Dr. Jordan Hamric Reveals the Future of Pediatric Optometry in a Screen-Dominated Age

Hi, everyone. Doctor. Justin Kwan here from CooperVision. Welcome to our ECP viewpoints podcast. We're so incredibly excited to feature doctor Jordan Hamrick. On today's podcast, which we'll talk all things myopia, our favorite thing. So, Joanna, could you, kinda introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about where you grew up and your early career kind of landing on where you are today? Yeah. Definitely. So, I grew up in Bruce and Mills, West Virginia, which is a town located in the northern part of the state. And I went to college at West Virginia University, which is in Morgantown, just a twenty minute short twenty minute drive from where I grew up. So, while I was at w b u, I was a student athlete, so I competed in track and field, cross country, and actually worked at a technician at, a spectrum optical in the summers. So that fill up my summer time. And then following undergrad, I actually went to Memphis, Tennessee to Southern College of optometry, and I actually continued to compete. At a professional level and track throughout optometry school. So I, oftentimes on the weekends would travel to, track needs, throughout optometry school, And that was -- Wow. -- mostly in the spring semesters, but I I stayed very busy. That's it. So I graduated in the twenty team, and then I moved back to West Virginia where I'm from. And I first started beginning, working as an independent after, and I worked at both a local private practice and at a Walmart. So I did that for a couple years, and I did that so that I can keep my my schedule flexible, to continue running at a high level. But I Definitely battled with battling injury for about a year. So I decided to pull back a little bit and start working a little bit more, and that's when I started at spectrum optical, where I am now. So I was an associate doc for two and a half years, and then I actually became a partner in June of twenty twenty one. So we're currently a seven doctor practice, and we have two locations, and we just continue to grow. So I kinda came full circle at Spectrum from college all the way to now. So I'm very happy to be here. Well, congratulations on partnership. I was curious, like, in your early career, how many how was the week did you train? Yeah. So I I mean, I run every single day. Sometimes it was two times a day. There was cross training involved with swimming and, but I would go to class in the morning and I would try to get my run-in or my workout in at lunch time, and then I would go to labs in the afternoon. So, it was kind of my break from studying. It was it was good for me to have that. And one of my, teammates from WVU, and, one of my best friends actually went to optometry school with me. So I kinda had a a training partner along the way, and she works at a practice locally too. So That's kind of Oh my gosh. It's so great, buddy. Yeah. I I recollect, like, you know, just a Vision Expo East and got to have dinner with my optometry classmates. And we graduated in two thousand nine, but, do you have, like, one memory from Altaomfries School. I'm sure there's many, but one memory that kinda stands out to you that may make you smile or look fondly back in. Definitely. So one of my favorite memories while I was in optometry school, you know, surprise has to do with running, but, I actually ran the the St. Jude half marathon. I so I ran two years in a row, but the second time, my parents and then, one of my friends and my dad's training partners, and former WV track alumna, actually came to Memphis to run the full marathon. So I had my parents, my friend, and then actually a lot of my classmates and teammates ran too. But I was fortunate enough to win the half marathon, and then my, friend Heather won the full marathon. So, West Virginia of representing. So we had a really fun weekend celebrating and enjoying Memphis. So that was that one definitely stuck out for me. Well, like, that's beyond impressive. And, I don't consider myself a runner, but I don't realize people know emotional all kind of these races can be. Right? Especially the long ones. The longer you've oh, the more emotional that's just how we're wired must be very well. So you mentioned your practice is seven o d strong. How long did it take to get up to the full seven? Yeah. So when I started, we had I think there were four of us. Yeah. Four of us. And then we soon added a fifth, and he became a partner right away. And then, we brought in. And so we had five, and then One retired. So then we were back to tour. Uh-huh. And then we brought in two associates and, the end of twenty twenty one. And then we actually just got on another, part time doctor. So she just works Saturdays right now. But we hope after her full time in the so. Seems like the rate has accelerated in growth, which is exciting. Awesome. Awesome. And so, you know, looking at your practice, what would you say kind of makes it a little bit unique or special that may make it stand out from other practices, whether locally or