With all due apologies to Alice Cooper, school was not, in fact, out forever. Students from preschool all the way up to the nation’s optometry schools are back in session. In honor of this, OM asked prominent optometrists to think back on those professors who continue to have an impact on their careers and the lessons they learned.

BUILD A SOLID FOUNDATION

Shane Foster, OD, president of the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA), named Michael Earley, OD, PhD, associate dean of academic affairs at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. Dr. Foster had the pleasure of taking Dr. Earley’s anatomy and histology class at the college.

“He taught the foundation of what I’m doing every day,” Dr. Foster says, describing Dr. Earley as high energy, passionate, engaging, and demanding but fun. These are some of the qualities that Dr. Foster aims to embody when he shows up to work every day.

“I’m so excited about what I do in this profession and I enjoy bringing that to patients, students, externs, staff, and my colleagues,” Dr. Foster says.

Dr. Earley’s service to the profession is another way he serves as a role model for Dr. Foster. In fact, the two have had the chance to work together on the OOA Board of Trustees.

THINK STRATEGICALLY WHEN DIAGNOSING

Jade Coats, OD, of northwest Arkansas’ McDonald Eye Associates, admittedly had a hard time narrowing down the field to one professor, naming several whom she admired and whose imparted wisdom she continues to use to this day: Drs. Daniel Taylor, Whitney Hauser, Al Kabat, and John Mark Jackson. She recognizes Dennis E. Mathews, OD, of Eye Specialty Group, Memphis, Tenn., an adjunct professor at Memphis’ Southern College of Optometry, for the training that gave her the greatest confidence in her ability to treat patients.

“He helped me to think about the broad picture, but also to be able to pick out the very important details in the picture,” Dr. Coats says.

She references a classification system of “urgent, emergent, or not,” to describe conditions, and a process of gathering specific details, both of which she acquired during her externship with Dr. Matthews. “Dr. Matthews is just someone who you didn’t want to answer with an ‘I don’t know.’ It was always preferred to say ‘I don’t know right now,’ and find out as soon as possible!”

Dr. Coats still asks herself, to this day, when making a difficult diagnosis: “What would Dr. Mathews do?”

STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE

Bringing a unique perspective to the query, president and CEO of New England College of Optometry Howard Purcell, OD, had two professors while a student at the school whose teachings had a profound impact on his career: Drs. Paul White and John Pietrantonio.

Dr. White, who recently retired, was an instructor for contact lenses, which looked a little bit different in 1980, and inspired Dr. Purcell to get excited and to make a difference within this area of optometry.

Dr. Pietrantonio took charge during a tragic event in which a patient in the clinic collapsed by calmly managing the high-stakes situation among a team of care providers, including rescue staff from the adjacent hospital. Dr. Purcell, the first one to reach the patient from clinic, administered CPR; though these attempts to revive the patient were ultimately unsuccessful.

“Dr. Pietrantonio, his poise and confidence in that situation proved to me what I had already learned from him: how to manage your emotions and deal with bad news situations, in this case, very devastating situations,” Dr. Purcell says.

Now that he’s at the helm of New England College of Optometry, Dr. Purcell has a broader view on the impact that professors have on an institution and the profession.

“The importance, and the impact, and the effort that these faculty members do and put forward, their commitment to the future of the profession is absolutely incredible,” Dr. Purcell says. “They do it because they get this incredible joy for seeing the success of others…It’s incredible to be around them.”

THANK YOUR PROFESSOR

You can join in on the professorial gratitude on social media. Mention the professors who made a difference in your life and your profession using the hashtag #ODShoutOut; tag Optometric Management so we can share it, too. OM