![]() Folklore has it that Lou was schooling Paul on the finer wines of Pittsburgh and lamenting the myopic decision, by both the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, to exclude optometrists from attending their meetings as registered doctors. The OCRT-now the Optometric Corneal, Cataract and Refractive Society (OCCRS)-was started in the kitchen of Lou Phillips, OD, attended by Paul Karpecki, OD. You are a founding member of the Optometric Council on Refractive Technology. I just hope others gain some knowledge and entertainment from my tomfoolery. I say that every day! These videos are me, so it is fun to try to outdo myself. One of the first videos I did was comparing our crystalline lens to M&Ms-a great analogy. You see me on my Peloton sweating like a long-tailed cat in a room with my wife (she loves cats so they are nervous she may hug them to death), socially distancing from my patients with my digital phoropter, talking about how ridiculous using a sock with rice for a heating pad is, drinking my daily celery juice-all representative of what my patients see and hear from me. Making these videos is a way for me to try to bring some of my own personality into the day-to-day activities we all encounter. We need to demonstrate professionalism while still being relatable. I have always felt you can’t take anything too seriously I try to take that tone in the vlog, and I approach encounters with patients in a similar vein. What do you enjoy most about making those videos? Many people know you for your Collaborative Corner vlog on Eyetube. Go Blue! Marc (left) with his sons, Zachary (center) and Maxwell (right). I try to use every patient encounter to do just that: to create a sense of worth for both me and the patient. I wanted to feel that I was making a living but also making a difference. Patients leave the office-especially contact lens patients-with tangible improvements in their vision. The consensus was that this is a great profession. Thinking back, I remember speaking with a few ODs who worked in both corporate and private practices. I wanted to work with the public and yet not be tethered to a hospital. Optometry in the mid-1980s was starting to gain therapeutic prescribing rights nationwide, expanding the scope of the profession and allowing optometrists to practice to their educational heights. What about the profession interested you most? When did you know it was the right path for you? I actually spoke to my bio-chem professor about research, and she said, “I don’t think your personality is cut out for a lab.” It was not until I was rejected by my chem lab partner who had said she was studying to be an optometrist that I realized I was destined to work with the eyes. I volunteered at the UCLA Medical Center, and I followed the race for an AIDS vaccine with great interest. ![]() When I went to college, I was immersed in the sciences. ![]() I worked at a Sizzler restaurant-I still miss that cheesy bread and all-you-can-eat shrimp-and, at that time, working in hospitality seemed more my speed. In fact, the OD sat across the room reading a paper and was as interested in my exam as I was in the Iran gas shortage. The irony of my career choice is that I had one eye examination as a teenager, and it was not memorable at all. ![]()
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