Tag: Career

NewOptometrist.ca puts the spotlight on Zero to Five Pathfinders

By Jaclyn Chang, OD

Dr. Yehia Jadayel talks about his journey to becoming an optometrist, his current work situation, and a bit about himself!

Jaclyn: Can you tell our audience about your background and why you went into optometry?

Yehia: In high school, I thought about going into engineering but my family’s full of engineers, so I wanted to try something different. Since I was pretty good at science, I looked at going into the healthcare field.

I went to the University of Ottawa for Biomedical Sciences. I didn’t know I wanted to be an optometrist until my second or third year of university, because I was originally interested in med school and was just looking at my options in general. I also looked into other healthcare professions, but there wasn’t anything else that really excited me.

Optometry is cool because it combines physics (optics) with healthcare and there’s also a business aspect. I talked with a few people, did some research, and decided to apply for optometry school. It was kind of late into my third year and there was a deadline to apply.

Reading week was coming up and I planned on finding an optometrist to shadow during that week. Then, I ended up getting really sick and wasn’t able to shadow anyone.

While I was back in school after reading week, I must have gone to so many different clinics. Some of them agreed to let me shadow and then cancelled the day of. I was turned down so many times and I was running out of time. I really needed a letter of recommendation as well.

My grandfather’s optometrist, Dr. Fred Campbell, gave me my last chance. I showed up at his office really late at night. It was still open and I told him I was an undergraduate student looking to apply for optometry and really needed to shadow. He agreed instantly and even let me pick the date to come in.

Dr. Campbell helped me out a lot and made things easy for me. I think it’s funny how that worked out because if it wasn’t for that, I would have run out of time. I applied to Waterloo Optometry, and I got in.

I’m glad it worked out because being an optometrist is a great job and I enjoy it. I’m very patient care-centered, so I like doing my very best for patients.

Jaclyn: I know that you worked in New Brunswick right after graduation and recently moved back to Ottawa. How did the job search in Ottawa go?

Yehia: There were a lot of positions available. I interviewed at four locations really quickly. I had already been talking to a few locations when I was in New Brunswick, getting ready to come back to Ontario. When I got back to Ottawa, I sent my job application to a few more clinics and they got back to me quickly as well.

I talked to and saw a few locations. I was mostly offered fill‑in days. There was only one location that wanted full-time and it was still between two opticals. The interviews went well – I think as an optometrist you’re interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you.

When I was looking for a job, I didn’t have anything particular in mind, so I was able to keep my options open and see what private practice vs. opticals had to offer. For that reason, it was relatively easy and people were eager to fill their days.

Jaclyn: Where are you working now and how are you liking it?

Yehia: I’m working in two locations right now. They’re both opticals and there’s a few differences compared to when I was working in the full scope practice in New Brunswick, but I’m enjoying it.

I knew if I worked in an optical, I’d potentially have less equipment. I’m missing Optomaps and OCT, so there isn’t as much testing and analysis. The patients here in Ottawa are also a bit healthier on average; there was an older demographic where I worked in New Brunswick.

Jaclyn: Let’s talk a little bit more about you. What do you do in your free time?

Yehia: Well, that’s changed a lot during COVID. I like hanging out with family and playing video games or outside.

There was a lot of good fishing where I was in New Brunswick. I used to love fishing all the time. Sometimes the doctors would also take me out snowmobiling with them, so that was a lot of fun.

Jaclyn: What’s your favorite movie?

Yehia: Independence Day is one of my favorite movies. And the Batman movies, the recent ones with Christian Bale. I also really like documentaries.

Jaclyn: What’s your favorite food?

Yehia: Miramichi was the small town I worked in in New Brunswick, so we didn’t have a huge variety of cuisine – it was a lot of pizza, burgers, and hotdogs. Whenever I went back to Ottawa, I needed to go to three places: a shawarma place, a sushi place and Popeye’s Fried Chicken. Those are my favorite. Plus, mom’s cooking right now.

Jaclyn: When was the last time you laughed?

Yehia: [Laughter] Right now. Talking to you.

Jaclyn: What would you do if you won ten million dollars?

Yehia: I’d buy a really nice house. I’d buy my mom something really nice. Then I’d save or invest the rest and think about what I want as I get older.

Jaclyn: If you had a time machine, what year would you travel to and why?

Yehia: I love history. I want to go back to multiple periods in time and see how things were back
in the day. There’s only so much you can learn from documentaries and reading about
history, so it would be amazing to actually be there.

If I could travel forward in time, I would like to see how far technology is going to take us in the future.

Jaclyn: Thanks so much for your time Yehia – it was great to learn more about you!

NewOptometrist.ca puts the spotlight on Zero to Five Pathfinders

PathFinder Spotlight:

Jocelyn Leung

Optometry:
University of Waterloo, 2019 Graduating Class

By Jaclyn Chang, OD

Jaclyn:  Tell us about your education and internship experiences.

