CooperVision Best Practices Student Honorees

Kendra Kim is a graduate of Boston University and is currently in her third year at the SUNY College of Optometry in New York City. She serves as a tutor, mentor, and President of two student-led organizations: Student Chapter of the American Academy of Optometry (SAAO) and Beta Sigma Kappa (BSK)

Beyond her leadership responsibilities, Kendra is a selected Cornea and Contact Lenses Microcredential student, emphasizing her commitment to mastering the complexities of specialty contact lens fittings to better serve her future patients. She embraces a deep passion for contact lens innovation and aspires to advance contact lens technology within the eyecare field as a future leader in the optometric industry.

During her studies as an optician prior to optometry school, Meagan Seufert encountered the inequities in the eye care world and their potential societal repercussions, especially within at-risk communities and populations of lower socioeconomic status. These formative experiences helped shape her plan to pursue a Master’s in Public Health after residency in order to better advocate for the eye care profession and patients at a legislative level.

One day soon, Meagan hopes to find herself on the front lines of the fight to pass full scope modernization across all states. By raising public awareness of the capabilities of optometric physicians and their scope of training, she believes we can further improve access to eye care for patients. As someone who aspires to serve on her state association and AOA boards, Meagan considers it vital to be able to listen to the concerns of both her peers and patients alike, and to be able to formulate solutions for the betterment of the profession.

Each day in her life as a student, Alice Kim observes how attitudes in the field of optometry are changing dramatically. By remaining open to new technologies, while staying informed on evidence-based strategies, Alice aspires to becoming an excellent clinician – one who makes a positive impact in the day-to-day lives of her future practice’s staff, colleagues and patient

Inspired by the work of her mentors, Alice recently embarked on a year of service as the recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. Her project was awarded seed funds to collaborate with statewide organizations to provide vision care to individuals housed in transitional or rehabilitative facilities. Her experiences during this fellowship have shown her how various organizations can collaborate to achieve common goals, which ultimately helps individuals trying to achieve vision care overcome geographical and financial challenges.

Because myopia is a rapidly growing public health concern on a global scale, Alice looks forward to offering myopia management as part of her practice and staking a position at the forefront of new treatment strategies for tackling this increasingly prevalent condition.

As an aspiring optometrist, Susmitha Narisetty is passionate about igniting change in the industry by proactively educating patients on the importance of eye health. In fact, she’s made it a personal goal of hers to work towards changing patients’ attitudes towards optometry by offering more accessible and convenient eye care.

When Susmitha was young, her father was diagnosed with amblyopia—something that could have been prevented if it had been checked out earlier but was not due to lack of opportunity in resources in India. This was a major motivator for Susmitha to one day provide eyecare camps and education to patients in need, hopefully addressing eye care problems and diseases early on.

Clinical research and neuro disease have been two great areas of interest for Susmitha. She hopes to pursue a residency in contact lens or disease and eventually open a private practice of her own.

University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry student Erika Bendert has worn glasses for as long as she can remember. Having the ability to see the world more clearly is what inspired her to want to give the gift of sight to others.

Erika was excited to learn about the innovative industry leaders who are part of CooperVision’s Best Practices. She looked forward to the mentorship and guidance the honorees will provide and hopes to emulate some of their ideas as she progresses through her own career.

Erika hopes to do a residency in specialty contact lenses, with a particular interest in helping children with high myopia. In the future, she would love to own a community-based private practice with an emphasis on pediatric optometry and eye disease.

Ohio State University College of Optometry student Emily Benson always knew she wanted to be a part of the healthcare industry, but was unsure where exactly she’d find her niche. It was during her experience in undergrad shadowing a handful of ODs that she found her passion for optometry.

In particular, what piqued Emily’s interest was the patient education and communication side of things. She understands that the industry is constantly evolving and hopes to be at the forefront of this change throughout her career by continuously educating her peers about optometry as a legislated profession, and to her patients about the importance of eye care.

With myopia management at the forefront of the industry right now, Emily hopes to someday build her own practice focused on pediatric eye care and myopia management.

She is currently her school’s trustee for the American Optometric Student Association (AOSA).

From a young age, Makayla Harr, student at the University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Optometry, has been focused on one day becoming an optometrist. To jumpstart her career, Makayla started getting involved at a local practice where she first started working as a receptionist, and later worked her way up to become a lab technician.

