SC VISIONS
ALUMNI MAGAZINE
TeamBased Learning in the Classroom
Spring 2014
Alumni Council member and Texas Optometric Association President Fred Farias III, OD ’87, embodies the spirit of commitment demonstrated by our alumni as they support their profession and optometric education. From his support of student scholarships to providing input as a member of SCO’s Alumni Council, Dr. Farias has actively reconnected with his alma mater in recent years. Dr. Farias is pictured presenting Chris Prough, ’14, with the Fred Farias, III, OD ’87, FAAO Endowed Award at SCO’s most recent Convocation ceremony.
dedication Dr. Farias and other alumni encourage you to join them in supporting SCO’s commitment to advancing scholarship opportunities and the quality of patient care encounters that our students enjoy through progressive clinical education.
Call (901) 722-3216 or visit sco.edu.
INSIDE Seen at SECO Coverage of this year’s alumni events in Atlanta........
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Interactive Learning Students like the team-based approach........................
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Meet the Class of 2014............................................................ 8
Placement Success
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SCO’s service connects alumni in private practice........................
Class Notes............................................................................. 12
On Campus Focus................................................................. 14
News Briefs............................................................................ 15
Mark Your Calendar!............................................................ 16
SCO Security Officer David Nunley is pictured volunteering with children as part of the college’s community outreach held for a second season in a row at Memphis Grizzlies home games. SCO’s faculty and staff are committed in joining our students in helping spread the word about the good work we’re doing in Memphis!
Look for SCO at these upcoming events… May 9 Commencement Cannon Center Memphis, TN June 13-15 North Carolina State Optometric Society Myrtle Beach, SC June 20-22 Optometry Association of Louisiana Baton Rouge, LA June 26-29 AOA Congress Philadelphia, PA October 9-12 Homecoming and Fall CE SCO Campus
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FROM THE PRESIDENT Up to the Challenge These are exciting times for optometric education and never more so for your alma mater. The arrival of spring brought the news that the National Board passage rate for Part II (clinical principles, aka the PAM), was 100 percent for our graduating class this year. You’ll meet these outstanding students – soon to become optometric physicians upon their graduation – in this issue. As alumni, you have every reason to take pride in the caliber of the graduates SCO is producing. Throughout SCO’s student body, we see excellence. Our students have enthusiastically embraced the new academic facilities we inaugurated at the start of the academic year. They understand and appreciate the impact you as alumni make in helping us achieve the high standards required for us to lead the profession. A recent survey of the Class of 2012 also revealed very high satisfaction with the preparation they received at SCO. We are headed in the right direction, and we’re moving at light speed! Earlier this year, the Board of Trustees determined a need to integrate professional involvement, advocacy and educate our students more fully in the legislative process. We’re in the process of refining our strategic plan and examining the methods that we teach our students about integrated care with the idea that our patients are the greatest beneficiaries when allied healthcare providers work together. The Association of Schools & Colleges of Optometry, ASCO, has placed inter-professional education at the top of its list of priorities. More than ever before, we must adapt the philosophy that we work as part of an interdisciplinary team, and such collaborative efforts must benefit our patients. Our students are up to the challenge. We were heartened by the recent legislative victory in Tennessee to give ODs who have met the certification requirements the privilege to use a local anesthetic in conjunction with the performance of minor surgical procedures to the eyelid. Our students joined us in Nashville, where only weeks before, we saw perhaps the best attendance ever for our annual “Day on the Hill” event. If you share our enthusiasm for our forward momentum, I strongly encourage you to support your alma mater on an annual basis when you give. Your support sends a signal to prospective students and current students alike that SCO is committed to providing them with a robust academic and clinical program designed to maximize their potential in an evolving healthcare landscape. Your involvement will be critical this year, especially, as we look to the future to ensure the long-term success of our alma mater and graduates in the coming years.
