Monthly Archives: November 2015

In late 2011, when B.N. Le, OD, was working in a corporate location, she also began the research to open an independent location one day.

While she was in Michigan to visit her daughter, Cheryl Berger Israeloff, OD, visited the office of neurovisual optometrist Debby Feinberg, OD.

Ever since Debby Feinberg, OD, started specializing in neurovisual optometry, she’s received questions and inquiries from prospective patients.

Rosalyn Coleman, OD, found herself in a variety of practice settings in the five years since her 2010 graduation from Southern College of Optometry (SCO), and each experience took her a step closer to starting her own practice. While that wasn’t her original intention coming out school—she thought she might teach at an optometry school—Dr. Coleman ultimately came home to Atlanta to open Envision Therapy, her vision therapy office.

For most of her life, Anna Hopkins, OD, of Lancaster, Ohio, suffered from migraines. “A health center doctor in college was the first one who mentioned that certain foods might be triggering the migraines. He told me to keep a food diary, but it took me 20 years to figure it out.”

By Alicia Telega, OD—As I moved from Virginia to Pittsburgh, I was planning the cold start of my practice, Shadyside eye Associates. I had considered purchasing a practice or becoming a partner, but I discovered the best financial decision was to start from scratch to make the business my own. I was up and running for $230,000—half of the price that many doctors were asking for existing businesses that needed lots of TLC and updating and did not include the sale of the building. You can do it right, and you don’t have to cut corners.

Kathryn Collins, OD, of Lititz, Pennsylvania, read about an interesting case that a fellow OD posted on the social media forum ODs on Facebook. The patient in the case had been in a car accident, and despite working with neurologists, physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs), her progress had stalled because she couldn’t see well. Dr. Collins reached out to the colleague, Margaret Shirk, OD, also from Pennsylvania. Dr. Collins sent Dr. Shirk a validated questionnaire for the patient, which could help them determine if the patient could benefit from the neurovisual optometry services she offers.

In early 2013, when the University of Houston opened the doors to its Health and Biomedical Sciences Building, the Dry Eye Center (DEC), which was established several years prior, found its permanent home. DEC Director Amber Gaume Giannoni, OD, FAAO, says that the decision to establish it was pushed for by several members of the faculty and administration in the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO). They felt they should be on the cutting edge, offering specialty services that weren’t available elsewhere on a routine basis.

Whitney Hauser, OD, says that specialization is quite natural in practices with multiple doctors. “Ophthalmology mastered this years ago with cornea, retina and glaucoma specialists electing to practice together. Their cohesion doesn’t water down their specialization,” she says. Even solo optometry specialists can survive and thrive, she says, noting that vision therapists, low vision specialists and sports vision doctors can capitalize on their unique offerings.

By Kimberly K. Friedman, OD, FAAO—‘Tis the season to be jolly…but how do we do that when we are juggling the demands of the office, the family and the holiday season?