Bold: Questions asked by me
Black:Answers provided by Dr. Bhima
Blue: Reflections and responses
What attributes does someone need to have to be successful in this position?
You have to be a people person as you have to communicate well to others. Willing to learn, keep up to date with new research. Be a great team leader and team player.
All of these items combined can lead to a great career path in any field chosen. The communicating with others part is one that I think relates the most, because you have to be able to properly educate the patients and work with the other staff members.
How is working here different than anywhere else you've worked?
When working here at CFE, it's a team effort. Everyone has the same goal in mind, and everyone helps out each other to accomplish that. Other places I worked I had to make sure I hit a certain goal pretty much on my own.
Within being there in just these few months, I have seen the teamwork and effort everyone has put in first hand. It's an amazing workplace!
What attracted you to this company?
What attracted me to this company was that it was a private practice -- always wanted to be in private practice, was a well established practice with good patient reviews, Dr. Baylard is a friendly, easy going guy, staff worked well together, and it offered partnership into the practice after a certain number of years.
All of these factors are a good draw to the business. By picking a place that is already established and has a good patient clientele, it is a smart move to start at the beginning of your career.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to this job?
Advantages are helping people see and working hours (no on-call/after hours.) Disadvantages are that some people expect to see how they did 20 years prior.
Being able to make your own hours is a major benefit, but it is understandable that some people believe in their old vision as a still possible option.
How did optometry school not prepare you for working in an official practice?
When I was in optometry school, they did not prepare us for the business side of optometry.
I think it would be very beneficial to take additional marketing classes or business development training to help out later on the career path.
What is the biggest obstacle you’ve faced getting to the position you are in now?
Getting my first job and proving that I am cut out for the optometry world -- most people want to hire someone with experience, so finding a job fresh out of school was difficult.
Having good connections and building relationships with others already involved in optometry will give a good head start into the field.
What made you become interested in this career?
Both my parents had LASIK done, and I became interested as to how they were able to not wear glasses anymore. Also, my father had cataract surgery done at a young age, so my curiosity of the way the eye functions grew more.
I think it's great how his family was the reason he chose optometry. By having a personal connection to what you are doing, I think it can be make you more passionate and motivated about your career.
Where would you like to be professionally in ten years?
In ten years, I would like to be an owner of a multi location practice.
Would this include franchising? That would be a great way to encourage more people to get their eyes checked.
How did you prepare for your first job interview?
I was lucky enough to have friends that were already optometrist, so I did mock interviews with them.
That is fantastic practice. By working with some one already in the field, it would give you an advantage of what to expect when prepping for a future interview.
If you could give advice to someone who was interested in this field, what would it be?
Make sure you love to explain things to people and can repeat yourself without getting frustrated; keep an open mind about how much patients may or may not know about eyes; be willing to work on weekends; at first optometry school may feel like you are not learning anything about the eyes, but it will all make sense in the end.
Thank you for all the advice! It is a great way to start out my hopeful future of optometry.
Black:Answers provided by Dr. Bhima
Blue: Reflections and responses
What attributes does someone need to have to be successful in this position?
You have to be a people person as you have to communicate well to others. Willing to learn, keep up to date with new research. Be a great team leader and team player.
All of these items combined can lead to a great career path in any field chosen. The communicating with others part is one that I think relates the most, because you have to be able to properly educate the patients and work with the other staff members.
How is working here different than anywhere else you've worked?
When working here at CFE, it's a team effort. Everyone has the same goal in mind, and everyone helps out each other to accomplish that. Other places I worked I had to make sure I hit a certain goal pretty much on my own.
Within being there in just these few months, I have seen the teamwork and effort everyone has put in first hand. It's an amazing workplace!
What attracted you to this company?
What attracted me to this company was that it was a private practice -- always wanted to be in private practice, was a well established practice with good patient reviews, Dr. Baylard is a friendly, easy going guy, staff worked well together, and it offered partnership into the practice after a certain number of years.
All of these factors are a good draw to the business. By picking a place that is already established and has a good patient clientele, it is a smart move to start at the beginning of your career.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to this job?
Advantages are helping people see and working hours (no on-call/after hours.) Disadvantages are that some people expect to see how they did 20 years prior.
Being able to make your own hours is a major benefit, but it is understandable that some people believe in their old vision as a still possible option.
How did optometry school not prepare you for working in an official practice?
When I was in optometry school, they did not prepare us for the business side of optometry.
I think it would be very beneficial to take additional marketing classes or business development training to help out later on the career path.
What is the biggest obstacle you’ve faced getting to the position you are in now?
Getting my first job and proving that I am cut out for the optometry world -- most people want to hire someone with experience, so finding a job fresh out of school was difficult.
Having good connections and building relationships with others already involved in optometry will give a good head start into the field.
What made you become interested in this career?
Both my parents had LASIK done, and I became interested as to how they were able to not wear glasses anymore. Also, my father had cataract surgery done at a young age, so my curiosity of the way the eye functions grew more.
I think it's great how his family was the reason he chose optometry. By having a personal connection to what you are doing, I think it can be make you more passionate and motivated about your career.
Where would you like to be professionally in ten years?
In ten years, I would like to be an owner of a multi location practice.
Would this include franchising? That would be a great way to encourage more people to get their eyes checked.
How did you prepare for your first job interview?
I was lucky enough to have friends that were already optometrist, so I did mock interviews with them.
That is fantastic practice. By working with some one already in the field, it would give you an advantage of what to expect when prepping for a future interview.
If you could give advice to someone who was interested in this field, what would it be?
Make sure you love to explain things to people and can repeat yourself without getting frustrated; keep an open mind about how much patients may or may not know about eyes; be willing to work on weekends; at first optometry school may feel like you are not learning anything about the eyes, but it will all make sense in the end.
Thank you for all the advice! It is a great way to start out my hopeful future of optometry.