VICE PRESIDENT FOR INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT
Kristin Anderson, OD EDITOR/DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Jim Hollifield SENIOR CREATIVE DESIGNER
Susan Doyle MULTIMEDIA SPECIALIST
Erin Jaffe MULTIMEDIA/GRAPHIC DESIGN ASSISTANT
Philip Tribble Visions is a magazine for alumni, faculty, staff, and other friends of Southern College of Optometry. It is published through the Office of Institutional Advancement. A digital version is available online at www.sco.edu/visions. Please forward comments, address changes, and contributions to: Office of Institutional Advancement 1245 Madison Avenue Memphis, TN 38104-2222 800-238-0180, ext. 4 901-722-3379 FAX
BOARD CHAIR
Jarrett A. Johnson, OD ’90 BOARD MEMBERS
Eugene M. Bane, Jr., OD ’65 Douglas C. Clark, OD Steven L. Compton, OD ’78 Brian Jones, MBA Henry V. Lindeman, II Sharon Berger Moscow, OD ‘80 Ryan H. Powell, OD ’02 Steven T. Reed, OD ’95 James D. Sandefur, OD ’65 Carla D. Sanderson, PhD A. L. Spivey, III, OD ’67 Leticia W. Towns, FACHE Cristie Upshaw Travis, MS Terry L. Tucker, OD ’84 Christopher W. Wroten, OD ’02 FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE
Scott Ensor, OD ’01 STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
Richard W. Phillips, OD ’78, FAAO
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Jinga Patel, ’15
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Jim Sandefur, OD ’65, T. Joel Byars, OD ’63, and Camille Chiasson, OD ’81
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Chris Wroten, OD ’02, Sarah Wroten, OD ’03 and their children, Emily and Ben
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Class of 2009: Drs. Lauren Farwell, Gabrielle Fialka, Ashwyn Halbert, Natalie Frasier
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USAF Captain Jay Butler, OD ’11; USAF Major Jeff Newsom, OD ’05
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Kris May, OD ’01 and Angela Howell, OD ’90
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Young alumni reunite at the coffee break for recent graduates
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Erinn Parks, Alana Campbell and Jim Campbell, OD ’78
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Jennifer Elumelu ’17, Lindsay Armagon ’17, Leroy Norton, OD ’87, Kirsten McKnight ’16, Jennifer Anderson ’16
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Kendra and Steven Reed, OD ’95
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Morrow, OD ’74 and Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow
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Brent Hall, OD ’90, Grant Hall and Pam Hall
SECO 2014, Atlanta Students Express Gratitude to Alumni
Three of SCO’s Student Ambassadors addressed alumni at this year’s President’s Reception during the Spring SECO conference. At the request of President Richard W. Phillips, OD ’78, the students shared the impact that alumni-supported scholarships have made in their academic success. Attendees at the reception for alumni and friends heard Board of Trustees Vice Chair Steven Reed, OD ’95, share that the college’s five-year “Envision Our Progress” fundraising goals are right on target, but annual giving and support of student scholarships will enable the college to thrive now that the new academic facility has been constructed. Visit SCO’s photo galleries online to view event photos.
Use your smart phone’s QR code reader to view this donor appreciation video that debuted at SECO. The video may also be viewed directly on SCO’s website.
Dr. Phillips introduces Hunter Chapman, ’16, Meagan Williams ’17, and Matthew Armentrout, ’17, at the President’s Reception.
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Team-Based Learning
Students Embrace Interactive Approach By John Mark Jackson, OD ’99
Optics is a challenging course for many students, and I often found that they really struggled working alone at home with homework assignments. When they needed me most to help them understand things, I wasn’t there! I wondered if there was a way to move the “homework” time into class time so that I could give them guidance. I attended an excellent workshop on teaching methods in Chicago, and they used the team-based learning (TBL) format to run the workshop. I knew almost immediately that this was the structure for the course I was looking for. There are lots of “flipped classroom” models, but this particular version has some excellent features to me that make it stand out. When we start new material, the students usually watch a pre-recorded lecture before class to learn the background information. The next class day, they take a short quiz over the material, first individually, and then take the same quiz with their team mates. The team answers the questions using a special scratchoff card, similar to a lottery ticket. The advantage is that they get instant feedback on how they answered each question. The team has to come to a consensus on each answer and they can get partial credit if it takes them a couple of tries to get
