Carlson inducted as new AOA president

Dori M. Carlson

SALT LAKE CITY – Dori M. Carlson, OD, was inducted last week as the first female president of the American Optometric Association during Optometry's Meeting here.

During her term as 2010-2011 president-elect, Dr. Carlson, of Park River, N.D., spearheaded the AOA’s efforts in organizing the School Readiness Summit in Washington. This AOA-led event convened doctors, nurses, educators and other children’s health advocates to discuss the high rate of learning-related vision issues among America’s children and developed a blueprint to better ensure that the nation’s children have the tools needed to succeed in school and later in life.

Dr. Carlson also initiated her “20/20 Tour” of 20 optometry schools and colleges in 20 months. “To date I’ve completed nine stops,” Dr. Carlson told the AOA House of Delegates during her inaugural address. “This is about the value of lifelong membership in our association.

“For several years we’ve seen a decline in AOA membership,” she continued. “We need to reverse this trend. We need to take care of our AOA family and the organization whose sole purpose is to advocate for our patients.”

She stressed the importance of the organization’s delegates getting involved with students and also working with the faculty at the schools.

Dr. Carlson recognized the 25th anniversary of optometry being included in Medicare but noted there is more work to be done. “We need to define the pediatric vision benefit in health care reform as a comprehensive eye exam,” she said. “This will allow 11 million kids to be taken care of. With all of the resources we have today, there is no reason amblyopia exists.

“If we’re really serious about helping kids and giving them every opportunity to succeed in life, we’ll see them as infants, at 3 years and before they enter school and catch the developing vision problems [early],” she continued. “It’s not just about seeing children – it’s about seeing them for the rest of their life.”

As Dr. Carlson takes over the role of AOA president, Joe E. Ellis, OD, of Benton, Ky., moves into the role of immediate past president; Ronald L. Hopping, OD, of Houston, is now president-elect; Mitchell T. Munson, OD, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., is now vice president; and David A. Cockrell, OD, of Stillwater, Okla., is now secretary-treasurer.

Barbara Horn, OD, of Chesterfield, Mich., was elected as the newest member of the AOA board of trustees. Trustees who will continue serving the board are: Hilary L. Hawthorne, OD, of Los Angeles; Steven A. Loomis, OD, of Littleton, Colo.; Samuel D. Pierce, OD, of Trussville, Ala.; Christopher J. Quinn, OD, of Iselin, N.J.; and Andrea P. Thau, OD, of New York.