadership in action are everywhere—as are opportunities to encourage others to explore their potential. 

Nadia Virani, OD, of Dallas, Texas, expected to go into pediatric optometry when she was presented with a great opportunity to join an OMD practice. Enthralled with new technologies, she thought it would be a great experience to learn about surgical options and IOLs. Now five years later, she has also gained new perspectives on the OMD/OD relationship and how great co-management can help all eye care professionals thrive. 

As Jennifer Stewart, OD, reaches the milestone of a decade in practice ownership, she reflects on how a leap of faith became the best move in transitioning from an associate to a partner early on in her career. Dr. Stewart also shares how Performance 20/20, her sports vision training business, connects her passion for sports with her love of optometry and has allowed her the unique opportunity to collaborate with many training professionals and athletes from novice to nationally recognized.

Having a clinical protocol in place can make the journey of clinical decision-making and consistency so much clearer. Whitney Hauser, OD, now director of clinical affairs at Keplr Vision, talks about the ways that developing and using a clinical protocol for dry eye and other ocular conditions can help. 

Julie Steinhauer, OD, FCOVD, of Vision For Life in Glen Carbon, Illinois, has been offering developmental vision care exclusively now for more than seven years. Her practice draws patients from throughout Illinois and around the world as she is one of relatively few providers who use syntonic phototherapy along with traditional in-office vision therapy. Hear how it works. 

Angela Fisher Aprahamian of National Recalls in Los Angeles, California, says that optometric practices can have effective recall strategies for reactivating patients—but only if the task is specifically part of someone's work day or work week. She describes the process her employees use—and how those could be adapted for in-house use. 

Sally Halim, OD, of Village Eyecare in Woolwich Township, New Jersey, trains for a half dozen or so triathlons or half Ironman races a year. The training has taught her time management skills, focus and a willingness to challenge herself, along with other lessons that she's brought to bear in her private practice. 

Even when she was an optometry school student, Millicent Knight, OD, FAAO, FAARM, began to advocate for the profession and patients. In her new role as Senior Vice President, Customer Development Group, and a member of the leadership team at Essilor, she can do so from an even larger platform. 

Opening a practice involves making so many important and expensive decisions—where, what it looks like, who it serves, what products to carry and what technology investments to make. Meg Richardson, OD, of Twenty Twenty Family Vision Center in Racine, Wisconsin, found help and support from PECAA and its relationship with RevolutionEHR. 

Several years ago, Caitlin Reghetti, OD, merged her interests in patient education with her skills for design and explaining things clearly. Believing that great design reinforces the quality content that doctors provide to patients, she branched out into a design business--DrReghettidesigns.com. Here, other eye care professionals can select forms, brochures, flyers and more to customize for their own offices. 

Nicole Trabuc, OD, and her husband, Kyle Wainwright, OD, have two practices in Manhattan, Kansas—one which Dr. Wainwright took on inside a Walmart and a private practice the couple opened recently. They made some unconventional choices, such as paying down their combined $200,000 in student loan debt in just more than three years, not taking any vision insurance, and opening a gym as a side business. So far, it's working well for them. 

Samantha Hornberger, OD, of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, realized her patients follow her treatment recommendations a large percentage of the time. Why? Because she models a mindset that encourages her staff to follow through. Hear how she encourages "sales" and how everyone - from patient to staff to community - benefits. 

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. 

In this episode of WO Voices, Dr. Sara Varghai of Nova Optique + Eyecare in Arlington, Virginia, discusses how she finds the right staff fits for her practice, ensuring efficiency and collaboration between her entire team. 

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.

Shira Kresch, OD, MS, FAAO, opened Michigan Contact Lens in Oak Park, Michigan, in the fall of 2023. Hear her explain how she determined there was a need for a contact lens specialty practice, how she discovered her passion for scleral lenses and where she compromised and where she didn't to get this practice off the ground. 

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.

Janelle Davison, OD, of Smyrna, Georgia, uses goal-setting as a tool to help her expand her bandwidth, make an impact, leave a legacy and, in the process, amplify her own voice and that of others. Hear how she combines visionary thinking with practical steps. 

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.

Maria Sampalis, OD, of Cranston, Rhode Island, recently released her book, Finding Your Best Potential Future Self Now. She discusses the importance of taking risks - large and small - as a step in personal development