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it right. Once we know they have the background material understood, they move on to application exercises, solving optic problems (or patient cases in contact lens) at a higher level, but with me there to guide them along. I have each team hold Dr. John Mark Jackson gives the Class of 2017 up a laminated card indiquestions for their team-based learning approach. cating their answer choice, and then call on teams to explain how they came up with their answers. All this means that the class time is mostly spent with them discussing optics theory and problems and me doing a lot less talking, helping along as needed. It transforms the classroom from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered environment. (This is a pretty big buzzword in education right now!) The students have taken to it pretty well, based on course surveys and discussions with them. I think it’s a nice break for them after sitting in lectures all morning. The course evaluations
consistently say they feel it helps them understand the material better by talking it over with classmates as they work the problems together. They seem to especially like being able to go over the preclass material at their own pace, as they can pause the recording if necessary and think for a moment about a point that was made. The current fourth-years are the first class I taught this way. Overall, I can tell a difference in how students discuss the material with me. With this method, I get to hear a lot more from them during class than with a lecture, so I can get a feel for how well and deeply they understand the material BEFORE they take an exam. It’s a really good feeling to walk around and hear them “arguing” over fine details about optics! I never got that kind of feedback before. I never thought the actual exam scores would improve much, and that has been true. My belief, though, is that this method, because they are asked to think more critically about the material and do more active learning in the classroom, will help them retain the material longer and make studying for the exam more of a review than a cram session. My discussions with fourthyears in the clinic about optics topics show me that they do seem to recall it quicker (perhaps with a little prompting sometimes!). I have had several other faculty express interest in teambased learning and a few have incorporated some of the ideas. I hope my experience will get others to consider ways to incorporate more active learning in the classroom even if they don’t want to use TBL or another “flipped” model. I think TBL is a great model, especially in a large-class environment like we have. Besides learning the course content, students are practicing a number of things they will have to do when they are doctors: learning how to persuade someone to their point of view (i.e,
“…this method, because they are asked to think more critically about the material and do more active learning in the classroom, will help them retain the material longer and make studying for the exam more of a review than a cram session.” getting Mrs. Jones to understand why she needs to take her glaucoma meds); learning how to evaluate others, as they have to do peer reviews of their teammates’ performance (i.e., doing performance evaluations on the office staff); applying the information they have learned in fairly realistic clinical scenarios (and not just memorizing facts to recall on an exam). A great feature of the in-class applications is that an instructor can ask questions you couldn’t on an exam, questions that don’t have a single “right” answer. I like to give an example of a glaucoma case that is rather borderline…does the patient have glaucoma or not, and what are you using to make that determination? Reasonable clinicians may disagree on whether the patient has glaucoma, and may disagree on which medication to use, and that might change based on whether they have insurance or private pay…all things that would be difficult to ask in a “there must be one and only one right answer” on an exam item. I think it’s important to point out that TBL is not the ONLY model that could work well, and I am mostly interested in seeing the profession move towards more active learning models, whatever those models may be. But I do think that we have to move away from an all-lecture teaching format if we want to train agile thinkers, critical thinkers, in our profession. Really, any course where there is a strong need to APPLY the information, not just learn the background, can benefit from this method. And of course, that describes many courses in health education.
Classmates Adam Recknagel and Courtney Morrow work together to solve a problem.
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The Hayes Center for Practice Excellence is pleased to join SCO in presenting the Graduating Class of 2014. The Hayes Center works with students to find placement opportunities online at sco.edu/placementservice. Alumni are invited to post your practice opportunity information on our site or contact Carla O’Brian in The Hayes Center at cobrian@sco.edu. The Class of 2014 looks forward to networking with our alumni and friends as they finalize their post-graduation practice plans.
Melissa Agramonte Merritt Island, FL
Mason J. Authement Montegut, LA
Amy M. Atherton Waterville, IA CO, WY, UT
Ashley D. Ballard Fayetteville, NC
Michael W. Broome Augusta, GA
Savannah Brunt Charleston, WV WA, OR, CO
Bradley A. Bugg Union City, TN
Bret J. Butterfield Riverton, UT
Michael Connell Morristown, TN
Lucas Cook Davenport, IA IA
Matthew Cox Burlington, NC NC, VA, SC
James N. Crawford Cedar City, UT
Bran Dawson Tupelo, MS MS, TN
Julie Dawson Milan, TN MS, TN
John Deshaies North Reading, MA MA, NH
Alisha Duffy Maple Grove, MN TN, CO, SC
Devin A. Duval Provo, UT
Tina Grosshans La Canada, CA CO
Suzanne Guin Raleigh, NC NC, VA, SC
Brandon Hadel Olathe, KS KS, MO, CO
Jenna Hall Blanding, UT TN
