This is my conversation with medical correspondent, eye doctor, and owner of Montebello Optometry, Dr. María Cristina Zamora.

And we get experimental in this episode because we switch back and forth between English and Español and we hope that you’ll find some of it useful for the next time you find yourself in clinic with a Spanish-speaking patient.

She shares with us how she got started in optometry and gives us encouraging words for those of us thinking about starting our own practices. We also talk about our experiences being latina optometrists and how that places us in a unique position to greatly impact our communities for the better.

instagram.com/doctorzamora

instagram.com/montebellooptometry

montebello-optometry.com

https://www.univision.com/local/los-angeles-kmex/que-es-glaucoma-y-como-puede-afectar-la-salud-de-las-personas

You’ve seen Dr. Motamedi’s viral video on ODs on Facebook and in this episode you’ll get to know the doctor behind this heartwarming patient experience.

He is a SUNY alumnus class of 2015 and the two of us were often in the same small lab/clinic group. We talk about his path to optometry and did you know that he took the OAT, DAT, and the MCAT tests!? If anyone could accomplish all of that it would be him. And of course we get into the video and patient case of how an empty appointment time slot on a Saturday afternoon completely changed the life of a blind woman by restoring her vision with the magic, and science, of scleral contact lenses.

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/visually-impaired-woman-clearly-sees-family-for-the-first-time-in-12-years

https://optometriceducation.org/a-trip-to-the-eye-doctor-changes-a-life/

dmvvisioncare.com

Do you know what your career in optometry is going to look like after graduation? Dr. Wahl, and myself included, had a plan but things always turn out a little different and for the better.

In this episode Dr. Wahl sits down with us and talks about her career as a Doctor of Optometry in academia.

We discuss her path to obtaining her FAAO and the different research studies and projects she is involved in. We also touch on the unique challenges, and opportunities, that we experience as women in vision.

www.ocularsurfaceacademy.com

www.womeninvision.com

instagram.com/lisawahlod

instagram.com/women_in_vision

Why should you do an optometry residency? I did not but I thought why not make an episode about this and feature the amazing residency-trained optometrist, Dr. Sheerer. She dives deep into what an optometry residency is all about, to think about the kind of experience that you would like to have during your residency year, and she shares some tips on how to land your dream residency:

* Follow all the instructions to a T.

* Go to the American Academy of Optometry meeting where you will get to meet everyone involved in the residency program that you’ve had your eye on.

The latter half of the episode is dedicated to all things pediatrics. Being that Dr. Sheerer is a pediatric optometrist she has a lot of clinical pearls to share with us. Peds eye exams can seem daunting and she breaks it down into four questions that need to be answered in a pediatric eye exam:

1. Is there something wrong based on the medical or ocular history?

2. Does the child have strabismus?

3. Does the child need glasses?

4. Are their eyes healthy?

Act I - Optometric Residencies 1:15

Act II - Pediatric Optometry 19:05

Insights OSCONY Monthly Newsletter

https://sites.google.com/oscony.org/oscony/monthly-newsletter?authuser=0

Have you ever wondered if there was a way to incorporate holistic medicine into a traditional optometric practice? Well Dr. Brown did just that! In this episode she opens up about her own wellness journey and how she was able to help empower her patients to seek health instead of simply treating their DIS-EASE.

If you’d like to change things up in your own practice and possibly add a BioPhotonic scanner you can contact Dr. Brown at [email protected]

Study on Correlations Between Macular, Skin, and Serum Carotenoids

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5520678/

BioPhotonic Scanner

https://www.nuskin.com/content/nuskin/en_US/products/pharmanex/scanner/s3_whatis.html

Getting to know the future generation of optometrists inspires me!

In this episode meet future Dr. Palma. She is currently a third year optometry student at Western U who is passionate about eye care so much so that she aims to educate the public on not just one but two instagram accounts.

instagram.com/libnazurisadai

instagram.com/zurisadeye

We discuss the quizzes and photography she features on her accounts, her passion for patient care, what it’s like being an optometry student in 2019, the importance of mental health and the similarities in our experiences being minorities in medicine.

Can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.

If you haven’t heard of the Instagram account @overheardoptometry well, now you have!

In this episode we get to learn more about the woman behind this game-changing account, Elvira Derhovsepian. She has worked in eye care for many years and started @overheardoptometry in 2016 after noticing the NY and LA counterparts on Instagram and realizing that eye care professionals overhear plenty of interesting and funny things throughout the day too.

She released her first book in 2017, Volume I of Overheard Optometry stories and she just published Volume II, available now on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/167455916X/ref

In conversation with optometrist and practice owner, Dr. Benjamin Arthur. He shares with us his journey and how certain values have allowed him to not only stay the course but to be resilient and successful in his career.

And we learned that we share some core beliefs:

If you put your patients first the rest will naturally fall into place.

No matter where you are in your journey, always ask for help.

You can find him on Instagram @brooklyneyedoc and his practice is located in Brooklyn, NY perspectiveyes.com

No one else’s opinion matters. What matters is that you are happy in whatever it is that you are doing. And if you are having a hard time finding your WHY just pay attention to the things that you have endless energy for. Another way to find out what motivates you is by taking this totally free, no-strings attached DISC personality assessment that can help guide you in finding your passion. I took this assessment myself and found it really helpful. You can take the same one at the following link https://www.tonyrobbins.com/disc/

On today’s episode our guest is the CEO of Latinx en Medicina, and future doctor, Leslie Gonzalez.

We discuss what it’s like being latina in medicine, the importance of keeping your head down and grinding and studying while finding balance and seeking mental health, imposter syndrome, work ethic, omg “it’s exhausting” being first-gen (inserting a small reference from the Selena movie lol) but we are setting the foundation for future generations and let’s never forget that ¡SÍ SE PUEDE! attitude.

You can learn more about the movement at latinxenmedicina.com