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Catania a well-chosen pioneer
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To the Editor:
In the January 2015 feature, “Pioneers in Optometry” (“Catania: Pioneer of full-scope primary care optometry,”) Louis J. Catania, OD, FAAO, was well chosen indeed.
Way back in 1986, the entering class of Pennsylvania College of Optometry (now Salus University) was given the treat of listening to Lou address them during the orientation session. In that room were over a hundred new students and their parents. When Lou stood up to discuss our obligations to care for the vision of our patients and the lifetime of learning we had ahead of us, we were all engaged. His talk did not come from the podium, it came from somewhere deep within him. The gist of his message was that the learning and duty to provide care never ceases.
We all felt very important and accomplished before we took our very first class – he elevated every one of us. And he made our parents feel proud for sending us into a great and caring profession.
I never forgot his words, and they have stayed with me some 25 years after graduation. To this day, my mother asks me: “Whatever happened to that nice tall doctor who gave such a moving speech when you went to optometry school?” Now I can tell her.
Andrew J. Sacco, OD, FAAO