Annie Yunjie Hao Ann Arbor, MI TN, MI
Jason R. Harper Raymore, MO MO
Kamri M. Herndon Weiner, AR
Mary Hoang Gulfport, MS TN, MS
Stacey Hoins Ashland, KS OR, CA, KS
Rajinder Kaur Morgantown, WV
Navid R. Khoshooee Casselberry, FL
Erin R. Kizewski Hatley, WI WI
Brian Knight Bartlett, TN
Jacqueline M. Kronlage Dyersville, IA
Anna Lammers Traverse City, MI MI, IL
Keith M. Levinson Randolph, NJ
Stephanie Lew San Ramon, CA CA
Andrew Loudon Chino Hills, CA U.S. Army
Jane E. Pancurak Sanibel, FL
Meha J. Patel Stockbridge, GA
Priya A. Patel Sunbury, OH
Jordan M. Paul San Antonio, TX
Janette N. Perkins Dickson, TN
Christina Phan Chantilly, VA VA, MD, DC
Mallory E. Phillips Brandon, MS
Kristen Piery Vestavia Hills, AL KY
Christopher Prough Pleasanton, TX TX
Emily Smith Batesville, AR AR
Chelsea Spalding Coral Springs, FL
Nate Stahr York, NE
Anne M. Strong Gahanna, OH
Jessica Sumrall Byhalia, MS
Shannon D. Swayne Garden City, KS
William Tantum Maryville, TN TN, MT
Sarah L. Thompson Windsor, NC NC
Erinn Tolomei Pittsburgh, PA PA, WA, CO
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Joseph M. Ballard Fayetteville, NC
Leah D. Beckman Greenville, MI MI
Emanuela A. Bercea Dearborn, MI
Ellesse A. Boiwka Amherst, OH SC, GA
Robert A. Botts Big Stone Gap, VA VA, TN, KY
Andrew Bradbury Memphis, TN TN, NC, SC
Christopher Bright Henderson, TN MA, CT, VT
Dustin C. Briscoe Howell, MI OH, MI, TN
Mollie N. Broadway Jonesboro, AR AR, LA
Whitney G. Cansler Houston, TX
Keri Cassels Cairo, GA GA
Sam Chado Frederick, MD MD, FL, GA
Ross J. Chatwin St. George, UT UT, CO, ID
Jeanne Chen Fayetteville, NC NC, VA, SC
Todd R. Christensen Richland, WA U.S. Army
Jeffrey D. Coats Independence, MO MO, TN, AR
Heather A. Cohen Long Beach, MS
Amy M. Combs Knoxville, TN U.S. Army
Jacqueline Evans San Mateo, CA TX, GA, CA
Susan Evans Kingsport, TN TN, KY, TX
Daniel J. Foster Oskaloosa, IA IA
Farryl Franklin Ridgeland, MS MS
Rebecca Garcés Raleigh, NC NC, FL
Elizabeth Gault Rock Hill, SC
Anh Giang Brandon, MS MS
Jay Goldstein Memphis, TN TN
Lindsay Gould Howard, PA AZ, NY, VA
Linh B. Hong Mesquite, TX TX, TN
Meaghan Horton Little Rock, AR KY, TN
Kathryn Huebner Lincoln, NE DC, MD, VA
Blake Jarrard Paris, AR TN, AR
Bobby Johl Auburn, CA CA
Kellie M. Jones Hernando, MS
Kristal L. Jones New Prague, MN
Micah Juedes Wausau, WI WI
Kyle A. Kasper Centennial, CO
Matt MacDonald Provo, UT
Rachel A. Miller Salisbury, NC NC, TN
Canaan Montgomery Paducah, KY KY
Lauren Nelson Russellville, AR AR
Han H. Nguyen Sacramento, CA
Chidinma U. Nwachukwu Grayson, GA
Kim Orr Raleigh, NC NC
Adrienne Pak Timberlake, NC
Jennifer Pancoast Cape Girardeau, MO
Michael R. Quackenbush Lee, FL
Tyler Roberts Lexington, SC
Brandon J. Rushing Memphis, TN
Lekha M. Samuel Augusta, GA TN, GA
Kristin Schick Collierville, TN TN, MS
Priya Sheth Raleigh, NC
Jacquelyn G. Short Archbold, OH TN, SC, KY
Rachel A. Siegel Fort Loramie, OH
Brand Sloan Rexburg, ID
Uyen Tran New Orleans, LA
Samantha L. Triplett Portsmouth, VA
Ashley J. Varakalayil Bloomingdale, IL
Laura Verwilst Niles, MI IL
Ngoc-Lan T. Vu Seattle, WA
Gloria Wong Edmonton, AB
Douglas Wright Tulsa, Oklahoma FL
Adam Young Stone Mountain, GA
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SCO alumni are invited to place free listings on SCO’s Placement Services site. Whether you’re looking for an associate or to sell your practice, we’re here to help. Visit sco.edu/ placementservice or contact Carla O’Brian in the Hayes Center for Practice Excellence at (901) 722-3332 or cobrian@sco.edu for additional information.
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Melinda Legg, OD ’08 and Larry Blackmon, OD ’68.
Making Connections SCO’s Placement Services Not Just for Students While career placement services are sometimes regarded as a resource for students about to graduate, SCO’s Placement Services has increased its focus in recent years on actively assisting alumni as well. Melinda Legg, OD ’08, had already practiced in Arkansas for four years when an impending marriage necessitated a move to Louisiana. “I really didn’t know anyone in Northeast Louisiana, so I turned to the SCO Placement site and was very excited to see a practice for sale in the exact area I would be moving to,” she notes. What caught her attention was a placement posting from Larry Blackmon, OD ’68, who was looking to retire in a few years. The two met in March 2012 to get to know each other, and the week of Dr. Legg’s wedding later in June, Dr. Blackmon called and asked to meet again to discuss selling his practice. “Dr. Blackmon had made a great offer, so we really didn’t have much negotiation,” Dr. Legg says. “We went to lawyers to have all the paperwork done and by October 1, 2012, I was owner of the practice.” Three employees stayed with the practice, and now Dr. Legg focuses on the challenges of being a business owner in addition to practicing optometry. Her husband, a CPA, has helped with the business side, and Dr. Legg has successfully transitioned into
Dr. Melinda Legg’s new practice in West Monroe, Louisiana.
her new role as a practicing owner. “Because I bought such an established practice, I have had several patients that have never seen another optometrist or have been with Dr. Blackmon for years. I love the challenge of making those people happy.” Dr. Legg is glad that she worked in a couple of other practices before buying one to give her a chance to develop her preferences for running a practice herself. “Owning your practice is very rewarding, definitely worth it, and totally doable,” she says.
