Texas OD finds huge need for eye care in Kenya

Dr. Ransom Anderson poses with some of the younger patients in Kenya.

Texas practitioner Vanessa Ransom Anderson, O.D., traveled to the other side of the globe this past January to deliver eye care to those in great need.

As part of a multifaceted team from a church in her hometown of Bloomfield, N.M., Dr. Ransom Anderson was asked to go because the local missionaries found the need for eye care in Kenya to be huge.

Her husband, David, accompanied her as well and served as an assistant/ optician/ counselor/ porter/ whatever else was needed.

On a mission: Wisconsin OD delivers care to thousands on his travels to South America

Steve La Liberte, O.D., receives assistance examining a patient in Peru.

Peru is almost a home away from home for Wisconsin optometrist Steve La Liberte, O.D. For many years, he has led Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) missions to first Nicaragua and now Peru.

Dr. La Liberte’s daughter, Stephanie, an Illinois College of Optometry student, has even accompanied him on his last two trips.

“Our first Lima mission was in 2001 on which we had a surgical team doing crossed eyes, cleft lips and cleft palates, a dental team, and our VOSH eye mission all together,” said Dr. La Liberte, who practices at the Mayo Clinic in Wisconsin. “That group proved to be too large for the orphanage we stay at to accommodate us, so we later split into separate missions. But our VOSH work there continues, as does the surgical and dental care. We have built a full-time dental clinic there and Father Sebastian actually has plans drawn up and a scale model built for a permanent hospital and clinic to be built on the orphanage grounds. So the seeds we planted there have grown into health care for thousands of very poor in the Lima area.”

Vt. OD writes the book on eye exams for children, parents

In his book “No Pills No Shots,” Vermont optometrist Solomon M. Gould, O.D., offers a parent/ child tutorial about visiting the eye doctor.

“‘No Pills No Shots’ is not only an exceptional education tool for pediatric patients and their parents or guardians, but it is a very effective practice-builder and marketing tool as well,” said Dr. Gould. “I sincerely hope to help make a positive progression in the way that the general public views and understands pediatric eye care. I am confident that ‘No Pills No Shots’ will be monumental in helping optometrists across the country achieve this.”

Ill. optometrist finds numerous visual field defects, considers testing part of comprehensive care

There’s been a bit of debate amongst ODs on Facebook group members about routine testing of visual fields. R. Scott Wooley, O.D., of Flora, Ill., a former Illinois Optometric Association president, said he considers it part of everyday exceptional patient care.

Dr. Wooley has been in practice almost 25 years and offers several anecdotes supporting his belief.

Finding Barahona’s hero: Optometry students learn life lessons through VOSH missions

Third-year optometry student Dominique Oker writes about her mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

By Dominique M. Oker, Inter American University of Puerto Rico (IAUPR) School of Optometry third-year student

When I was asked to write an article on my experience in the Dominican Republic for IAUPR School of Optometry’s VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) mission trip, I immediately knew that I wanted to find a hero with a story that could inspire everyone. I was on a mission to write this article and I was determined to complete it.

Upon arriving to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at Las America’s International, the seven of us student missionaries felt our stomachs turn with nervous butterflies in anticipation for what the day would bring.

AOA volunteer joins first Vietnam optometric team

Shown from left are Karl Citek, O.D., student Khoa Nguyen, Ben Crowell, O.D., Mai Nguyen, O.D., Quynh Nguyen, student Shane McDonald, and student An Pham.

Editor’s Note: Karl Citek, O.D., chair of the AOA’s Commission on Ophthalmic Standards (CmOS) sent in a narrative of his recent optometric mission trip to Vietnam.

Vietnam. What an amazing place! What wonderful people! What a fantastic mission!

As I make my way home, during long airport layovers, here are some of my notes and impressions on this first “trip of a lifetime.”

Lights, camera, contacts

“Lights, Camera, Contacts: A History of Contact Lenses in the Movie Industry” was the theme as Morton Greenspoon, O.D., provided this year’s Optometric Historical Society “Blast from the Past” program Oct. 26, in Phoenix, Ariz.

OD’s work produces ‘thrilling’ effects

Dr. Greenspoon received an Oscar nomination for his work on “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” in 1992. He created the effect shown for Gary Oldman’s eyes.

Hollywood turns to Morton Greenspoon, O.D., when it wants the best in special effects for movies, but it almost seems as he could be the subject of a movie himself.

As Dr. Greenspoon explained in his presentation at the American Academy of Optometry meeting this month, his ties to the movie industry go back to the 1930s when his father, Reuben Greenspoon, O.D., opened his practice in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The senior Dr. Greenspoon shared high-rise space with some major movie industry players. One of his patients, Ben Nye, was the head of makeup for 20th Century Fox.

Some of the movie folks inquired about the possibility of using contacts to change the color of one’s eyes.

Dr. Reuben Greenspoon was able to create the effect using blue ceramic material with glass lenses that would change the eye color of one of the actors from brown to blue. The movie was “Miracles for Sale,” and thus the miracle of cosmetic lenses was born!

S.C. OD educates patients on importance of UV protection

Dr. Click, center, and her staff participate in the Mount Pleasant Children’s Day Festival held every October.

Mount Pleasant, S.C., optometrist Rachael Click, O.D., has succeeded in making her practice stand out in just four short years.

Originally from Indiana, Dr. Click knew she needed to find a way to draw patients into her practice from her new Southern town.

“I needed to get my face out there, so I decided to do that through community service and health fairs,” she said. “They have been instrumental in growing my practice.”

Dr. Click estimated 90 percent of her practice is made up of very young families.

“They’re pretty healthy individuals with two or three kids, so my focus is on preserving their sight,” she said.

N.M. OD helps others see through the smoke

Terry Marquardt, O.D., and staff member Chrissie Kenaston are wowed at the arrival of the palette of eyedrops from Alcon Laboratories.

The primary goal of Terry Marquardt, O.D., and his practice in Alamogordo, N.M., is to improve the quality of life of patients. So when the Little Bear wildfire sprung to life in the Lincoln National Forest last month, Marquardt Eye Associates put that goal into action.

Local news agencies estimate more than 1,300 firefighters and support personnel were on the scene fighting the hard-to-contain blaze.

High winds and hot temperatures added even more challenges to the job, leaving responders’ eyes red and irritated from the smoke.

A staff member at Marquardt Eye Associates heard an advertisement on a local radio station seeking donations for those impacted by the wildfire. Both victims and firefighters were in need of food, water, blankets and eyedrops.

This inspired the staffer, who prefers to remain anonymous, to ask Dr. Marquardt to lend a hand.

Donations for wildfire victims were pouring in from around the state, but the firefighters seemed to be forgotten.