Indiana University
School of Optometry
Communications from the Dean
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Indiana University
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This is the second of two communications for this month. The first one was sent to the students wishing them well as they finished the school year. This one is filled with news of interest to faculty, staff and others on our e-mail list.
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Staff Changes
Other
1998-99 Awards
Competitions and Grants
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 18: I will be making a presentation to the IOA Southwest Society meeting in Vincennes.
May 19-22: Dr. Joe Bonanno will be presenting two research presentations at the SUNY College of Optometry.
May 21-23: Drs. Cliff Brooks, Ed Marshall, Elaine Rivron, and Sarita Soni and Sandy Pickel will be presenting a comprehensive paraoptometric program at the Eye Quest meeting in Chicago.
Later this month Drs. Carolyn Begley and Graeme Wilson will be presenting at the British Contact Lens Association annual meeting in Birmingham, England.
Search and Screen Candidates are being scheduled for interviews for the three tenure track faculty positions and the position of Indianapolis Clinic Director. There were many excellent candidates who applied. We encourage all faculty to participate in these interviews.
IU e-mail addresses for all Alumni members are now available, see the alumni web page (http://www.indiana.edu/~alumni/). One can join the IU Alumni even if not an IU graduate.
June 4-5, Drs. Colleen Riley and Neil Pence will be attending the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators meeting at the NOVA Southeastern School of Optometry in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
June 4-5, Donna Carter and I will be attending a Bausch and Lomb investigators meeting in Denver, CO.
Dr. Don Lyon, a 1999 graduate of the IU School of Optometry, will be starting a one year residency program in Binocular Vision and Pediatrics on July 1. He will be involved in this specialty service at all three IU eye care centers.
Drs. Don Miller and Larry Thibos will be attending a meeting in England in July on Adaptive Optics. Dr. Miller received an IU international travel grant to attend this meeting.
IU Optometry continuing education is scheduled for July 10-11; July 14; July 17-18; July 24-25; Sept. 12; and Dec. 28. You should be receiving the brochure with course information within the week. Plan to attend.
Dr. Steve Hitzeman will be attending the XXXIII AAU Junior Olympic Games July 27-Aug 7 as the Co-Chairman of the AOA Sports Vision Section vision care evaluation team.
Dr. Larry Thibos will be on the program of the International Society for Contact Lens Research meeting in August in Phuket, Thailand.
Dr. Graeme Wilson, a member of the Executive Board and I, as a Past President of the International Society for Contact Lens Research, will also be attending the meeting in Thailand.
PAST EVENTS
March 27: Debra McConnaha participated in the Indiana School for the Blind School-Age Conference presenting information to parents and teachers on low vision devices and methods for visually impaired children.
April 6: The Office of Student Affairs hosted the Pre-Optometry Club from Purdue University.
April 15: Dr. Thibos presented the Distinguished Faculty Research Lecture. His lecture was very interesting and well presented. We are all proud of Dr. Thibos' accomplishments.
STAFF TRAINING: April 13: Debra Nelson, Consultant, Training and Development, Human Resources Management, presented a seminar to the School staff on "Communicating with Empathy, Tact, and Grace." April 20, Dr. Richard Meetz presented a seminar titled "What Do We Do During a Primary Care Exam." On May 4, there was an all day seminar with the following presenters: Mary Ellen McCann, "Methods of Analyzing the Processes Within Your Organization"; Dr. Doug Horner, "What is a Binocular Vision Problem?"; and Brenda Bailey Hughes, "Communicating for Excellent Service."
April 20: Susana Chung gave a presentation on macular degeneration to the Meadowood Retirement Community.
April 27: The Hofstetter Symposium on International Optometry and Vision Care sponsored jointly by the School and the World Council on Optometry was held. What a great day!. Over sixty distinguished guests from all over the word attended this symposium in addition to our students, faculty and staff.
April 28-May 2: Jackie Olson from the Student Affairs Office attended the meeting of the Central Association of Advisors to the Health Professions in St. Paul, MN.
Recently, Dr. Richard Wallingford, a member of the AOA Board of Trustees, and Laurie Bergman from the AOA staff visited the School.
Dr. David Seibel, an optometrist from St Louis, lectured to the 3rd year class. His visit was sponsored by Wesley-Jessen.
May 1-2: Dr. Neil Pence attended the Faculty Liaison meeting at the AOA Spring Planning Seminar in St. Louis.