regionally For sure. So We we try to pride ourselves in offering the latest technology. So, technology treatments in all areas of optometry. So when our patients come here, we want them to be able to get anything that they need, unless needing referred out for surgery. And so We do. We have two doctor two doctors that are, incredible and specialty contacts. So we see a ton of those we offer computer based vision therapy aided by, results from the right eye technology. So we have that. When were we? We prescribed neurolenses. We have that technology. We treat disease, obviously pediatrics with myopia management. And then we actually recently started IPL, for dry eye syndrome. So we we try to let our patients know every everything that we have available when they walk out the door. We want them to know that they can come here for that. So That's great. I would love to visit today. Yes. We thought that'd be. Yeah. Uh-huh. So thinking about myopia management, do you remember, like, what point in time you first heard about it? Yeah. Yeah. So it was actually in optometry school. And My memories are not very solid, to be honest. I remember learning about worth okay and touching on atropine therapy and multifocals to treat myopia progression, but, this was not something that was talked about much or often in school so I feel like it wasn't till I graduated and actually started practice that I was learning more about, myopia control, myopia management, and mostly through continuing education courses. And so and then just diving in myself and just learning as I go myself. Yeah. Totally. Was there, like, a meeting that you tried to travel to or that you got some of the CEO? Not not specifically. It's mostly just my online ones that I, that I found myself. But, and I I think Maria Sampelleis, I think, is her name. Yeah. I've watched several of hers. So No. I'm okay. Yeah. It's very cool. And I always like to stop reflection in question about, like, what would you tell your younger self? Zoe what you know today about media management or what you would tell, like, a new graduate, to make them more successful in myopia management. Yeah. Definitely. So I would tell myself just to be confident when prescribing myopia management. So, and the therapies and when having that initial conversation with parents, So before you have that elevator pitch down, it's going to be a little uncomfortable, but after you just kinda dive in and practice at a time or two with a patient, it just becomes And so, learning how to be concise and efficient while still making the patient parents feel cared for can be very tough, but it is possible. So I always tell my patients, to call me at any time with questions and I'll get back to them. So, I feel like also making it known that you're available for them goes a long way, and and don't be afraid to say, you know, I'll get back to you on that. You know, if if you don't know. So, but having that confidence, for the for the patient and the parents. So for sure. And I'm sure you see a lot of young children. Thank you. Sounds like you guys are a pillar of the community. Here, maybe a story about, like, an eight or nine year old, where the the little, you know, child really captivated you and how so. Yeah. And so, actually, last week, I had a, a nine year old patient that came to us for his first eye exam. In quite a while, he'd never worn glasses, contacts, anything like that. So after evaluating him, I explained myopia to his mother, and we discussed all the options. And we decided on mysite contact lenses, And so I always put the contacts into the patient's eyes if it's their first time wearing contacts. And so as soon as I got them in, his face just lit up. And he had a huge smile. He was so happy and and surprised at just how well he could see. Kind of that leaves on the tree, scenario. Which is very real. But his mom was equally excited and happy about his reaction. You could just hurt her eyes were watering. She was And I feel like it's just those that they're happening more often than not now, which I love, but, those interactions just make this part of optometry, and pediatrics just very rewarding and enjoyable. So I've I've really looked at that. That's the vision correction part. Right? Not even the long term. Exactly. Got a control. Exactly. Is there, like, one tip you'd give other, of our colleagues. In terms of examining young children, like, how can you relate to them better, or what really kind of, I guess, wins you brought points of these young kids on. Yes. For sure. I I see a lot of them. So I really tried to be engaging with the patient. So not just the parents when asking questions. I know a lot of parents like to kinda step in and answer for the fact. And when they're young enough, that's that's necessary sometimes, but I found that with really young patients, if you speak to them, the more you speak to them, the more comfortable they feel, and therefore, more likely to cooperate with you throughout the exam. So in certain cases, you also have to be very quick because kids can have a a short attention span And