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The New England College of i T Giving Back... V \ The College and Community Service. r3*&<***^w-Jrv*;*f* #;•- :*'*• l^'9if*"t;S*1 mn I M A (5 A2 I M E r*C; President 2005 Alumni Association Alan Laird Lewis, '65, OD, PhD Board of Directors Alumni Association President President Paulette Demers-Turco 77, OD Paulette Demers-Turco 77 Vice President for Institutional Vice President Advancement Matthew Forgues'97 David E. Wilber Secretary Associate Directorfor Institutional Marcia Green 74 Advancement WhitneyA.Ashe Directors Lester Brackley '68 Editor Nancy Carlson 77 Kristen Brown, OD, chief of health BarryWanger David Conway '83 centerservices, forthe New England JanisCotter '85 Design/Production Cathleen Doucett '97 Eye Institute at Dimock Community Design:Marx Matthew Elgart'66 HealthCenterinBoston,discussesmodel Victor Finnemore '69 Photography Kristen Griebel '97 ofan eyeball, with a local resident. Reuben Allen Kathy Krenzer '90 Douglas Penhall Stacy Lyons'88 Walter Potaznick 76 Anne Moskowitz '93 The New England College ofOptometry Tony Rinaldo Amy Nau '00 Alumni Magazine is published in April Terry Noel 74 and Septemberbythe College'sOffice Printing Walter Potaznick 76 ofInstitutional Advancement. Choice Printing, Inc. Neil Schram 71 Irwin Shwom '80 Phone:617-236-6285 Address Letterstothe Editor, Teresa Stone '95 Fax: 617-236-6349 Classnotes, and story ideasto: Philip Sutherland '86 E-Mail: [email protected] Assistant to the Office of Institutional Advancement Student Representatives On-line: www.neco.edu Erin McNamee Meng Lee (OD 2) [email protected] Ritesh Patel (OD 3} DanetteThomas (OD 3) The New England College of Optometry ALUMNI MAGAZINE In desperately poor countries The only broad-based community Fredy Perez '76, OD, a native of the around the world, students, faculty eye care network in the Greater Dominican Republic, and the recipient and alumni are making a difference Boston area is run by the College's of a community service award as a in the lives of children and adults. New England Eye Institute (NEEI). student, is demonstrating in Los Many patients are seeing clearly for The initiative is viewed as a national Angeles that giving back doesn't the first time. The results have a model and is generating considerable end at graduation. His charitable lifelong effect on both sides. interest across the country. work serves as a model for others. autumn Letterfrom Dr. Lewis 2 Buying and Selling a Practice ... .24 International Community Service 4 Commencement 2005 28 NECO-NEEI Partnership 10 Faculty News 29 Alumni Profile: Fredy Perez 16 College News 30 A New Model for Eye Care 20 www,neco£du The Optometrist and Community Service When we ask prospective students manner somewhat above the ordinary; among whytheywanttobeoptometrists, those behaviors is the tradition of service to our about four out of fivewill communities and to humanity. include among their reasons "to help people." And by that they sincerely "Giving back" takes many forms: from partic- mean they want to improve the lives of their ipatingin a VOSH mission to an underserved patients by improvingtheirvision or by prevent- area of the world to donatingourprofessional ingits loss. However, as optometry has moved services in vision screeningprograms for the aggressively into the mainstream of health care Special Olympics. Itcan also mean actively in thepast40 years, the role of optometrists in participatingin local and regional service servingthe community has expanded and organizations such as Lions International or matured towhereit is now routinely accepted Rotary Clubs. It can even include servingon that, as healthcare professionals, we all are civic boards in yourtown or city, running for obligated to give back to the people who have public office, or volunteering at schools, shelters, privileged us to practice amongthem. When orelder programs. While some of these activities society empowers us with rights and privileges might also be considered practice building, the not enjoyed by the general public, it expects that personal satisfaction of servingfaroutweighs any we will return that confidence by behavingin a economic benefit they might indirectly provide. oO- "When society empowers us with the rights and privileges WC CXpCCtS not enjoyed by the general public, it Wl rC lUl II the confidence by behaving in a manner somewhat above the ordinary..." 