OUR MANY PARTS

From As You Like It:
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.”

Earlier this month, I attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. (Fellows Linda Casser and Lynn Cyert are also OSF aficionados.) It’s true repertory theater across temporal domains both short- and long-term. It means that actors who join the Festival in minor roles move on to leads, then character roles, and, sometimes, leadership roles, as dictated by their talents, age, and experience. The water jug carrier in Julius Caesar becomes Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream becomes King Lear. A single actor might play Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird one afternoon and Falstaff in the evening.

We all play many roles in our lives, too, no less so in the American Academy of Optometry. Our personal and professional roles evolve from new optometrist employed in a practice to “the new doctor who just bought into the practice” to the senior partner. We are professors teaching in classrooms and clinic in the morning, Kiwanis members at lunchtime, and mother/daughter/sister/friend after work. In the Academy, we begin as Fellow, then perhaps join the Admittance Committee or Research Committee, become a Diplomate in our chosen area of emphasis, chair a Committee, and then suddenly find ourselves on the Board of Directors. Academics start as Assistant Professors and move on to tenure and, eventually, elder states(wo)man status. Our Academy meetings become “my ‘Fellow’ meeting,” “The one where I became a _______ committee member,” “that’s where I finished my Diplomate in _________” or “the one after my first daughter was born.”

Join me in our Academy Festival. Move off your current plateau, and figure out your next aspirational role. If you are a Candidate, move your Fellowship application forward by finishing up that case report. If you are a Fellow, choose the Section and Diplomate Program to which you aspire, and get going! If you want to volunteer for the Academy, let me know. Write a paper for Optometry and Vision Science. Alert OVS editor Tony Adams to your expertise that might serve the journal as a reviewer. Donate to the American Optometric Foundation. With rare exception, there is no casting director governing how many roles or which roles you can play in a lifetime in our American Academy of Optometry, and there are many, many roles that will enrich your life.
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PRIDE IN THE NAME OF...OPTOMETRY

I am writing this as I sit in the Denver airport on my way home from the AOA meeting in Salt Lake City. The meeting felt historic, memorable, and tear-inducing, as Dori Carlson, OD, FAAO became the first woman to become president of the AOA. She gave the Academy an enthusiastic shout out in her first speech as President as she described the representation of women leaders in optometry in 2011, including Tone Garaas-Maurdalen, FAAO, president of the World Council of Optometry; Kirsten North, OD, president of the Canadian Association of Optometrists; and concluding with, as Dori put it, “my friend, Dr. Karla Zadnik, president of the American Academy of Optometry.” I was there because I was proud of her; she seemed proud of me.

I found other evidence of pride about Academy fellowship in connection with the AOA. The majority of the AOA 2011-12 Board of Trustees are Fellows of our Academy. President-Elect Ron Hopping, OD, MPH, FAAO, is a Fellow and Diplomate in the Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses, and Refractive Technologies. An erudite presentation on third party payment was given by Drs. Stephen Montaquila and Bobby Jarrell in the AOA House of Delegates, with their FAAO designations proudly displayed on their talk’s title slide for all to see. LaMar Zigler, OD, MS, FAAO, who I just ran into at the gate in Denver became the 2011-12 Chair of the AOA’s Contact Lens & Cornea Section. In the final session of the House of Delegates, “Good and Welfare” items included descriptions of both the AOA meeting in Chicago in 2012 and the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Academy in Boston.

Then, this morning at 5:30 am in the Salt Lake City airport, I overheard an optometrist I didn’t know describing his practice setting to another optometrist. He was praising the abilities of his two junior partners and, in giving a shorthand version of their resumes, declared, “You know, residency-trained, top of their class, Academy, best of the best. . .”

We are like the pride of lions in The Lion King. We may sometimes have interests that seem to be at odds or competitive in nature, but we are ultimately all engaged for the common good of the optometric profession. It was evident in Salt Lake City and will be equally evident in Boston in October that we are all much, much more similar than different. What is that common ground? Whether Academy Fellow, Academy Diplomate, or a doctor aspiring to those achievements as soon as he or she finds the time to pursue them, we are all proud to be optometrists.
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LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: REGISTRATION, REGISTRATION, REGISTRATION!

