Secure our future by giving something back to optometry

Issue: December 2004

ByMichael D. DePaolis, OD, FAAO

Michael D. DePaolis, OD, FAAO [photo]
Michael D. DePaolis

Sometimes life just gets too busy. Given our responsibilities at home as well as the demands of clinical practice, we often find ourselves living from day to day, often just barely meeting our commitments. Considering the hectic nature of our existence, it’s understandable why many of us find it so difficult to create — let alone implement — any sort of long-term goal strategy. Instead, we keep moving forward day by day.

As 2004 comes to a close, it’s a perfect time to reflect upon another year gone by and to consider what opportunities the new year holds. It’s a time to review the many positive things that have occurred in our practices: the introduction of new technologies, the addition of specialized services and, perhaps, an increase in patient encounters. It’s also the ideal time to reconsider some of our less-stellar decisions: participation in certain managed care plans, implementing a scheduling strategy resulting in increased patient wait time, etc. While reflecting over this past year might very well make next year a better one, it’s still a very myopic strategy.

Consider your entire career

For certain, a better strategy involves a much longer retrospective. A look back over much more than the past year … a consideration of our entire career. Only by doing so do we recall our first thoughts of optometry as a career, the demands of our training program and the early struggles associated with clinical practice. It’s only through this type of reflection that we fully appreciate all we’ve accomplished ... as well as all that optometry has provided for us.

While each of us has forged a unique career path, all of us share a commonality: the fact that at one time or another we’ve benefited from a colleague’s generosity. It may have been our family optometrist who fostered an interest in this great profession, an optometry professor who helped make sense of it all or even a colleague who provided invaluable advice and support early in our career. Indeed, somewhere along the line, we’ve all had a little help. It’s what makes each of us successful as an optometrist and it is our profession’s heritage.

Help a future optometrist

This revelation, of course, begs one simple question. Have we given enough back to optometry and our next generation of colleagues? To be sure, 2005 will present its share of opportunities in which to contribute to optometry’s future. And it’s not too early to consider just how you can help.

It might be providing a practice opportunity for a new graduate. Or serving as a mentor for an optometry student. Or having a student interested in optometry visit your practice. In each scenario, a singular effort contributes to the recruitment, training and matriculation of tomorrow’s optometrists.

So, in considering what changes you’ll implement in 2005, keep one thing in mind. While personal practice growth and professional gratification are important, so is the vitality of optometry as a profession. Secure our profession’s future by giving back to optometry in whatever way you can. After all, it’s what optometry has always been about.