1 am continually impressed bythe to theircommunities throughout theirprofes- contributions to charitable causes made by our sional careers. Some, such as Dr. Harry Zeltzer, students in spite of their incredibly difficult Dr. G. Burtt Holmes, Dr. Jordon Kasalow, Dr. workload. Those contributions are almost Fredy Perez and Dr. EgonWerthamer to name always in the form of personal time and energy just a few, have been internationally recognized ratherthan thefar easier act of writinga check fortheir contributions to mankind. They, and (of course, few of our students have spare cash everyone else who serves the larger good, bring to give). Throughouttheyear they organize and honor and distinction to this institution. participate in food and clothingdrives for the homeless, march in support of any number of Fortunately, the same desire 'to help noble causes in all kinds of weather (Boston people' that motivatesyoungcollege graduates seems to have walk or run-a-thon every week- to enter optometry school also means thatour end), sort and clean glasses for VOSH missions, graduate optometrists are already predisposed and volunteeratcivicevents. They do this quietly, to a lifetime of service. And while we stress the privately and with no expectation of personal obligation of service as part of ourcurriculum, gain otherthanthewarm satisfaction of knowing our students need little encouragementto partic- they are helpingothers. Even the act of helpinga ipate in the myriad of charitable programs that classmate understand a concept about which he they support duringtheiryears with us and our or she is confused, serving as a class officer, or graduates carry on in the highesttraditions of organizinga social event to relievethe stress of professionals. This bodes extremely well for constant studies, performs a service. their future, for the positive view of optometrists held bythepublic, and forthe robust and healthy It makes me especially proud to read or future of the profession. hear aboutthewonderful works performed by our alumni across the country and the world. Alan L. Lewis, O.D., Ph.D. The culture of givingis clearly deeply ingrained President iOn O in our graduates and they continueto contribute makw difference IJ community 'illli £ 5 o NATIONAL service By Pat Gale The patients stand in line for hours, a wait they hope will be rewarded by an amazing gift. For when — they leave, they are able to see clearly perhaps for the first time in many, many years. — In Mexico, in the Dominican Republic, in Vietnam — The learningexperience is so profound, he said, that in desperately poor communities around the world "if itwere up to me, every one of our students would do students, faculty and alumni of the New England this in their first and second years." College of Optometry are making a difference, one patient Like the College alumni who regularly trek to these far- at a time. And the results have a lifelongeffect on both sides. flunglocations, the students provide care topeople who have "The students get an incredible amount outof it," said neverexperienced eye exams, people who may desperately Bruce Moore, OD, Marcus Professor of Pediatric Studies and need glasses, people whose lives will literally be changed by chairman of the Department of Specialty and Advanced Care their visits. atthe college. "It's importantto putour students in settings Moore knows just how great an impactthis community where the demand on them is to perform at the highest level. service can have. Overthepast several years, he has made This is like optometricMarine basic training. They jump in nine trips, mostly to Nicaragua, bringingeye care to people and do it." who never enjoy the "luxury" of medical attention. "The World Health Organization in thepastyear or two haspub- — Community Service A NECO Priority lished a number of policy statements thateffectively declared Communityserviceis afamiliarconceptatthecollege. It begins refractive error, the need for glasses, to be the biggestvision early, with first-year students headingout to local centers to problem in the world today. We find that theproblem that screen Head Start students, and continues withupper level affects all of us that are over40 or45, is presbyopia; needing students working in community clinics. readingglasses is almost universal, but it occurs at an earlier But community service in an international settingcan be a age and more universally in thedevelopingworld. real eye-opener. "In a local clinic, they might see two orthree "Where we've been in Nicaragua, people have the belief patients in an afternoon," Dr. Moore said. But when they thatyou go blind onceyou become an adult. They don't head overseas, "they're likely to see 300 patients in a week. know about readingglasses, about goingto CVS and buying They mighthave five minutes to do an exam. They develop a $5 pairof readingglasses," he said. skill levels exponentially in a shortperiod of time." o o 3 TERNATIONAL community service The realization of how such a simple item can affect lives As visitors from a country where "perfection" is the has a solid impact on the students who travel withMoore normal expectation, seeingthe impact "pretty close" can and other faculty members on two-week "missions" around make was anothervaluable lesson learned. — theworld. But it's a lesson the students took to heart and are anxious to repeatnextyear. In orderto go on an international Students Working Overseas mission, NECO students have to earn a spot on the team, Miko Yokoi, a third-yearstudent, wenttothe Dominican and earn the money to go, because theypay their own way. Republic lastyear, and is involved in organizinga mission in They hold bake sales, and makepitches to civic organizations 2006, with the destination as yet undetermined. Planningthe to raise funds for