Imagine you're a professor at an optometry school. You enter your classroom with a bundle of midterm examinations in your hand, running a little late because you've been having a spirited scientific discussion with a former student. As you enter the room less than five minutes before the start of the midterm, you hear the sound of a few pairs of hands clapping. Soon, the entire room applauds, and the sound of that applause builds to a crescendo before stopping. You can hardly fathom what's happening. Are these students so appreciative of your teaching skill that they applaud BEFORE an exam? Are they being sarcastic because you're running so late? Do they applaud routinely for any little thing?

No, as with many things, it turns out to be about location, location, location. Their class was rescheduled to a nicer classroom, and they think you're responsible, even though it was a central administrative decision, hence your raucous accolades.

The Academy meeting benefits from location, too. Because the Academy meeting moves around, it’s not like Groundhog Day. It means that I remember that I became a Fellow in St. Louis and that the Steve Grant, Glenda Secor, Joe Shovlin, Joe Barr, and Jeff Dougal crowd became Diplomates in Denver. A memorable Academy meeting can be inextricably associated with its location.

Our record-breaking meeting attendance in San Francisco in 2010 is attributable in no small part to that magical city. Well, there’s more magic on the way! This year, the meeting is in one of the most vibrant of American cities: Boston. Earlier this week, AOA Board member and Academy Fellow, Mitch Munson, (and, it turns out, past Neumueller awardee!) sighed, “Boston is my favorite city.” It's got history, food, walkability, sightseeing, lovely autumn weather ... all components worthy of a long, loud round of applause.

But it's also got content. If you are considering sitting for a Board Certification examination anytime soon, check out the schedule for Academy 2011 Boston. All the categories outlined by the American Board of Optometry are represented in the Boston scientific papers, Section symposia, lectures, and workshops, several times over. It’s a four-day comprehensive review course in a beautiful city, and it happens every autumn! Who knew? You all do.

So, you’ve heard me. Fabulous location, great science, comprehensive education, and unparalleled camaraderie with your favorite optometrists and vision scientists. What should you do? Go to the registration page for registration, registration, registration. See you for a cup of chowdah and countless rounds of applause!
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WHEN GREAT TREES FALL. . .AND WHERE THEIR SEEDS LAND

Two momentous passages already in 2011 have me reflecting on the influence individuals can have on the greater good.

On the occasion of his recognition as the 2011 Nathaniel E. Springer Memorial Lecturer at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry earlier this month, The Ohio State University College of Optometry’s EF Wildermuth Professor of Optometry, Don Mutti, attended the dinner in his honor, hosted by UAB’s new Dean, Rod Nowakowski. The event was particularly poignant, as Donald A. Springer, a President of our Academy in 1963 and 1964, passed away earlier this year, and Nathaniel Springer was Dr. Springer’s optician father. Dr. Springer is widely recognized as the founder of the UAB School of Optometry. Other attendees at the dinner included Mrs. Rita Springer. Don asked Mrs. Springer how it occurred to Dr. Springer to place a new optometric institution in the southeast at a major academic institution where there was also a medical school. Unprompted and without knowing that Don had an abiding connection to the Academy, Mrs. Springer said that her husband had just been elected to the Academy’s Executive Council in 1954 and that he was deeply inspired by the Academy and its aspirations of excellence for the optometric profession. That inspiration led him to aim high by imagining a School of Optometry at UAB; the rest is history.

The other passage also reflects connections to the Academy in a giant’s accomplishments. Founding director of the National Eye Institute, Carl Kupfer, passed away early this month. Paul Sieving, current NEI director, said of him, “Creating an NIH institute from whole cloth is a daunting task, but Carl had a vision for the NEI and persevered to make it a reality. He was dedicated to clinical research and the development of clinician scientists. He believed in the primacy of investigator-initiated research. The NEI and the vision research community are a lasting legacy of Carl’s 30 years of service.” Dr. Kupfer was the Fry awardee in 1981 and received an Honorary Fellowship Academy designation in 1997. At the 1997 meeting in San Antonio, Dr. Kupfer spoke at the American Optometric Foundation’s 50th anniversary luncheon. His remarks were summarized in the AOF’s annual report by then-President Sarita Soni: “Dr. Kupfer acknowledged the fact that AOF has made major contributions to vision research through its Ezell fellowship program. He noted a number of Ezell fellows who have received NEI research awards over the years [now including 1997 Ezell fellows Brad Fortune and Kelly Nichols née Kinney] and thus contributed to our improved understanding of visual processes and disorders of the visual system. Dr. Kupfer went on to share his excitement and hope that optometry graduates, with support from NEI and AOF, may continue to work with basic scientists to seek answers to clinical questions that are important to the practitioner.” That’s Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Practice®.

