Little girls often mirror their mothers’ morning rituals—reaching for the eyeshadow and lipstick to look just like mommy. Julianna Dolinski, OD, did the same, also reaching for the bottle of contact lens solution.
For as long as Dr. Dolinski can remember, she watched her mother, Barbara, navigate the world through contact lenses. Unlike Dr. Dolinski’s older friends who showed off their soft lenses, her mom wore hard lenses on top of the flimsy ones.
At 11, being fitted with hard lenses herself made Dr. Dolinski feel she’d finally grown up, just like her mom. But something didn’t make sense. “I didn’t understand why I put mine on at night, but my mom put hers on in the morning,” Dr. Dolinski says. “I remember my mom told me, ‘Yours are so you can see tomorrow without anything on your eyes. Mine are to be able to see anything at all.’”
WHEN PROCEDURES GO WRONG
As Dr. Dolinski grew up and learned more about eyes and vision, she pieced together why her mom couldn’t see without her stack of lenses. In 2001, Barbara had undergone a voluntary laser refractive procedure to correct myopia, hoping to leave glasses and discomfort behind. For a few months after the procedure, she enjoyed that freedom, but gradually her vision deteriorated. She wanted nothing more than to revert to her glasses, but she couldn’t. Her eyes had changed.
Barbara developed post-LASIK ectasia. What initially seemed like the right decision and a great investment turned into a nightmare for the whole Dolinski family. “As an immigrant with a new small business and two young daughters, my mom was worried she’d never be able to support our family, work or take care of my sister and me ever again,” Dr. Dolinski says. “We were only 4 and 2 years old at the time of her procedure.”
BARBARA’S LAST RESORT
Countless optometrists and ophthalmologists said there was nothing they could do for Barbara. Her corneas now had irregular astigmatism, and there was no prescription or corrective procedure to help her. She hit wall after wall until one doctor said, “I’m referring you to Dr. Susan Resnick. If she can’t help you, no one can.”
So off Barbara went to Drs. Farkas, Kassalow, Resnick & Associates, in New York City. She walked into the office, sat in the exam chair and, as soon as introductions were exchanged, she broke down. This was her last resort. Dr. Resnick hugged her and promised she would do everything she could to help her see again.
After weeks of follow-ups and countless lenses lost to the learning process, Barbara was fitted with a piggyback system of lenses, restoring her vision to 20/20. The system consisted of a hard lens that corrected the irregular astigmatism and a soft lens underneath that acted as a cushion for better comfort. For years, Barbara and Dr. Resnick stayed in touch for annual exams, refits and to catch up on family life now that she regained her vision.
WHERE CURIOSITY TOOK ROOT
While Dr. Dolinski’s older sister passed every eye chart test at the school nurse’s office, Dr. Dolinski did not. But Barbara knew where to take her. Just like her mom, Dr. Dolinski started seeing Dr. Resnick for eye exams and orthokeratology lens check-ups. “It was at these appointments that where I first became fascinated by that weird microscope with the swinging light,” Dr. Dolinski says.
While an undergraduate biology student at Hofstra University, Dr. Dolinski visited Dr. Resnick for a routine contact lens exam. Her head was fogged with thoughts of upcoming exams, but sitting in the exam room everything suddenly came into focus. Optometry? Why hadn’t she ever considered this as a career?
“I called the office the next day and asked to shadow Dr. Resnick,” Dr. Dolinski says. “A week later, I was back in the clinic shadowing and left with a job offer to be a Saturday technician.”
Dr. Dolinski quickly learned that this office was changing lives every single day. Even as a technician, she enjoyed helping patients try lenses for the first time and seeing their reactions. A lot of smiles, some tears. “I remember one patient told me that I was the first face they’d seen clearly in years,” she says.
FROM PATIENT TO ASSOCIATE OD
Seven years later in 2025, Julianna is now Dr. Dolinski, and she now practices as an associate optometrist where it all started, Drs. Farkas, Kassalow, Resnick & Associates, in New York City. She smiles when she finds her own handwriting in a 2019 chart note and likes to tell patients how she began at the clinic—a patient at 11, a Saturday technician at 19 and ultimately an optometrist.
Now 26, she may look young to see patients, but she jokes that she has 15 years of experience at the practice. And when Barbara comes in for a routine check of her piggyback lenses, she sees Dr. Dolinski.