Jocelyn:  I graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2019, and I currently live and practice in Toronto, which is also where I grew up. I was fortunate enough to have a quite diverse experience during my internships, and that gave me a different perspective on optometry. These included a single doctor private clinic, a multi-doctor private clinic, and a clinic that specialized in dry eye therapy, glaucoma co-management, and myopia control.

Jaclyn:  Is there an area of optometry that you’re particularly interested in right now?

Jocelyn:  I really like dry eye therapy. It’s a growing field in research and new treatment options, which changes the way that we manage our patients. Dry eye is very, very common nowadays with device usage and screen time, and the treatment is personalized for each patient. This gives us the opportunity to talk to our patients and help them figure out the status of their eye health and best treatment. I am also interested in aesthetic optometry, such as IPL and RF therapy, which pairs up nicely with dry eye.

Myopia control is another area of interest of mine as myopia becomes more prevalent globally. The treatment options are soft contact lenses, ortho-K, atropine, and specialty spectacle lenses. This area of optometry, like dry eye, also involves a personalized plan for the patient and is one of the reasons I’m drawn to it as a specialty.

Jaclyn:  How was your start in optometry – can we talk about your first day of work?

Jocelyn:  My first day of work was in September in 2019, and the first day is definitely nerve wracking because it’s your first day seeing real patients on your own. You have a responsibility to give them the best vision you can, and it’s also a new setting.

To mitigate that stress in the beginning, I would recommend going into the office ahead of time before you see patients, whether it’s a few hours or a day before. Learn the EMR, equipment, fees, the staff’s names and roles they play in the office. If the office is dispensing, learn the type of frame lines that you carry and the lenses you offer so you can have that conversation with your patients. For referrals, ask the other associates and the owner of the practice who they typically refer to for cataract surgery, or even other specialties like vision therapy within optometry. Familiarizing yourself with the names of other healthcare professionals in the area, such as pharmacists and family doctors, is very helpful.

There’s also no need to jam-pack your schedule the first day. Take your time with the patients and make sure that everything in terms of procedure is seamless, because you don’t want show that it’s your first day at work to the patient.

Lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself – you’ve been trained for this. Do your best and enjoy that you’ve picked a great profession and are just at the start of an amazing career.

Jaclyn:  I can definitely relate to that first day feeling! Of course, a lot has changed since then. How have or will things change with COVID?

Jocelyn:  With COVID, people are more conservative about traveling and going to do things in person. Since people are staying at home more, convenience is a big thing for everybody. We have one day Amazon shipping, and everything is at our fingertips through apps and the internet.

Utilizing technology is so important post-COVID. Having an online store for contact lenses, drops, even sunglasses is becoming an essential. Communicating via email or text also helps with patient convenience and ensures patients aren’t feeling that they’re forgotten after COVID.

Tele-health was big during the first lockdown. Tele-health can be a great platform to discuss care – to discuss testing or visual field results instead of having the patient come in. However, there are also times you would want to see the physical eye to make a diagnosis.

Jaclyn:  Let’s switch a little bit from optometry and talk more about you! What do you do in your spare time? What are your hobbies?

Jocelyn:  Pre-COVID, I loved working out in the gym. I love weight training and powerlifting. Now I have a makeshift garage gym with some weights, but it’s not the same feeling. I do look forward to going back to the gym because it did help to de-stress and help me feel a bit more accomplished throughout the day.

I love travel – I already have a list as to where I want to go next. I want to go to Japan again. And I’m a big Disney fan, so I definitely want to go to Disney World.

Jaclyn:  What’s your favorite food?

Jocelyn:  Sushi! Good sushi with good quality fish is something that I really love and associate with good memories. Back in university, I used to go for sushi with my friends, and it was always a good time.

Jaclyn:  What’s your favorite TV show?

Jocelyn:  I love reality TV dating shows, but I also like intense storylines such as Game of Thrones, or any sort of action lines. I love Food Network shows that include traveling and eating different foods or cooking challenges.

Jaclyn:  Great to learn more about you! Thanks so much for taking the time to have this discussion with me.

NewOptometrist.ca puts the spotlight on Zero to Five Pathfinders

PathFinder Spotlight:

Brian Yeung

Optometry:  Illinois College of Optometry (2013 – 2017) 

Undergraduate: Ryerson University: B. Sc.  – Biology (2008 – 2012)

Dr. Yeung is currently practicing in Ontario.

By Jaclyn Chang, OD

Before I completed my optometry degree at the University of Waterloo, I spent one year at the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) in Chicago. My next-door neighbor at the ICO residence was Brian Yeung. We’ve managed to keep in touch over the years and recently we had the chance to catch up. The following is the conversation we had:

Jaclyn:  Tell our audience about your background. Where did you go to undergrad? How did you get into optometry?

Brian:  I went to Ryerson for Biology, and I went through undergrad not knowing what I wanted to do.

I knew being in science, I would have to either go into some sort of medical profession or research. I realized very late in my last semester of fourth year that I didn’t like the research side of things – laboratories, testing, etc., so I decided to go the medical route. I then volunteered in various medical settings to help me figure out what I wanted to do.

