The San Diego View

March 2023

THE MISSION OF SDCOS IS TO SERVE THE PUBLIC AND ITS MEMBERS
THROUGH EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY SERVICE, EDUCATION, AND LEADERSHIP.

Happenings of the Society

We are San Diego Strong!

San Diego County Optometric Society is one the largest and strongest local societies in California. Our first CE meeting of 2023 had over 100 in attendance. The energy and excitement of being together again in-person felt like old times. Being a member of our society carries with it several benefits, some of which I have listed below, but the true value of membership is belonging to a community of individuals that care about the future of our profession.

Free/Low cost CEs: The 2-Hour CEs are FREE and the 5-hour CEs are only $90. Meals included.

Free legal advice with COA lawyers: Each month, you have access to some of the best industry lawyers for a 30-minute consultation.

Three-in-one membership: Membership in the SDCOS (San Diego County Optometric Society) automatically grants you membership to both the COA (California Optometric Association) and the AOA (American Optometric Association).

Special Value Registration: COA’s Monterey Fall Symposium and OptoWest.

Access to SDCOS website: www.sdcos.org provides local and state information with an exclusive “member only” section.

Access to more patients: Membership grants you a listing on www.eyehelp.org. This is an Optometrist locator service via a toll-free number and online search that helps the public find a COA member doctor.

Exclusive deals: SDCOS sponsors offer special deals exclusively to SDCOS members.

Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy: COA’s legislative team helps protect your license and enhance your scope of practice.

Dues are tax deductible. Reduced fees are also available for new graduates.

OD Relations Liaison

Please contact Dr. Melanie Langford, Society Optometrist Relations Liaison at odjobs@sdcos.org to be put on an official list for the following:

fill-in/part-time work
full-time work
purchase/partner in/sell a practice

This service is offered free of charge to SDCOS members.

Upcoming CE Meeting

April 16, 2023, 5-hour Meeting

Location: Hilton San Diego Del Mar – 15575 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar, CA 92014

Speaker: Jay Binkowitz
Topic: 2-Hours - The Transformation of EyeCare from Emerging Trends: Welcome to the Golden Age of Optometry. Building Sales without Selling

Speaker: Dr. Justin Kwan
Topic: 3 hours on myopia control

March Featured Sponsors

gordon-schanzlin-new-vision-institute-gsnvi

Volunteer Opportunities

AMSA health fair

Saturday 15 April 09:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Montgomery-Waller Park, National City

Monarch School is the only school of its kind in the US, educating K-12 unhoused students at their campus in East Village. It was founded in 1988 and moved to the new campus in 2013. Visit monarchschools.org for more information.

For the past 13 years, SDCOS has provided vision screenings each semester and for the past eight years, conducted on-site exams in cooperation with the VSP Mobile Clinics

On January 30, a team of volunteers screened 183 students present that day.
57 were referred for vision exams during the first week of March. The team consisted of 3 volunteers from the UCSD Optometry Club, 2 VA residents, Dr Dick Skay and Dr Bob Meisel, coordinator of the program for SDCOS.

Welcome New Members

Kimberly Michel
Kevin Tong

Meet a Member

Ashley Tang

What optometry school did you attend?
SCCO

When did you graduate/how many years have you been in practice?
Class of 2018, practicing for almost 5 years now!

What is your favorite specialty?
Specialty contact lenses and dry eye

What do you like to do for fun?
I enjoy cooking, mainly so I can also enjoy eating!

What is your favorite thing to do in SD?
Hanging out with my dog at the dog park or dog beach

What is something people don’t know about me?
I’m scuba certified!

Pearls of Wisdom from an OD

Rex Werner, O.D.

Hello

I am Rex Werner and have been practicing in East County San Diego going on 34 years now.

I opened up “cold” and as such had to learn a lot by trial and error.

Fortunately, a Doctor that had been in practice already for several years prior to me let me work for him a couple of days a week while I was getting my own office up and running.

This Doctor, our own Paul Lavin, was extremely helpful in introducing me to various helpful reps and getting my accounts set up . He made sure that I was getting the very best pricing for contacts, for frames, and for lenses, and made great recommendations as to where I should order what.

