This month’s service spotlight shines upon two valued staff members. Billing office manager Kelly Kennedy was the first person in our organization to achieve the designation of a Certified Paraoptometric Coder (CPOC) by the American Optometric Association. This involved passage of an exam administered by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies and signifies “proficiency, expertise, and validating superior knowledge in an optometric coding environment.” Kudos, Kelly!

Main clinic patient registration coordinator Chelsea Tucker was recognized for her dedicated caring and service.

“My (101-year-old) mom had severe pain in her right eye. So I decided for her to be seen. When I arrived, I could not find a temporary parking space in order to wheel my mom in. I was not going to have her in the cold, nor have her walk from the parking garage. I was becoming a bit frustrated as there was no place to even stop and put my flashers on. I had already circled the building twice. I then decided to just pull in the back lot and attempt to take my mom down the back stairs. Just as I parked, Chelsea appeared. They asked if I needed help. Chelsea, took my mom’s walker and helped me place it by our back stairs. She met me with a wheelchair in the front of the building, stood in the cold without a coat and wheeled my mom in. By the time I entered our building, Chelsea had taken care of all of the preliminaries and wheeled my mom to the second floor. She turned, what began as a stressful morning, into a grateful morning for my mother and I both. I am so thankful to work with such caring people such as Chelsea Tucker.”

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nomination to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon two of our most talented attendings. This excerpt was taken from a recent patient review:

“Drs. Toole and Fritts-Davis couldn’t have been more expert, knowledgeable, or gracious. I traveled from Florida to visit them for Aniseikonia, and they were excellent at what they did and services provided. Your clinic is by far the most advanced in the country for this eye condition.”

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon two outstanding members of the BVP Service. A patient wrote a heartfelt thank you note to Freda Dallas and Dr. Earley for the impact they both have had on her life. Here are a few excerpts from her letter:

• “Dr. Earley was the first person to truly understand my TBI after more than a year of seeing other optometrists and many medical practitioners. Thank you for taking the time to read my file, listen, and for already knowing exactly what I had been saying to so many others for over a year. Dr. Earley’s explanations are suburb and have helped me make sense of symptoms that were dismissed, worsened, or overlooked by others. His expertise, understanding of this patient, and willingness to create plans of action and follow through with them, while altering them as needed, have impacted me in ways I can’t even describe! Dr. Earley is a magnificent and incredible practitioner whose brilliance and approach are unsurpassed by any specialist I’ve ever met.”
• “Freda is an exceptional person and invaluable asset to this program! Her attention and willingness to go above and beyond for patients has also made a tremendous difference. Another person in her role may have simply moved on when I said I didn’t see the point of scheduling any more appts with OSU after continuing to decline or stagnate for so long. But not Freda! She talked to me like the compassionate, knowledgeable and wonderful person she is, and asked if I would give treatment for my conditions another try if she could get me in to Dr. Early. It is not every day where someone does something to change someone’s life for the better. Both Freda and Dr. Earley have changed mine! I remain grateful beyond words.”

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon two outstanding members of the Class of 2025. Dwight Chen is a part-time student worker in our BVP Service. On a busy afternoon clinic day in June, there was a full schedule with a 100% show rate. In addition, a patient not scheduled until the following day showed up a day early. With all of the fourth-year interns already with patients, Dwight excitedly volunteered to help. This resulted in Dwight getting his white coat and clinic equipment and seeing the extra BVP patient under the supervision of Dr. Morrison. Despite being in third-year clinic for only half a semester, Dr. Morrison said that Dwight did a wonderful job in his first ever BVP experience and was a huge help to BVP docs and interns. Similarly, Ian Binns rose to the occasion dealing with a complicated and high-stakes patient encounter. Dr. Coates remarked on the calm, cool demeanor and levelheaded decision making Ian displayed in getting his AOC patient set up for a same-day referral to the emergency room. Dr. Coates also credits referral coordinator Clare McDermott for going above and beyond. In addition to calling the ER to communicate the urgent needs of our patient, she personally hand delivered the exam records and special testing images to the ER to help aid accurate diagnosis and management for the patient. We are so grateful for our superstar interns and our wonderfully dedicated, caring staff who work so hard each and every day to advocate for the patients we have the privilege to serve.