I worked at my aunt’s pharmacy and volunteered with an optometrist. That’s when I realized that optometry could be a lifestyle for me. I liked that it was a nine to five occupation and I really enjoyed seeing how personable the optometrist was when dealing with patients.

Over the next year while I was doing the prerequisite courses for optometry school, I had paid work at the office where I had volunteered, dispensing and doing front desk work. I worked with the staff and met patients, and everyone was always so happy to be there.

Jaclyn:  How do you think that year that you had off translates to how you practice today?

Brian:  I’m an introvert but working at the front desk during that year pushed me to be more social and get out of my comfort zone. On the fly, I learned how to socially interact with people and make them feel comfortable because they’re there to get help from us. In a medical profession, interactions and the comfort levels of the doctor-patient relationship are so important.

I was also able to get a look at how the other side of the practice works as well, the admin stuff. I did OHIP remittance, sent error reports back, booked appointments, and answered phones. That taught me to appreciate what the front desk staff has to go through every day. I understand how frustrating it can be sometimes. Being a doctor now, I don’t feel that disconnect; I don’t want the staff to feel like there’s that disconnect.

Jaclyn:  What’s your favorite specialty within optometry?

Brian:  I’m the doctor that likes the social aspect of practicing. There’s maybe not a particular specialty that I’m really invested in at the moment, but if the situation calls for it, I’ll do what the patient needs.

When I first came out of school, I really enjoyed glaucoma, but there were some limitations with where I was working not having the technology available. Now, where I work in Oshawa, we do have a Humphrey field, OCT, and Optomap.

In Oshawa, we also have meibography and recently got a TempSure machine. It’s nice to be part of an office that has the ability to treat these things. Even if I’m not the one to do the treatments, I like being part of a network that allows me to refer to my colleagues.

I have a very personal relationship with dry eyes. At ICO, they did the full workup on me and found out I had pretty bad dry eyes. I even had Demodex at one point. They treated me for it; eventually they put me on Restasis and then Xiidra, when it came out. I did have the taste side effect from Xiidra so I ended up staying on Restasis for a year and realized I wasn’t needing artificial tears as much.  I went from six times a day to two.

Dry eye is a great specialty to be involved in within optometry because it affects a majority of people and it’s something we can treat. It’s definitely an area I can get more into in the future.

Jaclyn:  Do you have any advice from your work experience over these past couple of years that you can share with new optometrists?

Brian:  I’ve heard this and it’s the same thing I would tell others: Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t have all the answers. Patients come to you looking for advice and solutions, but at the same time, if you don’t know the solutions, don’t lie to them. Don’t hesitate to bring the patient back for a follow up, because it shows the patient that you care and you’re doing what you can to figure out the problem with them. Patients appreciate you more for your honesty.

I also wouldn’t necessarily worry about cost to the patient – if they have to come back and pay for a partial or a test, you’re doing what’s best for them. You’ve worked hard to earn your title as a doctor and patients come to you for a reason.

Also, make sure you always keep a good network of people around you to help you out. Don’t think that you’re the hero and know everything, as I said. If you have a good network of friends, optometrists, and online resources, make use of them.

Another piece of advice is to just be personable with your patients. Take the extra two minutes to talk to your patients. It’s not just, ‘Here’s the problem. Here’s the answer. Goodbye.’ Taking that one extra minute to even tell a joke and relax makes all the difference.

Jaclyn:  Can you tell our audience a little bit more about yourself? What’s your favorite food?

Brian:  Steak and potatoes, mostly steak, fried chicken too. It’s pretty much just any meat.

Jaclyn:  What are your hobbies? What do you do outside of optometry?

Brian:  I love cooking; you can see that on my Instagram. I love anything to do with food. You have to eat anyways, why not put some good stuff in you? I love the creative aspect of cooking. It’s very therapeutic. That’s my version of therapy. Cooking and eating brings me to my happy place.

I also play a lot of sports, and I’ve been working out a lot more when I’m at home, since I can’t go anywhere. I bought a kettlebell and that’s the best investment I’ve made.

Jaclyn:  What’s your favorite sport to watch?

Brian:  These days, the Leafs hockey because we’re doing well. A couple of years ago it was the Raptors because we won. All my life, first things first is baseball. I play baseball too.

Jaclyn:  What’s your favorite movie or a TV show, or both?

Brian:  I’d say Inception, but there’s too many others as well. I don’t have a favorite TV show, but I would say the Sherlock series is one of the better ones.

Jaclyn:  What’s your favorite place that you’ve traveled to? Or where would you want to travel to, when we can again?

Brian:  Southeast Asia – I definitely want to go. I’ve never been, but I want to go there because I know your money goes really far and there’s so much good food. I’m not allergic to anything. I love spicy foods, so I’m down to eat anything and everything there.

Jaclyn:  Thanks so much Brian! It was really to catch up and I really appreciate your time. I’m glad that after one year of school together we’re still friends, especially because we have so many similarities in the way we like to practice.