that leaves just a short window where you'll get, reliable information. And so, I like to ask them questions about themselves as well. So even unrelated division, like, oh, what school do you go to? What hobbies do you have? What sports are you interested in? That kinda calms their nerves a little, especially if you've just put dilation drops in their eyes and they're very anxious. So they think you're gonna stick it with a needle or something. So, always having a pleasant smile too, is very helpful. Just kinda calming them down a little bit. So For sure. If you, talked to my six year old said about Pokemon, you could talk your year off for, like, thirty minutes. So knowing how to cut them off nicely, total approach up there for sure. So, yeah, you've mentioned earlier, you know, talking to parents, you gotta be impactful and concise. What, how has your conversation kinda changed? Are there some Again, pieces of advice, you could give our colleagues about, the really key points of your parent conversation. Yeah. For sure. So I feel like I had a hard time talking about myopia management before my site because my experience was very slim. And that kinda just opened the doors for me. So I found that discussions with parents, even though there was research available on, like, worth okay, multi vocals, atropine therapy. It just wasn't easy for me. And so, now that I have so many patients in my sight lenses, and and have my own database of information to pass on to the parents. I'm totally confident and comfortable with the lenses and how they work. I do still give all the options to the parents. So I start out by just explaining, you know, your child has myopia, what it is, and then I just go through the whole thing. So I let them know, you know, the eye lengthens, the more the more near sighted we get, and then I let them know the risks involved with that, letting them know they, you know, it's not necessarily that they're going to happen, but there's a higher risk the higher the prescription yet. So, that's why we have this, that, and the other option, which is, my site's always my first my first go to for patients, but, you know, sometimes, financially, that's not a a possibility for the patient. So I do have a lot in multifocal lenses too, and the and they they do well. Patients do see better with my site from my experience than they do as multifocal And then I have several in atropine, therapy too. And, one of our doc I don't personally do ortho k, but one of our docs does here. We kinda have an intolerance, but I I do go through everything. I just tried to break it down for them to try to get it all in there without talking for twenty minutes, but I give them information too, like, packets of information. So that way, and I let them know if you have questions, you just let us and then and then we'll answer them for you because it's a lot to take in for a parent, Would you say most of the time you try to have the conversation at the comprehensive eye exam? I do. I do. Now if if they're unsure, and they they're they're kinda on the fence. I'll say, why don't we just schedule you back in six months? And we'll kind of reevaluate, especially if the child's not progressed in any and then we just kind of follow-up then. But, yeah, I do have that conversation at the comprehensive exam. So Maten. Very cool. So I was able to kinda dig in and find out, like, again, you guys are growing at such a nice rate. At this same point, today, as last year, You're at, like, three times as many kiddos that you've helped with my site one day. What do you kind of attribute to your growing success? Yeah. So honestly, I think it's just having confidence in the my site product due to my success in the first year of using my site. So I'll I did not think it would take off as it did, but, it it was it was wonderful. So the conversation again, can't quickly be blown over. The details and the whys are important. And so, letting I I found also helpful that just letting the parent know that there is a, trial period for a week, gives them more time to kinda digest all the information, and -- The thing. -- not having to make that huge financial commitment the back, letting them know we can try this for a week. Let's go ahead and try it. And then when you come back to the follow-up, we kind of, you know, adjust or answer any questions that they may have. But oftentimes, it's just that smile on the kid's face after you put It's enough to sell the parent. The cat the kid is so happy, and and they know that it's gonna help their kid in the long run. So the the kid is happy. The parent is happy. So it's kind of a win win. Yeah. And I'm sure, like, the families enjoy kind of the outdoor lifestyle that West Virginia offers. There's a lot of unsec lenses. Yeah. And if the client wears contacts themselves and especially if they're nearsighted, they more easily understand, you know, rather than putting a hard lens and sleeping in it overnight, like a soft contact lens is something they understand. Cool. And so it's easier to kinda get that point across. Yeah. And, Jordan, do