Three Honorary Degrees Awarded
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The college will bestow an honorary degree on U.S. Senator John Boozman, OD ’78, and two other notable individuals at its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 9, 2014. A 2013 SCO Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Senator Boozman was elected to the U.S. Senate following five terms of service in the U.S. House of Representatives. Following his graduation from SCO, he entered private practice and co-founded a successful practice in northwest Arkansas. In addition to receiving SCO’s honorary Doctor of Ocular Science degree, Senator Boozman will also deliver SCO’s commencement address. Also receiving the honorary Doctor of Ocular Science degree is Dori Carlson, OD, the first female president of the AOA. A 1989 graduate of Pacific University College of Optometry, she served as the first female president of the North Dakota Optometric Association. Receiving the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree will be Ralph Stone, PhD, a globally recognized expert in optometry research and development at Alcon Laboratories and an earlier career at Bausch & Lomb. His notable achievements include development of the I-IV hydrogel contact lens classification system and the ReNu, OPTI-Free Express and OPTI-Free Replenish contact lens disinfecting solutions. SCO’s commencement ceremony will be held at 1 pm at the Cannon Center for Performing Arts, with a reception immediately to follow.
Four new members were recently elected to SCO’s Board of Trustees. Steve Compton, OD ’78, founded P Compton & Compton Eye Care, PLLC, after U S FOCUS graduating from SCO. A member of the AOA and the Kentucky Optometric Association, he is a Trustee Emeritus for the KOA and served as the organization’s President in 2007-08. Dr. Compton received the KOA’s President’s Award in 2008 and was named a Melvin Jones Fellow by the Lions Club International in 2000. Henry V. Lindeman II, CPA, is the founder and board chair of School Advocates for Vision & Education (SAVE) in Memphis. Since its founding in 2007, SAVE has actively assisted in identifying and treating vision disorders in thousands of school-aged children in Memphis. A graduate of Rhodes College, Lindeman also serves as vice president of Collier Insurance in Memphis.
New Board Members Elected Dr. Compton
Mr. Lindeman
Dr. Tucker
Dr. Wroten
Terry L. Tucker, OD ’84, has operated a solo practice in North Fort Myers, Florida since 1997. He served five years on the faculty of Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in addition to his private practice and consulting work. Dr. Tucker is an active member of SECO, the AOA and the American Academy of Optometry. He also has served as president of the Florida Optometric Association. Chris Wroten, OD ’02, is serving as SCO’s Alumni Council representative to the Board. In 2011, he received SCO’s Young Alumni Award, and was named Louisiana’s and AOA’s Young Optometrist of the Year in 2011. A graduate of Louisiana State University, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from SCO in 2002 before completing a residency at the Memphis VAMC. He later joined the Bond-Wroten Eye Clinics as a partner. Dr. Wroten also serves as Chief Operating Officer of the practice. He has served two terms as president of the Optometry Association of Louisiana and as an adjunct professor at SCO and UAB.
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1962 Robert Mackey,
OD, recently retired from his practice in Corbin, Kentucky. A former president of the Kentucky Optometric Association and Kentucky Board of Optometric Examiners, he plans to travel and garden with his wife.
1964 Joseph Myers,
OD, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the West Virginia Association of Optometric Physicians at the WVAOP’s fall meeting. William L. Ratcliff, OD ’79, was named OD of the Year, and David Laughlin, OD ’76, was recognized by the West Virginia Board of Optometry.
1966 Garey Ware, OD,
recently celebrated 40 years of practice in Bastrop, LA.
Ray D. Williams, OD, writes
that he began his Americus, GA practice after two years as an Army OD and another year as an associate in Augusta. His practice, now called Regional Eyecenter, over time has brought in three ODs, an OD associate and an ophthalmologist partner at two satellite locations.
1967 Joe B. Rupe, OD,
reports that he is retiring and plans to pursue his ranching and golfing activities, along with spending more time with his grandchildren.
1968 Michael Manzo, OD,
recently retired after more than 40 years of practice in WV.
Richard Powell, OD, has
adopted a new name for his
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practice, Eyes On Lincoln. He founded the practice in Nebraska more than 30 years ago.
1969
Alva Pack, OD, recently received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina. He went back to school following his retirement a few years ago.
1977 Max Venard, OD,
was recently elected to a school board seat in the Norman, OK area.
1978 SCO President
Richard W. Phillips, OD,
was named a finalist for the Memphis Business Quarterly’s CEO of the Year Award. Dr. Phillips was also named to the Board of Trustees at Milligan College, his undergraduate alma mater.
1979 Jerry
Prchal, OD, was
reappointed to the Georgia State Board of Optometry.
1980
Gilan Cockrell, OD, has joined the Williams Group as executive vice president of corporate strategy.
1982 Mike Jamison, OD,
has sold his practice of 31 years in Charlotte, NC.
1983 Jody Whisenant,
OD, has been reappointed to the Georgia State Board of Optometry.
1984 Lisa Rossmeyer Wade, OD, has sold her
successful Harley Davidson dealership to the founder of GoDaddy.
