Virginia Eye Consultants Invests in Training

This month’s guest post was written by Virginia Eye Consultants’ Practice Development Manager, Michael Ware.

Service Value 7: I have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow. This is one of our topics that is rotated and discussed monthly in our morning Huddle session at Virginia Eye Consultants. Essentially, Huddle is a morning routine where the vast majority of our doctors and staff gather around to discuss how a Service Value, Service Step or a Golden Rule pertains to one’s contribution to the company. We discuss key points that helps keep everyone on the right track to daily success. We end Huddle with an uplifting quote in hopes that everyone will leave the room with a ‘win the day’ attitude. I share this because Service Value 7 happens to be one of my favorite Huddle topics.

When I first started with Virginia Eye Consultants in 2016, I was a novice, brand new to the field of eye care and ophthalmology. I had plenty of experience in the tasks I was to carry out in my new role at Virginia Eye Consultants, but was very green on the clinical side. This is where my service value comes in to play. Virginia Eye Consultants does a tremendous job in providing new growth opportunities for its employees. They also allow for employees to observe other departments and move around within the company to learn how the complex system works. This is an amazing perk in working for Virginia Eye Consultants.

Once a year, some of the doctors and department heads carry out a 5 week COA training program. COA stands for Certified Ophthalmic Assistant. This training program will give you the tools necessary to complete and pass the required exam. The COA course intrigued me, and with little to no background in eye care, it was a good idea for me to start attending. The most recent course I attended was taught by our very own Dr. Thomas Joly, our ophthalmic plastic surgeon and Dr. Cecelia Koetting, one of our highly skilled optometrists. We learned about the muscles that contribute to eye movement and how to accurately define eyelid measurements. The topic was interesting and our doctors did an excellent job at keeping everyone energized and engaged.

Though I was unable to attend every class, it is a personal goal of mine to continue to learn about the field of ophthalmology so that some day soon, I can take the exam and become certified. I’m thankful that Virginia Eye Consultants provides these kinds of learning opportunities for its employees. You know you’re with the right company when they allow you to learn and grow within your field.

~ Michael Ware, Practice Development Manager