From When Great Trees Fall, by Maya Angelou:
“And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed. “
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ONE FOR ALL, AND ALL FOR ONE

Our Academy was founded on the concept of volunteerism. That value is evident in the way Fellows say, “I love the Academy.” or “That Academy meeting in San Francisco was wonderful,” or “I never miss an Academy meeting!” and in the fact that the list of Fellows who put their names forward to volunteer for Committee positions far exceeds the number of positions that need filling. That value is evident in the day-to-day, meeting-to-meeting, year-to-year actions of volunteers.

Sheila Anderson locked herself in the Westin Hotel along with the 46 other Fellows on the Admittance Committee for an entire day during the San Francisco meeting: no continuing education, no fun, no food (oh, that’s not right; I’ll bet we fed them).

Tammy Than must have donned roller skates during the annual meetings during her four years as Chair of the Lectures and Workshops Committee; she always seemed to be everywhere in each city’s convention center, all the time begging the question, “Does she ever sleep?”

Every year, vision scientists who are ARVO members trek to our meeting and donate their time to educate fellow optometrists and inspire fellow scientists. In Anaheim in 2008, Janey Wiggs, MD, PhD, world-renowned ocular geneticist from Harvard University, graced our Academy with her presence in just this way.

Just this week, I asked six Fellows to serve our Academy in a new way and heard back in the affirmative from four of them in less than 24 hours.

And who can forget then-Membership Chair Barbara Caffery’s “kissing booth” in the Academy’s recruitment area in the Exhibit Hall?

My attitude about my own Academy service might sound familiar to some of you: “Free. And it always will be.”

These are just several examples of the tireless service that benefits our Academy every day. Your own opportunity to serve the Academy starts in simple ways. Pay your dues. Come to the Annual Meeting. Submit scientific presentations, lectures, and workshops year after year. Dance at the Australia Party. Form a Special Interest Group. Become a Diplomate. Undoubtedly, there are countless others.

Here at Ohio State, I have a poster on my wall that Tom Raasch gave me in 1996 when I first joined the faculty. It pictures our then- and now-president, E. Gordon Gee, engaged in lots of activities including reading a newspaper (School of Journalism), wearing a lab coat (Colleges of Health Sciences), and striking a Heisman pose (well, you know). The saying across the top says, “Find Your Place at Ohio State.” I can steal that: Find your place in our Academy. It will reward you beyond measure.
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THEY’RE NOT THE OSCARS BUT …

They’re not the Oscars. They’re our Academy Awards, our beloved American Academy of Optometry Awards, and they have created magical moments over the years.

In this 2011 award nomination season, I want to highlight one such magical moment. In the mid-1990s, before Thom Freddo, Don Korb or Chris Johnson chaired the Awards Committee, the awards ceremony was pretty open-ended. Acceptance speeches could be a bit expansive, and we had no orchestral music to gracefully interrupt the awardees with their personal theme music.

In 1995 in New Orleans, Joseph S. Nupuf, OD, FAAO, was awarded Life Fellowship in the Academy. He was deeply honored, took the podium, and proceeded to describe the history of contact lenses in the 20th century from his up-close-and-personal vantage point. Those in attendance may remember his chronology. It was long. Those who had drunk too much coffee that morning shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The young Fellows there who couldn’t fathom the innovation of sclera lenses in the 1940s might even have yawned. A doubleback in the progress of the story from 1960 to 1945 elicited a quiet groan from the audience. Yet Dr. Nupuf’s pride and stature were evident, and as his colorful, vividly sketched life story came to its conclusion, Dr. Ben Nerenberg led a rousing standing ovation. The moment was magic and memorable.