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon Freda Dallas. In addition to the exemplary patient care that Freda displays every day, she participates in college events that educate the public on the importance of a lifetime of quality eye and vision care try to extend our patient base. For example, she represented Optometry Services at a wellness fair this past autumn. In April, she participated in the WOSU Second Saturday Kids Day along with our OOA RealEyes friends. She dazzled kids and parents with information about vision and learning resulting in scheduling several children for their first ever eye exam. In May, Freda volunteered her time to participate in an OOA video supporting the optometry scope of practice legislation. We are so grateful for Freda fully embracing the mission of the college being such a wonderful advocate for the patients we have the privilege to serve.

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon Dr. Tatevik Movsisyan. She has served as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Practice for the past six academic years as well as serving as the Advanced Ocular Care Service Chief for the last year and a half. During that time, she has bestowed her clinical wisdom on myriads of students in the clinic and clinic procedures laboratories. She is loved by her students who remark on her straightforward clinical decision-making process, calm demeanor, and compassion for patients. It is with mixed emotions that I share the news that Dr. Movsisyan will be leaving her academic career after this spring semester to take a job at the Detroit VA closer to her family. We are grateful for all that she has contributed to the college during her time here. While she will be missed, Dr. Movsisyan will always be part of the Buckeye Optometry family and we wish her well in her future endeavors. Stay tuned for details of Dr. Movsisyan’s farewell reception.

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon three OPT III interns who rose to the occasion in a time of need. Upon hearing that the OPT II clinic was short on patients, Cora McHugh, Sidney Parks, and Emily Benson sprang into action by calling on volunteers with a group text, running home to take out contact lenses, and rushing to clinic to serve as patients themselves. OPT II Clinic Chief Carissa Janczak stated, “They understood how important it was to get a patient during OPT II clinic and truly wanted to help out their fellow colleagues. I feel so privileged to be in a community where I can rely on so many members just itching to help out. True teamwork and dedication.”

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon Kristen Campbell. In her role as Clinic Coordinator, Kristen is responsible for managing the clinic schedules of over 260 students and 40 doctors at our main campus and satellite clinics. She manages this task incredibly well, often under pressing circumstances. On a given day, we may have as many as a dozen schedule alterations due to unexpected absences such as illness, COVID isolation, and family emergencies. She also works diligently to arrange for clinic coverage to meet the needs of our patients after coordinating appropriate clinic leave for interns and attendings. Because of Kristen’s vast aptitude and success of managing schedules, she also assists Dr. Goedde in the scheduling of extern assignments in addition to administrating various aspects of the extern and residency program. Thank you Kristen for ALL that you do!

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nominations to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

This month’s service spotlight shines upon Freda Dallas. Freda is often recognized as the ultimate team player, and recent events have only cemented this well-deserved reputation. During Alysia Benson’s recent medical leave, Freda took it upon herself to manage the Low Vision Service appointments, notifications, and confirmations. She also managed the incoming low vision referrals and had Alysia’s phone forwarded to her extension so that Alysia would not have a mountain of voicemails to attend to upon her return. Freda’s selfless actions exemplify the spirit of teamwork and the dedication to ensure someone is always available to tend to patient needs.

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nomination to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.

Cathy Beatty has had a long and valued history of service on our clinic staff for many years. As manager of our medical records department, she has overseen the conversion of paper medical records to electronic health records, the archiving and storage of our medical records, and the move of her entire department to the new clinic building. Through all of those challenges, Cathy held true to our clinic mission to provide unparalleled patient care and customer service. She also has served as the college’s HIPAA Privacy Officer, educating all of us on the rights of our patients and our responsibility to uphold the privacy and security of their medical information. She is a fierce advocate for patients and proud of her proficiency in change management. In addition to her impact on patients, Cathy has trained and mentored countless student workers on the intricacies of patient access, patient privacy, and HIPAA. Those students and our entire clinic are all better off from the lasting influence Cathy has had on us.

We are happy to announce that Cathy’s retirement celebration will serve as this month’s Fun Friday event on Friday, July 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in TOC 2110. Please stop by during this time on your lunch hour to enjoy the potluck celebration and say goodbye to Cathy on her last day as our work colleague. Please join the college in our thanks to Cathy for her years of service. We are excited for the adventures that await Cathy in her well-earned retirement.

Have you witnessed an attending, intern, or staff member displaying an exceptional effort to go above and beyond to serve a patient? If so, nominate them for the next edition’s “Service Spotlight.” Send your nomination to Dr. Nixon at Nixon.24@osu.edu.