My best pearl to share is this….
We are NOT competitors !!
We ARE colleagues !!

Let’s ALL be willing to help our colleagues by sharing our knowledge, our talents and even our time.

We are all here in San Diego for the purpose of helping each member of our community see as clearly and as comfortably as possible. That’s why we are members of our local San Diego County Optometric Society…to help each other. In so doing we become better providers and better people.

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Sponsor Spotlight

Katrin Endres

Where do you work?

Essilor of America

Title: Account Executive

How many years have you been in the industry?

Too many …LOL

40 years …if that’s even possible

What are your favorite activities?

Exercising, cooking, baking, photography, interior design ….

Also too many….lol

What is your favorite quote?

Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.
— Ella Fitzgerald

Our dreams will come true if we have the courage to peruse them
- Walt Disney

MD Corner

Dr. Kimberly Cockerham is joining the NVISION^® surgical team practicing at the Coronado and Alvarado/Coronado Eye/NVISION. Dr. Cockerham will be focusing on eyelid and facial enhancements including Botox, fillers, laser skin resurfacing, and surgical reconstruction and restoration.

Dr. Kimberly Cockerham earned her undergraduate degree at UCSD and her medical degree from George Washington Health Sciences University where she was awarded an ophthalmology residency at the prestigious Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She further expanded her scope of practice with two fellowships one in Neuro-ophthalmology and the other in Oculofacial plastics. She had the privilege of serving in the U.S. ARMY for 15 years including serving as the former Chief of Oculoplastics/Orbital Disease at WRAMC during multiple international conflicts. She also served as Chief of Service at Allegheny General Hospital as well as at UC San Francisco. Dr. Cockerham is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford School of Medicine; first appointed in 2006.

Dr. Cockerham was raised in San Mateo, California and has been in practice in California for nearly two decades. Her patients have always been her passion. She looks forward to becoming an active community member in the San Diego community and working more closely with the eye care professionals in the area.

Binocularity & The Future of Eye Care

Modern lifestyles and persistent near vision utilization cause most patients to experience the reduced visual acuity and painful symptoms of eye misalignment. Symptoms like headaches, eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, motion sickness and dry eye sensation can be traced back to a proprioceptive mismatch between misaligned eyes and the vestibular and muscular systems. This leads to an overstimulation of the trigeminal nerve, and this overstimulation leads to a painful stimulation of several parts of the face and neck.

Neurolens addresses this with a simple, three-step process that includes a mobile-friendly way to assess patient symptomology, followed by a measurement on the Neurolens Measurement Device, or NMD2. Finally, Neurolenses with patented contoured prism technology bring the eyes into alignment, relieving symptoms like headaches and eye strain for 93% of wearers.

Recently, Neurolens conducted a roundtable discussion on the future of eye care. Dr. Paul Karpecki leads this distinguished panel—which includes Dr. Brenda Montecalvo, Dr. Ray Corbin-Simon, Dr. Amanda Nanasy, and Dr. Carol Nelson—in an in-depth discussion on binocularity, the future of vision care, standard-of-care, and more.

"I‘m having better conversations with my patients. It’s like I’ve found this magic wand, and when a patient puts on a new pair of these glasses, they feel amazing,” according to Dr. Ray Corbin-Simon. Adds Dr. Amanda Nanasy: “We all push the idea of medical optometry. This is the perfect way for us to step over that line and say that we’re not just doing a vision exam, we can impact your day-to-day life with this product, and that’s something that I want to be a part of.”

Join the discussion at neurolens.com/roundtable. Learn more about becoming a Neurolens provider at neurolens.com and join the new standard of care providing dramatic patient outcomes and practice success.

Classifieds

Busy Portland Optometry Practice Well-established 2-lane optometry practice. Great location in Portland. All the latest and greatest equipment. Very busy! Contact Frank Sciabica for more information at frank@omni-pg.com or 425-985-8390. (ORO101) (03/23).

High Visibility High Traffic Optometry Practice near Google Long established growing practice in close proximity to Google. This practice grosses approximately 650K/year and still growing. Nicely appointed pleasant, high visibility location. This one won't last long. For more information contact Frank Sciabica at frank@omni-pg.com or call 425-985-8390. (CAO107) (03/23).

