Monthly Archives: May 2015

Neha Amin, OD, FAAO, was hired at a Phoenix, Arizona, practice just a few months after she graduated from University of Missouri St. Louis School of Optometry in 1999. The following year, she and the owner began hammering out her buy-in and acquisition strategy, which started formally at the end of 2001. Five years later, by the end of 2006, she co-owned the practice with another partner, and since 2010, it’s been all hers.

Sarah Harbove, OD, knows her patients. She grew up in Titusville, Florida, and shadowed her boss, Gregory Aker, OD, when she was in high school. She worked as a technician in this Vision Source® practice during college, filling in when she could.

Since Christine Bartoletti, OD, purchased Vista Eye Care, a Vision Source® practice in Green Valley, Arizona, in 2007, she has moved twice because the practice has simply outgrown its space. There are several factors that Dr. Bartoletti says have contributed to the growth that has fueled these expansions.

It takes some dedication for a family to commit to bringing a child to vision therapy, says Gwen Gnadt, OD, FAAO, of Eye Vision Associates in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. They have to work regular sessions at a vision therapy practice into their already busy schedules, and, often, they need to have some follow-through at home. Dr. Gnadt does not want to add financial worries to what families may already consider obstacles.

By Stephanie Davis, OD—When I was growing up, my father went off to his optometry practice every day and my mother stayed home with the three of us. It was wonderful to have our mom home when we returned from school.

When Tamara Petrosyan, OD, was appointed to lead the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians (NJSOP) Young OD Taskforce in 2014, it was an opportunity to give back in just the way that experienced ODs had guided her when she was getting started in the profession.

Tammy Than, OD, MS, FAAO, says that she’s always been passionate about education as a chemistry, karate and Sunday school teacher during the time before she became an OD. In the beginning of her career, she endured a long commute—leaving her house at 4 a.m. on Monday morning and not returning until Friday night—for a position at her alma mater, Southern College of Optometry.

After about six years of working for others, Ani Halabi, OD, decided she wanted to open her own practice. But it was very important to her not to go into debt to accomplish this goal, she says.

When Susan Reimbold, OD, decided she wanted to open her own practice, she had a design in mind for how the showroom and exam room should look. The challenge was finding a way to build it without creating a mountain of debt.

By Elise Brisco, OD, FAAO — We live and die by the clock. Staying on time is paramount to keeping patients happy and our office running smoothly. To keep up this pace and maintain a nurturing, yet productive office environment, we need to lay the groundwork by taking care of ourselves first.