1985
Kendall Krug, OD, recently received the Vision Service Award from the Kansas State School for the Blind. Dr.
Krug played a major leadership role in the development of the KanLovKids program which has served nearly 900 Kansas children with low vision services since 2006.
1986
Joe Ellis, OD, was recognized as OD of the Year at SECO. Jim Herman, OD, was installed as SECO President at the annual meeting in March. Darby Chiasson, OD ’99, was recognized as Immediate Past President.
1992 Mike Weeden, OD,
was named OD of the Year by the Mississippi Optometric Association. He practices in Corinth, MS.
1995 Lee Faulkner,
OD, pictured, recently won the silver medal in the Mens 45-49-year-old decathlon, an Olympic-type track and field event at the World Masters Athletics World Championships in Brazil. Dr. Faulkner has won gold or silver at the USA national championships in the decathlon over the past several years.
1996
Elizabeth McClain, OD, married Joseph William Johnson, Jr., on November 16 in Memphis. She practices at Dr. Mark Lynn and Associates in Collierville. Her husband is President and CEO of Johnson Orthopedic Equipment, a company he founded in 1999.
1998 Derek Melton, OD,
was promoted to the rank of Major in the Air National Guard and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for a humanitarian deployment
to assist with Innovative Readiness Training programs for the Army, Air Force and Navy. In our previous issue of VISIONS, this information was inadvertently misattributed to his wife, Kayla Melton, OD ’01.
2001 Mike Sunman,
OD, received the 2014 Armed Forces Optometric Society (AFOS) Navy Optometrist of the Year Award during SECO in Atlanta. Jeff Newsom, OD ’05, was named Air Force Junior Optometrist of the Year. Emily Sprague, OD ’04, received the Navy Junior Optometrist of the Year Award. She is pictured at right with Carla Engelke, OD ’05, who is Chair of the AFOS Awards Committee.
2004 Ashley Cohorn Baker, OD, and her husband, Philip, welcomed their third child, a daughter, Ellie, born on January 20. She joins older siblings Ensley and Jackson.
2006 Greg Loose, OD, was named Young OD of the Year by the Mississippi Optometric Association. He practices in Wiggins, MS.
2009 Chelsey Clemans,
OD, and her husband, Adam, welcomed a daughter, Clare Adalynn, who was born on December 24, 2013. She joins big brother, A.J.
2010 Lauren Goldsmith,
OD, recently joined Carolina Eye Care and will practice at locations in Lincolnton and Denver, NC.
Gary Granger, OD, recently
opened his own practice in Louisiana, Granger Eye Studio.
Remembering Al Fors, OD ’69
2011 Danielle Davis Seddio, OD, and her husband,
Stephen, welcomed a daughter, Emilia Grace, on January 14.
2012
Dustin Dixon, OD, was recently interviewed on a TV segment in Florida about eyecare.
2013
Allison Lyerly, OD, has joined Carolina Center for Eye Care in North Carolina. The practice is owned by Ellyn Johnson, OD ’00, and Chris Owens, OD ’01. Melissa Vanzin, OD, wed Thomas Diamond on June 13, 2013 in Washington.
Correction:
In our previous Annual Report edition of VISIONS, John M. Simmons, OD ’96, was erroneously omitted from the list of $5,000 donors to the “Envision Our Progress” campaign. SCO appreciates the generosity of Dr. Simmons and regrets the error.
INMEMORIAL Eugene Vorhes, OD ’43 Arthur H. Spitz, OD ’47 J.C. Morrison, OD ’48 James O. Bryant, OD ’49 John L. O’Leary, OD ’49 P.W. Reed, OD ’49 Gene Hall, OD ’50 Farris M. Smith, OD ’50 Jim G. Taylor, OD ’53 Dudley C. Beaty, Jr., OD ’54 Joseph Belgard, OD ’54 Leon A. Johnson, OD ’55 Marvin Wollen, OD ’56 Luarent G. Cowling, OD ’64 Ronald T. Jabaley, OD ’66 Howard Mathis, OD ’68 Norman Dery, OD ’69
David Friedman, OD ’73;
former SCO faculty member
Paul E. Monroe, Jr., OD ’73 Whit Lord, OD ’76 Warren Eisenstein, OD ’79 Jeffrey Fielding, OD ’80 Laura J. Layton, OD ’97
SCO Professor Emeritus L. Allen Fors, OD ’69, MEd, died February 2. One of our longestserving faculty members, he taught from 1969 through 2011. Dr. Fors devoted his career to teaching, working with children, and to helping bring sight to the disadvantaged around the globe. After his graduation from SCO, he received the E.B. Alexander Fellowship to The Gesell Institute of Child Development in 1970 and 1971. Dr. Fors later received his master’s degree in education from Memphis State, where his emphasis focused on learning disabilities in children. In 1989, he became a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development. Dr. Fors was a charter member of the MidCity Lions Club and served on the Board for the West Tennessee Lions Clubs Foundation. He notably served as the long-time faculty advisor to Student Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity (SVOSH) at SCO since its inception in 1975. Under his leadership, SVOSH made scores of trips to foreign countries, performed more than 250,000 examinations and prescribed approximately more than 200,000 pairs of glasses, services valued conservatively at more than $16 million. He was a multiple recipient of the annual SVOSH Humanitarian Award. In 2003, Dr. Fors was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from SCO. Following his retirement in 2011, Dr. Fors was named a Professor Emeritus. His family requested that memorials be made to one of two SCO funds: the SVOSH Endowment Fund or the Glen T. Steele, OD and L. Allen Fors, OD, Developmental Vision Endowment Fund. Contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at (800) 238-0180, ext. 4, or make a gift online at SCO’s website.
