The Optometric Minute

Develop Varied Clinical Skills, Increase Your Value to a Practice

Melanie J. Denton, OD, FAAO, of Asheville, NC, has developed a varied clinical skills set that permits her to bring specialized services to several practices where she works. In one practice, she handles pediatric cases; in another, she treats ocular diseases. Doing a residency at a large clinic, and rotating between departments within that facility, equipped her to handle a wide spectrum of situations and to be adaptable to changing patterns of optometric practice. In anticipation of owning her own practice soon, Dr. Denton is completing an MBA. “Doing an MBA program has been wonderful,” she says. “Now when I own my own practice, I’ll be able to run it the way I want to run it.”

ACTION POINTS

DO A RESIDENCY AND ROTATE. The more situations you handle as a resident, the more confident you will be seeing varied cases in practice.
OFFER SPECIALIZED SERVICES. If you can add a specialized service to an existing practice, you are valuable to that practice, or to several practices where you work part-time.
ADD BUSINESS SKILLS TO CLINICAL SKILLS. Learning the language of business increases your comfort level when you own and run a practice.

Melanie Denton, OD, FAAO, practices at several locations in the Asheville, NC, area. To contact her: melaniedenton@gmail.com.

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