May 1 & 2: The National Board Exams were held at the School. There were approximately 90 students who took the exam. There were 29 examiners. Dr. Victor Malinovsky and Dr. Steve Hitzeman were site coordinators and were assisted by Donna Carter, Pam Gondry and Sue Gilmore.
May 5 & 6: The Capstone Seminar was held for the optometry graduating class. Thanks to all who participated and especially to Dr. Neil Pence who coordinated the seminar.
May 7-8: Graduation. The graduation dinner was a great event. It was good to visit with the families of our new graduates. Dr. Bennett was there to participate in the hooding ceremony. What a great group of graduates we have to represent IU optometry in the future. Thanks to Neil Pence for helping organize the ceremony. At the graduation on Saturday, we had several of the optometry students walk across the stage and be hooded. Thanks to all faculty and staff who attended both of these great events and helped make it successful. Thanks to those who assisted at graduation: Drs. Hitzeman, Marshall, Meetz, and Pietsch. Thanks to all faculty and staff who took their time to honor our graduates. They and I appreciate your efforts.
Many of our graduating students received awards. At the end of this communication is the list of award recipients as well as other of our optometry school students who received awards this May.
May 10-11: Dr. Bill Rainey attended two Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group research meetings at ARVO. These meetings involved two different clinical trials. One study, the Amblyopia Treatment Study, is funded by NEI. Our School will be one of over 50 clinical sites. The second study is in the early stages of planning.
May 9-15: IU is well represented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this year. Attending from IU are: Drs. Carolyn Begley, Arthur Bradley, Susana Chung, Shaban Demirel, Bob Devoe, Doug Horner, Bill Rainey, Sarita Soni, Larry Thibos. Graduate students attending are: Drs. Nicole Himebaugh and Xin-xhong Hong, and post doc student: Sun Xing cai. Below are the papers and posters presented by our faculty:
May 12: Members of the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists went to Honduras for a week. Valerie Colby and her husband Trevor, Stan Nicholson and Christine Phillips, three of our recent optometry graduates, will be staying for an extended period in order to lay the groundwork for a permanent eye clinic.
May 13: Eileen Savage and I made a presentation at the East Central Indiana Optometry Society meeting in Muncie.
STAFF CHANGES
May 14: This was Katie Kolisz's last day at the School as the receptionist in the Dean's office. We wish her and her husband, Eric, the best as he starts practicing optometry in Portland, IN.
May 17: Laurie Thompson starts as the receptionist to replace Katie. Stop by and welcome her.
Anita Bastin, from the Budget Office, will be leaving soon. She is moving to Las Vegas. Good luck, Anita.
May 26: Tammy Laird has been hired to replace Anita.
We welcome Elizabeth Andrews in Student Affairs and Ryan Dryer in Dispensary.
Ryan Petty who has been the coordinator in the Contact Lens Clinic will work part-time this summer as he begins his optometry degree studies-congratulations to Ryan for being accepted in this fall's entering class. Tiffany Greene will be working as his replacement for the summer.
Terri Greene, whose has worked as faculty secretary for several years, has received a promotion within the School to Web Administrator/Software Support Specialist. She will assume these duties in the near future.
Margo Foreman at the Indianapolis clinic has resigned to accept a position with the Affirmative Action Office at IUPUI.
April 9: Tonya Thomas, OD gave her lecture on "The role of g-glutamyl transferase in diabetic retinopathy."
April 16: P. Ewen King-Smith, PhD from Ohio State gave a lecture on "How thick is the tear film?."
April 23: Don Miller, PhD, gave a lecture on "High-resolution retinal imaging."
May 4: Salih Al-Oliky, one of our PhD students, gave a lecture on the ocular surface.
OTHER
The Clinic Computerization Committee has completed its work on a Request for Proposal for a new clinic information system for the School's clinics. The document is 85 pages long and includes every requirement that we could think of for a new computer. Following a week for faculty review, it will be sent to various vendors for bids. Committee members that have been working hard on this are: Barb Buker, Doug Freeman, Pete Grogg, Patty Henderson, Steve Hitzeman, Jeff Johnson, Cindy Lepore, Rich Meetz, and Larry Thibos.
The university administration is in the process of appointing an architect for our clinic remodeling project.