the other six ODs kind of refer myopia patients into your schedule, or do they try to start treatment themselves How many are kind of involved? Yeah. So, out of the seven, I would say six are actively prescribing myopia management therapies. Now Just based on the way the schedules are, I, out of all of us, have the most kids on my schedule. So I just get most of them because of that. Yeah. Six of the seven are are doing it themselves too. One of our doctors doesn't see many young kids, and so he will actually refer his patients to me for myopia treatment, but Most of us try to get it done. So Yeah. It sounds like your staff knows to put the young families onto your state world. They do. So, yeah, thinking about staff, have you done, like, one on one training with your staff, or how do you get the team And then we're educated on the why and the urgency of myopia management. What have you tried out and what's working? Yeah. So, When my site came out particularly, we made all of our staff aware of the technology. That way, when someone answers the phone, we actually we have a phone room. When somebody answers the phone, then they're not like, oh, I've never heard of that if somebody's asking about. So we wanted everyone to be aware, front desk, check out, check-in, And then we trained our technicians specifically on how the technology works because they're more working more closely with the patient. So We actually have a clinical director that, takes care of all of our all of our my site patients, and she takes care of any prescription changes that are necessary throughout the year. And she's our point of contact for the parents if they have any questions, and then she obviously reaches out to us if if she's not sure of that. So in general, I think it's it's mostly though the doctors that are educating the patients that have children that come in for their eye exams especially on your side of patients on the employees of just bringing their kids in from a young age. And so, most patients don't actually know the appropriate age to bring their kid in for an eye exam. So I I feel like I'm always giving that information, but it's our responsibility to get that information out there. So, we actually have had some of our docs attend, like local health fairs, to get information out to the community and actually coached for a, local youth indoor chat club in the winter. So I'll sometimes mention it to parents what I do and where where they can find eye care for their kids. So, we we try to get it out there as much as we can. Awesome. Yeah. I I kind of remember taking my son to Taekwondo, and there's, like, you know, at least a handful of kids wearing glasses. Oh, yeah. And then it's, like, Maybe not the wisest thing. Right. Not that sport. Yeah. Well, it's okay. Great. Well, I wanted to kinda close with, just letting the audience also know, vision expert East, we kicked off a brand new campaign called make children cite your fights. I know it's a little tag tag line there. But I I I know you're passionate about this. I know you're committed. But what does it look like to kinda make children cite your fight in your community? I think you've alluded to this a little bit already, but any other thoughts around whole kind of spirit of, I would say fight for every diopter, but it's kind of like in that whole whole spirit. Yeah. So, again, just kinda read reading what I said. It's it is our responsibility to educate parents on the risk risks of myopia progression, and the options that are available for treatment. So We do use social media a lot to let our patients and community know that we have the my set technology. And we have parents actually coming in specifically requesting my right now. So, it's amazing even just what -- Why? -- what word-of-mouth can do, but, as as optometric positions, it it is a big deal and it is prevalent and becoming more so. So we need to get the ones that are, getting that information. Are you finding Jordan that parents are more easily understanding myopia as a disease or there's still a runway to get there? I feel like if if the right verbiage is used, you can help them to understand pretty quickly. And, using the term you know, nearsighted versus myopia can sometimes help them understand a little bit better so I find it. I I let them know that is the same thing, but oh, near sighted, you know, people know what that means. And so, I do feel we're getting there. Definitely. And do you end up showing, like, the visual of the longer run? We we find that that tends to be pretty powerful. Yeah. Yeah. So then we actually got a new packet of brochures recently. It's just like a an open fold. And it it's really, really nice, better than the the previous that we have. And so I do go through that. I tend to use my hands a lot too. So Yes. Well, awesome. Thanks so much for being on the podcast today by sharing your experience and and your words of wisdom. To help all, I guess, forty two thousand LEDs do this well together. Yeah, we hope to connect to get soon, but until then, have a great rest of your week. Thank you. You too.