SVOSH Honors Dr. Fors Successful fundraising over the last several years by SVOSH has enabled the student organization to increase the amount of money in the Dr. L. Allen Fors SVOSH Endowment Fund, bringing it to term. SVOSH established the fund in 2009 in honor of its long-time Faculty Advisor to honor Dr. Fors’ contributions and to help offset travel costs for the student organization’s growing membership, said SVOSH President Alanna Khattar, ’15. SCO President Richard W. Phillips, OD ’78, is pictured ac“It is hoped that SVOSH continues to grow cepting a $30,830 check from SVOSH members. each year, allowing SCO students to provide as much vision care and to touch as many lives as possible. The hard work and dedication of SVOSH members past and present is why SVOSH was able to provide this gift, which will in turn continue to help SVOSH grow in the future.” “As a non-profit organization, the endowment fund is a way to provide security for the future of SVOSH,” Khattar said. “Each year SVOSH will receive a percentage of the amount in the endowment fund to put towards travel costs and new portable equipment that will help us provide the best vision care possible on our trips.” To make a tax-deductible donation, a check can be written to SCO, with “Dr. L. Allen Fors Endowment Fund” written in the memo. Donations can also be made online; instructions are available at svoshsco.org. If you would like to make a donation to an individual SVOSH member, a check may be written to SVOSH at SCO with the member’s name in the memo.
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Faculty News Marie Bodack, OD, Michael Dorkowski, OD ’04, Scott Ensor, OD ’01, Dan Fuller, OD, Paul Harris, OD, Whitney Hauser, OD ’01, Taylor Kiser, OD ’12, Reena Lepine, OD ’11, Jennifer Snyder, OD ’12, Marc Taub, OD, MS, and Patricia Estes Walker, OD, were among the faculty who lectured at this year’s Spring Continuing Education Weekend at SCO.
Freddy Chang, OD, PhD, and John Sharpe, OD
SCO recently was selected as one of the Top Workplaces in Memphis by the Commercial Appeal. Top Workplaces awards are determined based solely on employee feedback. SCO also was recognized for the greatest employee satisfaction with benefits among all the organizations surveyed in Memphis. “This is a great testament to the quality of our benefits program and the pride that our employees take in SCO and our mission,” said SCO President Dr. Richard W. Phillips, OD ’78.
’83, lectured earlier this month at the Southern Indiana Pharmacology Seminars in Evansville, Indiana. Dr. Sharpe lectured on “Diagnosis and Management of Posterior Segment Diseases Utilizing the OCT,” and Dr. Chang lectured on “The Pharmacology of Anti Fungal Agents.” Scott Ensor, OD ’01, published an article entitled, “Don’t Avoid Steroid Use” in the November 2013 issue of Review of Optometry.
Dan Fuller, OD, pictured, recently received his Fellowship in the Scleral Lens Educators Society from President Bruce Baldwin, OD, PhD. He and Bill Edmondson, OD, were joined by several SCO students in presenting a poster during the Global Specialty Lens Symposium in Las Vegas, where Dr. Fuller also participated in a panel discussion during the Bausch & Lomb Educators Meeting.
sons Learned from FDA-Sponsored Research” with Crystal Brimer, OD ’00, in Review of Cornea and Contact Lenses. He also authored “IOP as a cornerstone to glaucoma management” in the January 2, 2014 issue of Optometry Times. He was also appointed Vice-Chair of the American Academy of Optometry Admittance Committee, Region 6.
Jared Powelson, OD ’96, recently was joined by Bill Edmondson, OD, Patricia Estes Walker, OD, Michael Gerstner, OD ’97, and Esla Subashi Speth, OD ’10, in hosting the Saturday Memphis Laser Workshop for SCO’s third-year interns. They were joined by a number of representatives from TLC Laser Eye Centers at the event. Dr. Powelson was also quoted in a recent Primary Care Optometry News story about ophthalmic lasers.
Glen Steele, OD ’69, recently presented in San Antonio at the Zero to Three Conference, a multi-disciplinary organization dealing with the needs of the child from birth to age three. He also lectured at SECO on “Does My Patient Need Vision Therapy? Questions to Ask. Tests to Do.” He serves on the SECO CE Committee. Dr. Steele was also named a finalist for the Volunteer Mid-South’s “Spirit of Giving Award” and the recipient of the Public Health Association’s West Tennessee Visionary Award in recognition of his work with pediatric vision.