The John P. Davey Award - for a paper of excellence on a clinical topic
Awarded to: Stacie Imler of Portland, IN, and Matthew D. Mitchell of Charleston, WV
The Roy E. Denny Award - for a paper of excellence on a clinical topic
Awarded to: John Tanner, of Batesville, IN, and Melissa Rice of Bloomington, IN
Wesley Jessen Contact Lens Achievement Award ($500, plaque) by Wesley Jessen: Outstanding skills and knowledge in the field of contact lens fitting of both rigid and soft lenses. Jennifer DenHartog of Newton, IA
Great Start Award ($500 cash award and $500 credit toward B&L products in private practice) by Bausch & Lomb: Excellence and understanding of contact lens practice.
Jeff Kirchner, of North Vernon, IN
Vistakon Award of Excellence ($1000 and plaque) by Vistakon and the American Optometric Foundation: Excellence in clinical contact lens patient care and a commitment to serve the individual needs of patients. Phillip Haiman, Bloomington, IN
Dr. Henry Hofstetter Scholarship Award ($500 and plaque) by Vistakon and the American Optometric Foundation: Awarded for leadership and service.
Brigid Ogden, of Muncie, IN
Alcon Scholarship Award ($1000): Scholastic aptitude, outstanding patient care, contact lens knowledge. Denise Hanson, of Canby, MN
Marchon Eyewear Practice Management Award ($500 award and plaque): Outstanding clinical and dispensing skills (selection by clinical faculty and Pam Gondry).
Rob Christensen, of Mitchell, SD
Contact Lens Achievement Award ($500 cash award) by Sunsoft: Outstanding contact lens clinician (selected by CL clinical faculty). Aaron Warner of Upland, IN
Essilor Optical Corneal Reflection Pupillometer Award (pupillometer and plaque): outstanding student, based on grades. (selection by Dr. Brooks and Pam Gondry).
Grant Morrison of Kalamazoo, MI
Corning Low Vision Award: Corning Medical Optics Dem Kit of CPE filters. Student must have a grade of C or better in low vision and have had a rotation through a low vision clinic. Chosen by low vision faculty. Wynde Ashman of Guymon, OK
William Feinbloom Low Vision Award (low vision trial set valued at $2500: Designs for Vision) Student must demonstrate outstanding performance in the field of low vision. Submit low vision case report to Dr. McConnaha by April 1st. Sean Deak of Hammond, IN
David H. Kolack, O.D. Award by the family of David H. Kolack, O.D.. (69). $1,250 to the top-ranked student in the graduating class. Sara Wakefield of Bedford, IN
RGPLI: (certificate and RGP fitting set): 4th year student. Top student who has demonstrated an interest and excellence in fitting RGP (rigid gas permeable) lenses.
Darcy Winch, of Sarnia, Ontario
3rd-Year Awards
Vision Service Plan Scholarship (2 recipients, $2000): The top 5 students demonstrating excellence in primary eye care services and also in the top half of the class are nominated by faculty who see 3rd-years. Two recipients selected by committee.
Scott Glaser and Susan Goode
RGPLI: (certificate and RGP fitting set): 3rd year student. Top student who has demonstrated an interest and excellence in fitting RGP (rigid gas permeable) lenses.
Karen March
AOA Student Leadership Scholarship ($1000): GPA of 3.0 or above, member of AOA, and a proven leadership role and student government involvement. Students must submit a paper, not to exceed 500 words, on "What did you learn from your leadership activities that will benefit you in your career?" Scott Glaser
SOLAQuest Scholar Program ($250): 3rd year student. Demonstrated the best in ophthalmic optics knowledge and skills along with superior understanding of the application of appropriate materials for individual patients. Julie Stenger
Kentucky Optometric Foundation Scholarship ($1,000): An award to a Kentucky resident student, based on academic excellence and financial need. Keith Dennis
1st-Year Awards
Student Indiana Optometric Association Awards (4 recipients, $500) by G.K. Optical, Duffens Optical, Diversified Ophthalmics, and Walman Optical): scholarships for equipment, based on financial need. Interested students submit a short description of need and Awards and Honors committee decides.
Walman Optical: Lucy Yen
Duffens Optical: Shelley Kaluf
Schmidt / Diversified: Shay Craighill
G.K. Optical: Phuong Quach
Varilux Student Grant Award Program ($500 entry into national competition)
Sean Deak
Indiana Chapter, American Foundation for Vision Awareness ($1000.)
Michael McVeigh
CIBA Vision AOSA Future Leadership Award ($1000.) Tim James
IU School of Optometry home page: http://www.opt.indiana.edu/
Original page design and coding: Terri Greene
1998-1999 Awards
4th-Year Awards
Competitions and Grants
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Indiana University School of Optometry
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