Did you know that the president elect of the AOA is touring the entire country to visit all of the optometry schools to talk to us students?
I didn’t know either until I got the tip from a friend that she was going to make her way to SUNY in the near future.
This is a once in a life time situation, to meet the president elect of the AOA and learn first hand what lies ahead in the future of our profession. If anyone knows what’s in store for us future OD’s its definitely AOA President Elect Dr. Dori Carlson.
Lets put it this way; if you had a friend on the “inside” of the New York Stock Exchange and that person knew the future of a certain stocks success, you would obviously take your friends advice, buy the stock and reap the rewards. – Well when it comes to optometry, Dr. Dori Carlson is definitely “that friend” and she really understands what is going on behind the scenes in our profession. So if you want the edge and that tip of advice that can truly help you out in your career, Dori has the answer for you.
So the next question is, “When is she coming to my school”?
Well I caught up with Dr. Carlson a few weeks ago and was able to bring back some juicy details for the OptometryStudents.com community ;-). She is super friendly and if you want to talk with her, just head to her blog http://dori20-20tour.org/ and send her a message.
Dori’s plan is to have time to hang out not only with us students but also to meet with faculty members and alumni, to provide some really great information that only the AOA knows- things like…
– Where the profession is TRULY heading.
– What’s going on with Optometry and Healthcare.
– The current demand for optometrists.
– Income and profits for optometrists.
– How to loose the student debt.
– Statistics regarding optometry students, optometrists and practicing.
– Residency opportunities.
– What the AOA is going to do for us students over the next few years.
– How to get involved with the AOA to make positive impact for optometry.
Oh and by the way, students from other schools have won pretty awesome prizes like Flip Video Camera’s!
What I took away from my phone call with Dr. Carlson was this…
She understands that current events form future trends.
The Current Event: The AOA is working hard to keep optometry politically stable and growing in a positive direction. They are also employing many new strategies to enhance the effectiveness and power of the AOA.
The Future Trend: Upon graduation, the former students (now doctors) will now be knowledgeable enough to continue in the footsteps of Dr. Carlson to ensure that our profession continues to remain politically stable and growing while we practice as optometrists. The profession is in our hands!
Really there is lots I can talk about but I want to keep this article short and sweet.
The main things you should know, in my opinion, are as follows.
- Dr. Dori Carlson is coming to your optometry school at some point over the next year – Take advantage of the opportunity when she arrives.
- In my experience, those students involved with the AOA become the most successful optometrists, specifically in the areas of generating profits as an OD and making the best connections.
- The AOA is a really important organization to be involved with in some way or another.
Dori’s next 2 stops are…
- NOVA Optometry in Florida – January 21-22nd
- Northeastern State Optometry – February 24th
All the best,
Matt Geller