Daniel Taylor, OD ’06, was awarded a Vistakon Innovation in Education Grant of $3,980 from the American Optometric Foundation.
James Venable, OD ’89, published an article on
Paul Harris, OD, was recently elected to Distinguished Fellowship in the National Academies of Practice and the Optometry Academy as a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow. M&S Technologies, meanwhile, is expanding its Smart System with the addition of the Harris Contrast Sensitivity and Visual Acuity Test that bears his name.
John Mark Jackson, OD ’99, MS, published two articles in the February issue of Contact Lens Spectrum, one on toric fits and another coauthored with SCO resident, Dr. Nancy Chan, on increasing success with GP lenses.
Alan Kabat, OD, authored an article entitled “Pathology in Perspective: Know the Limits of Clinical Evaluation,” for the January 2014 issue of Review of Optometry.
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Chris Lievens, OD, published an article entitled “Les-
incorporating informatics in curriculum in the Winter/Spring 2014 edition Optometric Education, the online Journal of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry.
Welcome New Faculty Chris Borgman, OD, is a 2010 graduate of the Illinois College of Optometry. He completed a Primary Care/Ocular Disease Residency and practiced at an optometry/ophthalmology practice in Des Moines. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and has published and presented at SECO.
News Briefs iPhone, a mirror and a lens to look inside his dilated eye. Enrique’s video has been seen by more than 200,000 viewers on Facebook alone as optometrists across the country shared it to demonstrate to their patients what ODs see when looking in side an eye. Visit SCO’s Facebook page to see these and other posts of interest to our alumni.
SCO Receives Gift from Haag-Streit USA Lights, Camera, SCO! In an era of videos going “viral,” meaning super popular in a short amount of time, SCO recently saw its new recruiting video seen by a large audience. Within a week of its debut in January, more than 60,000 viewers had watched the nine-minute video. Featuring interviews with a number of Student Ambassadors, the video showcases the college’s new academic complex and state-of-the-art clinical facilities, as well as demonstrating how SCO attracts the best and brightest students in the nation. The video was shared by several hundred alumni via social media. VisionMonday also featured the video in an online post about its success. Visit SCO’s website or YouTube page to watch the full video or use the QR code printed here to watch it via your smartphone.
The video proved so popular thanks to alumni and students sharing it that SCO’s Facebook followers grew by the hundreds. Another popular video followed, this one created by an enterprising second-year student, Enrique Palacios, who used his
SCO has received a $50,000 gift from Haag-Streit USA. Haag-Streit, a leading provider of ophthalmic equipment for the last 150 years, provided the donation to support SCO’s “Envision Our Progress” campaign, which was launched in 2012 to support the college’s recently completed academic facility, student scholarships and patient care initiatives. This gift is earmarked to support SCO’s newly constructed clinical research facility. “SCO appreciates the generosity and support shown by Haag-Streit during this critical phase of our campaign,” said Kristin Anderson, OD, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at SCO. “Clinical research is an important part of optometric education, and we’re confident that this gift will enhance the stature of our research, while simultaneously increasing patient care opportunities.” SCO will recognize Haag-Streit’s gift by naming a clinical research suite in the new area after the company. Additionally, Haag-Streit will provide nearly a dozen pieces of examination equipment that will be used in the suite, including two Haag-Streit IM900 digital video packages. The in-kind donations bring the total value of the company’s support to more than $125,000. “We are pleased to support and participate as partners with SCO for the benefit and future of eye care,” said Steve Juenger, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Haag-Streit USA.
Hayes Center Update The Hayes Center for Practice Excellence at SCO is served by an Advisory Board of alumni and ODs who provide their input into practice management and other services offered to students and alumni of SCO. The Advisory Board recently met on campus with Hayes Center founder, Jerry Hayes, OD ’73. The Advisory Board heard from President Phillips, who provided an overview of the state of optometric education, including increasing competition from new schools being currently proposed. Dr. Phillips also discussed how the Hayes Center will be included as SCO develops an enhanced strategic plan for the next five years, one that looks at where the institution plans to be by the year 2020. Advisory Board members also heard results of an alumni survey of recent graduates who left SCO with a positive impression of the college and how well their alma mater prepared them for the realities of post-graduation practice. There’s been an upswing in involvement and participation with SCO’s Career Counseling and Placement Services, areas that will continue to receive greater emphasis through program development by the Hayes Center. On a related note, Director Jerry Eisenstatt, OD ’84, will be leaving SCO’s faculty at the end of the semester to devote full time to his private practice. Glen Goldring, OD ’78, has been named Interim Director of the Hayes Center.
Hayes Center Advisory Board member Mark Kapperman, OD ’87, spoke to SCO’s Practice Management Class during his recent visit to campus.
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