EDITOR’S PAGE

Giving Something Back

For Jean Heisman, O.D., it’s about giving something back to her community.

What Dr. Heisman gives back to her town of Mullica Hill, N.J., is free eye exams to those who can’t pay. She participates in the AOA’s Vision USA program, which links O.D.s with people who need full exams but can’t afford them. We’re not talking mere vision screenings here.

Next month more than 7,500 AOA members will perform about 60,000 of these free exams. That’s about eight exams per doctor. Says Dr. Heisman: “It’s no big deal to see those eight patients a year.”

No big deal in terms of scheduling and extra work. However, it’s a big deal to the 46-year-old ex-Navy medic who came to Dr. Heisman’s South Jersey office last year complaining of vision loss in his left eye. Her work was only getting started when the exam ended.

Suspecting something serious, Dr. Heisman called a social worker, who arranged to get the patient an MRI. The patient’s church helped pay for the procedure. The MRI confirmed Dr. Heisman’s worst fears: a pituitary tumor. It was excised before it could cause more serious problems. “He told me, ‘If it hadn’t been for this program, I would’ve never come in to get my eyes checked,’ ” Dr. Heisman says.

(Unfortunately, soon after the operation this patient suffered a stroke unrelated to the tumor. He is now confined to a wheelchair.)

There’s also the single mother who came to Dr. Heisman with her son through Vision USA. “Now, her parents come here and her brother does too,” she says.
Those are only two stories about how optometrists roll up their sleeves to give excellent eye care to people who can’t pay for it. They’ve done it for the past nine years for almost a quarter-million Americans total.

March 7-13 is “Save Your Vision Week,” as proclaimed by the president. If you’ve missed out on Vision USA, it’s not too late to do your own thing next month. The AOA even provides promotional materials (for members, of course).

One of the nice things about Vision USA is that the AOA takes a low-key approach in organizing it. It’s not about promoting the AOA or even optometry. It’s about correcting vision and treating ocular disease.

For the doctors who participate, it’s not about increasing billings. Patients who need glasses typically get them free or for a nominal fee thanks to participating optical labs and Lions Clubs.

Like Dr. Heisman says, it’s about giving something back. Here’s what she and all the other Vision USA doctors are giving back to optometry: its heart.

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