Orange County Optometry Practice Orange County Optometry Practice. Ideal merger candidate. $340,000 gross. 30+ years of goodwill. Great location! Good visibility. Contact Frank Sciabica at 425-985-8390 or frank@omni-pg.com. (CAO105) (03/23).

Nicely Appointed Optometry Practice in Bellevue's Tech Corridor Nicely appointed optometry practice in Bellevue tech corridor. Annual collections are $420,000. Adding additional procedures will increase revenue. Lots of parking available. Patient care hours are just 24 hrs/per week. Performing CRT/ortho K for over 20 years. The selling doctor is willing to train buyers on the overall concepts of CRT care to allow seamless continued care with ongoing patients. Contact Frank Sciabica at 425-985-8390 or frank@omni-pg.com. (WAO102) (03/23).

Optometry Practice for sale: in an upscale shopping center in Escondido, San Diego County, California. Solo Private Practice was established in 1996. Has a large patient base. The equipment is in excellent condition. A full scope Optometry Practice. Complete Sale or buy-out option. Please email basantis2004@yahoo.com for details/questions. (04/23).

Practice for sale:Long-time established practice for sale in La Mesa–seller wishes to retire–Seller has set a very low purchase price to facilitate an immediate sale—don’t miss out on this great opportunity to own your own practice. Contact Dr. Levy at 619-743-1442 or email atdrlevy@pacbell.net(03/23).

Build Ownership in a Growing Optometry Practice, Even as a New Grad.Growing Practice at the Heart of San Diego with a 25+ Year Veteran of the Optometry Profession, with a successful history of growing multiple practices, is seeking a motivated, self-starter, entrepreneurial optometrist to join a growing optometry practice in City Heights. Practice is in a custom modern office setting, with great visibility, and with a proven track record of success for medical practices. Working knowledge of Spanish is preferred. Opportunity to get involved (even as a New Grad) in a growing eye care practice from the ground up, earning equity toward part or full ownership. Please email your resume tospousti@live.com(03/23).

Grand Vision Optometry(independent family private practice in North County San Diego) with 2 locations in San Marcos is looking for a Part-Time Associate OD for Fridays (8:30 am – 5:00 pm) and Saturdays (8:00 am – 3:00 pm). $500-$525/day base pay with a production bonus of up to $625/day. Exam appts are booked every 30 minutes, an optical technician will pre-test and pre-chart for the doctor. Please emaildrmikafu@hotmail.comwith your resume to apply. (03/23).

Fill-in Optometrist needed: looking for casual fill-in weekday coverage at a sublease in National City. $550 per Diem. 10:15 am 6:00 pm with one hour lunch. Modern office with digital refraction, EHR, optos, and pretesters. Please contact Dena at 651-808-0247 ordenashahani@gmail.com(03/23).

Part-time OD is needed for Fridays 10-6 and Saturdays 9:30-5 at the San Marcos Costco. Exams every 30 minutes. $550 base pay. Please email Dr. Frimtzis atvfrimtzis@icloud.com(03/23).

Part-time OD wanted. Various days are available for a busy private practice near Oceanside. Easy, young demographic. Competitive pay plus bonus pay. Please emailmarineeyecare@gmail.com,Dr. Steven Thurston (04/23).

Optometrist neededfor Thursdays and Saturdays at the Mission Valley Costco. If interested please contactrslikker@san.rr.comor text 619.977.7703 (04/23).

Private Practice is seeking a friendly Associate Optometrist for a full-time opportunity!We offer competitive pay, bonus opportunities, and benefits. Work alongside a friendly, knowledgeable support team utilizing the latest digital technology. The ideal candidate will demonstrate leadership, communication, and compassion for patient care. Send resume toMichelleKingOD@gmail.com(03/23).

Revenue $800,000.This opportunity includes two practices co-located in one location. Huge potential with more efficient operation under one owner. Recently relocated to terrific buildout in a new location next to the hospital; 4 lanes in 2200 square feet. Long-term employees include a bilingual optician. Photos available. Offered at only $295,000 plus sellable goods inventory estimated at $100,000. Seller financing may be available. Contactinfo@PracticeConsultants.com(04/23).