Unique as the Doctor you Chose

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Yesterday was my first day as an official doctor!  Besides entering the room and referring to myself as doctor (which I must say was a little weird) everything seemed pretty much the same.  I was a little nervous, but the patients were nice and I was able to get in and perform the exam as efficiently as possible and still have time to chat a bit about their lives.  I believe that is one of the most important parts of my job.  Getting to know the whole person and what they have going on in their lives allows me to better treat the individual patient.  Lets face it, everyone is unique.  If you don't believe me look on somebodies Facebook.  It is funny how people seem to reveal more about themselves on Facebook than they do in person.  Maybe it is because people simply don't have enough time to show who they really are.  On FB one can reveal their hobbies, profession, friends, family, likes, dislikes, political views, religious views, romantic relationships, what they are feeling emotionally at the moment, and to top it all off they can provide a picture for every occasion.

As for my profession, I get all of 15-20 minutes a year to be somebodies best friend.  I need to know their eye health history, vision history, systemic health, medications, family systemic and eye health history, occupation, hobbies, what they need to see, if they have any abnormal symptoms, and (now thanks to the government) I need to know their preferred language, race, and ethnicity.  I need to know all of that while evaluating the health of the eye and their vision.  As you can see that is a lot to know about the individual.  This wasn't meant to reveal how difficult our jobs can be, we have many systems in place in order to gather all of that information and interpret it, but it was meant to show you how unique everybody can be.  Each and every patient has their own set of eyes with their own set of needs.  Each of us are unique and we all want to be treated as unique.  Think about a pair of glasses.  Each pair of glasses are specifically customized to the patient wearing them.  We take a series of specific measurements in the office and ask each patient questions like; how do you prefer to wear your glasses? Do you golf? Do you like outdoor activities? Do you play music? What is your profession?  What are your other hobbies?  Are you indoors or outdoors more often? Do you have glare issues?  Do you have light sensitivity issues?  Do you read?  Do you use computers?  Do you have a smart phone?...and the list goes on.  We take all of that information and combine it with the multitude of measurements we have taken in the office to provide a pair of glasses that are completely customized for your unique self!  And that is just glasses, think of the customized approach we need to take in order to individualize your eye health exam and treatment.  So next time you visit your eye doctor, remember that you are unique and they view you as unique.  Spend some time to talk to them about who you really are, or maybe you can just befriend them on Facebook!  See your best!