My TLC One Year Anniversary

Post date: Sep 07, 2012 1:5:51 AM

Holy cow!

I can't believe that this week is my one year anniversary with TLC. One year ago, my head was completely spinning, just completely overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown my way as I took over the position of Clinical Director. Tons of classes, one new name after another, endless administrative challenges, long discussions with Dr. Holzman about his surgical preferences.

But, was it worth it!

Some highlights of the last year:

We successfully launched OD Central as an effective communication tool for our Affiliates. Hopefully you can find whatever you need here. If something's missing, you know my email address. Totally looking forward to your comments.

We know you can't always come to us at OD Central, so we started Custom Views, our monthly Center newsletter, highlighting the most important happenings at your favorite source for laser vision correction. This newsletter is sent directly to your email Inbox for easy viewing.

Joan and Nicole tried their best to get me out in the field as often as possible to meet our awesome Affiliate Network in person. Despite the fact that they were asked to pose for endless website photos, I'm pretty sure they had as much fun with me as I did with them. And, probably one of the most rewarding parts of my job - maybe second only to a patient's reaction at their 20/20 vision on a 1-day post-op visit - is getting to know my colleagues. Many more visits to come, so everyone get your smile on!

A number of new and established Affiliates have managed to make their way to the Center for surgical and clinical observation. Great way to earn CE credit! We also successfully transitioned our CE Series to the new office location.

I've had a great time working with our office staff, too. From figuring out how to make the most effective staff schedule, to filming Andy's 50th birthday video (which is on OD Central still, in case you missed it), to figuring out how to incorporate a corneal cross-linking study into the single busiest TLC Center in all of North America, this has been a happy journey for me.

Oh, did I mention that it's also freakin' cool to work alongside such a meticulous surgeon in Dr. Holzman?! Yep, that's certainly very true. Thank you to him for the many ways that he has been able to help me grow as a professional. Many direct ways, like teaching me about Wavescans or encouraging me to learn more about our lasers, but also indirect ways like boosting my self- and clinical confidence so that I can do my job - and live life - more effectively.

And, props to my staff ODs ... Drs. Patricia Woo, Hieu Vu-Gia, and Sheebani Bathija. Thanks for the many hours of clinical brainstorming, proofreading tons of documents, and paying close clinical attention to each individual patient that has entered our doors in Tysons Corner and Gainesville. Thanks for the flexibility in your schedules, covering each other when someone had to be out of town, and keeping your eye on the prize ... excellence in patient care and respect of our Network. Our per diem staff OD family will be growing this coming year. This ought to make for some fun email threads! : )

Heehee. Almost forgot to include my husband and two dogs! They have spent many long nights together while I was away at Consult Nights, CEs, and other fun meetings. Bob's a great sounding board for all of my brilliant ideas. : ) He told me that I would learn a lot from taking on this position, and that's definitely the truth. He said the same thing about my residency training, and he was right then, too. Is he on a roll or what? Thanks to our dogs Pepper and Sergeant for sitting beside me as I worked on my computer. You two are soooo cute!

Here's to many more years! - jw