Eye Give a Damn!

If you’ve ever dreamed of owning your own optometry private practice, developing a niche, inventing a new product, or giving back to the community, then take some time to be inspired by Dr. Janelle Davison’s story. Like many others, she found her path to optometry by speaking to her own optometrist then finding a mentor who was doing everything she wanted for her own life – owning a practice, growing a family, teaching, and loving life as a doctor. In 2010, She cold opened her own practice in Georgia and has never looked back. She and her business partner, who is also her husband, invented PARADEYEM software to help ODs take control of optical revenue, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. Today, Dr. Davison is known as the “Dry Eye Mentor” and enjoys customizing treatment plans for each patient by listening to their needs and addressing their goals. As a natural extension to treating dry eye disease and based on a suggestion from a patient, Dr. Davison has evolved her clinic to provide full-service ocular aesthetics with an in-office spa. Finally, her true passion is mentoring high school students. She and her sister (a dentist) created S.C.O.R.E. INC. to “pay it forward” and encourage minority high school students to pursue careers in dentistry, optometry, or ophthalmology, as less than 6% of doctors in the US are African American or Hispanic American.

Discover more about Dr. Janelle Davison and her passions:

https://brillianteyesvisioncenter.com/

https://dryeyeinstituteofga.com/

https://thedryeyementor.com/

https://wescore.org/

https://paradeyem.com/

Eye Give a Damn hosted by Dr. Joseph Allen is produced by FluoreSCENE Media.

For more information on Dr. Joseph Allen visit https://doctoreyehealth.com/

Visit https://odcommunity.com/ to learn more about FluoreSCENE Media.

Michael Cymbor, OD, FAAO, radiates with a passion for optometry, especially when it comes to the connection between exercise, muscle mass, and ocular health. He discusses the research and how different types and intensities of exercise should be considered for different conditions. He knows each patient will have a different reaction to “you should exercise more,” so he makes sure to meet them where they are regarding their exercise routine. Dr. Cymbor truly enjoys mentoring optometry students, as well as tapping into his creative side, which led to the creation of hid video: “Night of the Living DEModex.”

Key Moments:

2:49 Dr. Cymbor’s path to a career in optometry

5:13 What brought Dr. Cymbor to State College, PA (“Happy Valley” ... home of Penn State University)

6:20 The story behind his video: “The Night of the Living Demodex”

11:46 Dr. Cymbor’s passion for glaucoma care and how it led to The Glaucoma Institute in partnership with his ophthalmologist partner

14:55 The types of optometrists who gravitate towards a glaucoma specialty

19:09 Current views on glaucoma research

21:08 Dry eye and ocular surface disease

27:30 Finding your sense of purpose

30:00 The value and importance of mentorship

33:10 Exercise and ocular health

38:09 How muscle mass impacts blood sugar levels

41:29 Exercise and eye pressure as it relates to glaucoma

44:05 Research into exercise and stress management

48:10 “Meeting patients where they are” regarding exercise

51:55 The Pickleball effect

54:00 The importance of earlier intervention to improve outcomes

Eye Give a Damn hosted by Dr. Joseph Allen is produced by FluoreSCENE Media.

For more information on Dr. Joseph Allen visit https://doctoreyehealth.com/

Visit https://odcommunity.com/ to learn more about FluoreSCENE Media.

Mile Brujic, OD, FAAO, is an international optometric educator with over 2000 lectures given to date. For 22 years, he has been with the same practice, where he’s now one of the partners. He shares with Dr. Joseph Allen how he entered the speaking world by developing dry eye and contact lenses CE courses for opticians. His keys to success include putting in the hard work to truly master the content and a commitment to getting raw, honest feedback and taking it to heart to improve. Working with industry partners, he’s had the opportunity to conduct research and consult on cutting-edge innovations in eye care, making him a better clinician as a result. Personally, he finds immense strength in his partnership with his wife, as they’ve grown together over the years to support each other’s professional pursuits. His current passion is his work on Optometric Insights with Dr. David Kading to help educate and inspire students to greater career enjoyment and success. Lastly, he implores all optometrists to be dues-paying members of their national and state optometric associations to create an even more powerful and unified profession.

Eye Give a Damn hosted by Dr. Joseph Allen is produced by FluoreSCENE Media.

For more information on Dr. Joseph Allen visit https://doctoreyehealth.com/

Visit https://odcommunity.com/ to learn more about FluoreSCENE Media.

Nick Colatrella, OD, FAAO, Dipl. AAO, ABO, ABCMO

In this first episode of Eye Give a Damn, Dr. Allen sits down with Dr. Nick Colatrella, his personal mentor and colleague. Dr. Colatrella discusses the challenges of practicing at the highest extent of his license while being at the frontlines of scope expansion for optometry through his involvement with the AOA. From their shared experience and frustrations with insurance and vision plans to how private equity is impacting private practice; the doctors go deep into the future of optometry.

Learn more about Dr. Nick Colatrella here: https://pineconevisioncenter.com/about-us/doctors/nicholas-colatrella/

Connect with Dr. Joseph Allen on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctoreyehealth/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doctoreyehealth

Twitter: https://twitter.com/doctoreyehealth

About Joseph Allen, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO

Dr. Joseph J. Allen graduated Magna Cum Laude and Salutatorian from the Rosenburg School of Optometry in 2015 and completed his residency at the Minneapolis V.A. Medical Center.

Dr. Allen is a practicing optometrist in Minnesota and the founder of Doctor Eye Health, an educational YouTube channel with more than 750K subscribers. There he provides information about eye health, ocular disease and vision products. His videos cover a range of topics that his subscribers frequently ask about: eye floaters, glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, contact lenses, eyeglasses, and more.

Dr. Allen is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry. He is a member of the American Optometric Association, the AOA Strategic Communications Committee, and he completed the AOA leadership training in 2022. He was also awarded the Media Advocacy award from the AOA in 2021.

Dr. Allen has been featured in Ask Men and Oprah Daily and In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing, running, cooking, playing video games, hiking, and biking.

Eye Give a Damn hosted by Dr. Joseph Allen is produced by FluoreSCENE Media.

For more information on Dr. Joseph Allen visit https://doctoreyehealth.com/

Visit https://odcommunity.com/ to learn more about FluoreSCENE Media.

J. Daniel Diaz, MD, and Diana Shechtman, OD, FAAO, work side by side at Retinal Consultants of Miami. In this episode, Dr. Allen interviews them both to learn how they work together to serve their patients. Dr. Diaz and Dr. Shechtman agree that success starts with mutual respect and trust in each other and feel that collaborative care is the only way forward. Listen in as they discuss their backgrounds and the patient population they serve. They also share their thoughts on how other optometrists and ophthalmologists can collaborate to better serve their patients.

Eye Give a Damn hosted by Dr. Joseph Allen is produced by FluoreSCENE Media.

For more information on Dr. Joseph Allen visit https://doctoreyehealth.com/

Visit https://odcommunity.com/ to learn more about FluoreSCENE Media.