Last week I Googled Dr. Nupuf and discovered that he passed in 2009 at the age of 97. His online obituary from Canton, Ohio described him as an “ageless” contact lens pioneer and cited his American Academy of Optometry Life Fellowship award as a significant point of pride.

Future awards programs are only as magical as the awardees who are recognized. The award nominators are the unsung heroes of the awards program. The Awards Committee owes them a huge debt of gratitude annually.

Chris Johnson, PhD, FAAO, wrote last month about the nomination process, “In the past few years, we have had outstanding candidates for the awards, and we would like to see this continue. It would be a very pleasant problem for the Awards Committee members if we have a large number of candidates with exceptional track records and accomplishments to choose from.

A couple of quick reminders: (1) If a candidate has been nominated in the past couple of years but has not been selected, they can still be re-nominated. A new set of letters of support and nomination can be generated, or the previous letters can be used. However, please let us know which option you are selecting so that we can make sure to have a complete and up-to-date package for them. A prior letter can be amended to include new accomplishments. (2) Be sure to identify the specific major accomplishments of the nominee in the opening paragraph so that the Awards Committee will be apprised of their primary contributions at the earliest time.”

Head to the Awards webpage to remind yourself about the awards and their criteria. Be our hero. Help make the magic moments for Academy 2011 Boston.
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"TELL ME ABOUT THAT DIPLOMATE PROGRAM AGAIN”

Many of you know that the American Academy of Optometry amended its bylaws at the Business Meeting in Orlando in 2009 to allow for the creation of Special Interest Groups to help Fellows find an intellectual “home” within the larger family that is the Academy. Of course, the Academy has always housed intellectual homes in the guise of its Sections. The eight Sections are Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatrics; Cornea, Contact Lenses, and Refractive Technologies; Disease; Low Vision; Optometric Education; Primary Care; Public Health & Environmental Optometry; and Vision Science, and they all host Diplomate programs.

Making the decision to start down the path towards becoming a Diplomate in your favorite optometric area might seem like a big decision, and there are lots of reasons not to do it. “It’s hard.” “It’s not my cup of tea.” “What if I don’t succeed?” “I just don’t have the time.” Those are all valid reasons not to pursue many things in life. So what’s the up side? Why do crazy people—the Fellow in the practice down the street, people who lecture at meetings nationally and internationally, optometrists and vision scientists employed by the ophthalmic industry and by our academic institutions—head down the Diplomate road?

Here’s what I heard when I asked the Section and Diplomate Award Chairs that same question.

“This year the Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses, and Refractive Technologies was pleased to welcome three new Diplomates. The process is daunting, and most candidates have to work very hard to get through it. One of this year’s new Diplomates came to me after passing the Oral Examination and said that, as difficult as it was at times, it was the greatest accomplishment of their professional career. Further, they felt that the Academy was most collegial organization around."
–Doug Benoit, OD, Chair, Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses, and Refractive Technologies.

and …

“This year a candidate in the Low Vision Diplomate Program was so dedicated that, even after having just returned from her honeymoon with pneumonia and mononucleosis, she traveled 3,000 miles to San Francisco and emerged from her hotel sickbed to take (and ace) the required Ocular Disease Examination. When asked about her persistence, she admitted ‘It wasn't easy to tackle this year, but anything worth doing is rarely easy. I made a commitment to go through the Diplomate process for many reasons: professional growth, to become a better teacher for my students, and, ultimately, to provide better care for my patients. And, as my friends will tell you, when I am on a mission, there is little that can throw me off course.'”
–Roanne Flom, OD, FAAO, Diplomate Chair, Low Vision Section
So, come on. Stretch. Devote some of your time to a life experience improving your ocular disease knowledge; reflecting on your experiences as an educator; excelling in pediatrics. You will get back even more than the considerable amount you give. I think I might even look into the Public Health Diplomate program!

For more information about Section Diplomate programs, please visit the Sections’ area on the Academy website located under the “Sections” tab.
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