May 17, 2012

A Letter from Dr. Adam

By leannew

Hello everyone. I'd like to share a wonderful letter with you. Dr. Adam Hill volunteered Wednesday on our clinic here in Toronto, and sent this to me today. Please take a moment to read his heartfelt thoughts!

 

Dear friends and colleagues,


Let me extend a sincere thank you for helping us hold a successful Vision Van clinic again this year in Scarborough! Not just to those of you who came out in person to volunteer, but also to those who considered coming but couldn't make it, and especially to those who take the time routinely to discuss OneSight with clients, helping to raise funds and awareness for the work we do. I don't know what the final numbers were for children seen or glasses dispensed -- surely someone more official than me will pass those details along -- but I do know that we definitely made a difference in many lives this week.

I was able to spend a full day at the Van this year, and we certainly kept ourselves busy! That day, we had volunteers from LensCrafters, Sears, and Pearle. (Many of whom remembered me from last year, which surprised me greatly!) We saw 30-some-odd kids, all but two or three of whom needed glasses, with the highest scripts off the top of my head being somewhere in the ballpark of +3.50 and -5.00.

For those of you who have never participated in a OneSight clinic - you should! It's a tremendous amount of fun, you're interacting with kids and basically hanging out all day. There's no optical knowledge needed for some of the stations, but someone will show you how things work if you're interested in learning (like the autorefractor, a machine that gives the docs a starting point for the prescription). And most of all, it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling at the end of the day.

Docs! You, more than anyone else, needs to be persuaded to join us! Why? Because the more optometrists sign up, the more fun we can all have! I agree, one optometrist seeing a couple dozen kids back to back to back, stuck in a dark cubicle on a bus, doesn't sound like fun. But when there's two and three of us, we can take turns seeing patients, taking breaks from the heat, and seeing the kids actually getting glasses. (Heck, if you get tired or frustrated, you can line up a few kids and blast them with the air-puff tonometer!) Seriously though - you know that feeling you get when a kid comes into your office for their first eye exam and they end up being a two- or three-diopter myope, and you can see their face light up when you stick a couple trial lenses in front of them? I had that happen to me today no fewer than twelve times. Why not take some time to put some smiles on a bunch of kids' faces (and your own!) and donate some of your time, even half a day, the next time the Vision Van comes to town?
Thanks, and I hope to see you again next year!

Dr. Adam Hill,
Lenscrafters 1637, Oshawa

Thanks Dr. Adam! You are amazing! 

A few more photos from today, from Carolyn!

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