In the March edition of 20/20 Magazine, we saw “Doing the Math for Haiti,” the story of Bruce Tooker, an optician who traveled to Haiti with volunteers from Medical Aid to Haiti (MATH). We read about how Tooker was responsible for the vision care needs of nearly 500 people in very challenging conditions, over the course of two trips. Tooker described the difficulties people who were living in remote areas faced in obtaining even the most basic vision care, and his desire to expand the program in spite of very limited resources.
As if answering a prayer, the April 13 edition of Vision Monday reported the opening of the first School of Optometry and Vision Sciences in Haiti on April 12. Optometry Giving Sight and its partners spent five years developing the project, and have the same goals as MATH – training Haitians to help their communities. Making aid sustainable ensures that people can continue to receive the services they need long after the volunteers have left.Isn’t teaching others to do what we do a wonderful legacy? Right where you are, in your own practice, you have the opportunity to create your own legacy through training and sharing knowledge and information. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Junot Diaz said, “Colleagues are a wonderful thing – but mentors, that’s where the real work gets done.”
When I started in this field, there were no schools in my state (fortunately, now there are two), so I learned from experienced opticians who were willing to take the time not only to teach, but to explain why things had to be a certain way. I will always be grateful to them for what they shared because not only did I learn about optics, I fell in love with the field. My mentors showed me what they knew, and better, their passion for what they did.
Those of us who have “been around for a while” have picked up some tricks of the trade along the way; some learned from others, and some from experience (eg. don’t put your coffee cup in the bead pan to warm it up). We also have no shortage of stories about successes, mistakes and patient experiences, and most of us love to share them. Make that sharing a teaching moment, even if it’s about something that went wrong. There’s something to be learned from just about every experience; what to do or what not to do. Identify that something and make it a point for someone who’s learning. People tend to remember a good story, especially when it has a humorous side, and will also remember the moral of the story.Like MATH and Optometry Giving Sight, let’s make sure our field is sustainable right in our own back yards. We’ll all retire at some point, so let’s leave a legacy by being great mentors. That’s progress!