the trip. trip is providinga civics lesson alongwith her optometric "It's purely voluntary," said Bina Patel, OD, director of education, as political considerations becomeentwined with international programs at the college. "To qualify forit, they the desire to serve, as governments debate their interest in have to do so many screenings, and fund raising. They have havingforeigners swoop in to provide services they can not to show a real interest in orderto go on the trip. On average, provide themselves. But whereverthe destination, there will about 20 students go on each trip, which takes almost a year be a trip nextyear, and Miko is anxious to go. to plan. We take recycled glasses, get them classified, cleaned In the Dominican Republic, the throngs of people waiting up, and then we can give thepatients these recycled glasses." to enterthe clinic were at times overwhelming. "Itwas—hard One source is the Lions Club, which runs continuous collec- to find some quiet to do the examinations," she said a sit- tions of used glasses, which are then cleaned and sorted uation made all the more challengingby language barriers. and catalogued. Some of thatwork is done by inmates at "My Spanish improved a lot in the two weeks," she said, the correctional ins—titution in Norfolk, as she and other students struggled to communicate with Massachusetts who are trained patients. The seemingly endless line of patients, though, by New England College of made the difficulties worthwhile. "Itwas an incredible Optometry students. experience," she noted. The glasses, Dr. Patel The students, she said, provided a quick "triage" to said, go to peoplewho would assess whichpatients might need more than a prescrip- otherwise have nothing. "They tion forglasses. They examined patients, determined can'tread, because they've never prescriptions, and then searched through thousands of been able to get readingglasses." eyeglasses they had brought with them to find the best And, she said, aside fromthe match forpatients. "It's notwhat mostof us are used to, volunteers whovisit, they getno where you choose your glasses from all the styles. We tried eye care at all. to find the closest match to what they needed, and tried to "Just looking at where these people live, and what they givethem glasses that they would like, but matchingthe have, it's an eye-openingexperience," she said. While the prescription has to be the most important thing." students do not live with local villagers duringtheir mission, they do visit the villages to understand whatlife is like there. >> o " *f \« "When you have poverty, you have poor vision. You might call the reason it for poor vision because you you're poor, if can't be treated. Dr. Harry Zeltzer '52 I. Students from the college have gone on such missions for "Iwentto one graduation a fewyears ago and was more than 15 years, and positive feedback from the experi- impressed with the number of students who stood when ence spreads from one class to the next. the president asked who had been involved with VOSH missions," said Harry I. Zeltzer, '52 OD, pastpresident of Alumni Working Overseas VOSH. "The students, and the chapters thatprovide this The desire to serve doesn'tstop with graduation. NECO kind of outreach, have a tremendous impact," he said. alumni across the nation boardplanes each year to help "Whereveryou have poverty, you have poor vision. underserved populations around the world. Many of those You might call itthe reason forpoor vision, because if trips, which often also include students, are organized by you'repoor, you can't be treated," he said. "The only way chapters of VOSH—Volunteer Optometric Services to to approach health care in underdeveloped countries is the Humanity, includingVOSH-NewEngland. public health approach, refiningyour technique to get the ion o CM 3 E most information in the least amount of time. They reduce cataract blindness in that country. In 2004, he was (patients) get a full exam; they get their vision tested, among a gro—up of doctors who traveled to the central region they're tested for glaucoma, their eyes are looked atexternally, of Vietnam the first time in26years that he had been to internally, they may get medicine as well as eyeglasses, and his native land. His team included three ophthalmologists, they may be referred for surgery, if needed. Some of our a number of general practitioners and otherhealth care programs have surgeons who come along; we even have professionals. one chapter in Pennsylvania that has supported and built For 10 days, the volunteers worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., a hospital in Guatemala." providingover530 cataractsurgery procedures to desperately William Trinh, '01, OD, has a practice in Sydney, Australia. poor people, "to help them regain theirsight and improve the For the past two years, he has been involved in the Vietnam quality of their lives." Itwas not an easy task, Dr. Trinh Vision Project, raisingfunds and doingvoluntary work to noted. "Our resources were limited... (so) we were only able to correct oneeye in each patient. This was very difficult for oo.