This past year, Makayla has been recognized by two optometric student scholarship programs, participated in the annual SHiFT conference, and was named president of her school’s private practice club.

Part of what fuels Makayla’s passion for eye care is being able to give back to those in need. Over the years, Makayla has volunteered in several remote area clinics, providing free eye exams to underserved and underprivileged parts of the country. It is through this experience that Makayla now hopes to one day build a practice of her own in a rural part of the country where she can provide help to patients who don’t have easy access to eye care.

Indiana University School of Optometry student Dana DeVito took two “gap” years after undergrad, during which time she worked in both healthcare and real estate, ultimately deciding to pursue a career in healthcare. The more that she learned about optometry, the more she realized this was the path for her.

As an associate instructor at the Indiana University School of Optometry, Dana has helped lecture and teach for ocular biology, anatomy and physiology of the eye, and Clinic IV. She also serves as president of her school’s optometric private practice club.

In 2019, Dana became a member of the American Optometric Student Association, and the Contact Lens, Low Vision, and Sports Vision Club. She also is a junior executive board member for SOLutioN.

Dana has been recognized with several awards and honors including the Student Innovator Award, the MyEyeDr Fellowship, and IUSO Faculty Fellowship. She also recently became an AAO fellow and a member of the Gold Key international Optometric Society.

In the future, Dana hopes to buy into a private practice where she can focus on providing comprehensive eye care, contact lens services, and dry eye treatments.

Following in his family’s footsteps, Benjamin Gutsin was inspired to pursue a career in healthcare with aspirations to serve patients and make a positive impact on their lives.

Ben is currently enrolled in a 3-year Accelerated Scholars Program at Salus University College of Optometry—the only one of its kind in the country. During his time at Salus, he has served as Scholars Class President and been a recipient of the 2020 Dean’s Scholarship. In addition, he has received several awards from the University at Buffalo, including the 2019 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, the Stewart Global Citizenship Scholarship Award, and the Grace W. Capen Academic Award.

Benjamin has found a particular interest in learning about specialty contact lenses, myopia management, and ocular disease. He currently interns at The Eye Institute in Philadelphia, PA, where he independently examines patients and provides tentative diagnoses for preceptor review.

His long-term goal is to return to Buffalo, NY, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Optometry was not always in the picture for Briana Vargas. She initially decided to pursue art, but switched to optometry after her father was dealing with his own vision-related issues. If he hadn’t gone to see an optometrist, he could’ve potentially lost his vision. It was this experience that made Briana rethink her career.

During her time at the Rosenburg School of Optometry, Briana has found a passion for fitting contact lenses and changing peoples’ lives through the gift of vision. Briana has served as an ophthalmic technician at the Edinburg Vision Center, where she scribed for leading doctor, Dr. Luis Navarro, and prepped patients with entrance testing and refraction. She also has volunteered on a 3-day vision screening mission trip to the Rio Grande Valley, where she assisted patients with optical.

Currently, Briana works for Dr. Elaine Vlasak at Custom Eye Care to help patients pick out frames and contact lenses.

Briana’s long-term goal is to one day open her own private practice.

Growing up, Melody Kordnaij always knew that she wanted to work in healthcare. At a young age, she specifically recalls her optometrist being a huge inspiration to her, which is ultimately what motivated her to pursue a career in the field.

At school, Melody has taken on several leadership roles, including President of the Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) and Secretary of the Student Optometric Association for Private Practice (SOAPP). She is passionate about addressing the issue of diversity and inclusion within the industry, and feels that as a millennial, her generation can—and will—play a major role in making a difference in this area.

Melody applied to the Best Practices Student Scholarship Program eager to learn more about the industry from respected leaders across the country. Her long-term goal is to open her own practice with an emphasis on specialty contact lenses.

Optometry was not always in the picture for Sahithi Rani. She initially decided to pursue engineering but switched to optometry after realizing she thrived in the clinical space, where she was able to help others through the gift of sight.

During her time at the New England College of Optometry, Sahithi has found that she always benefits the most—both academically and professionally—from having mentors, which is why she applied to the Best Practices Student Scholarship Program. She was particularly eager to learn more from the honorees about how they approach and market myopia management in their practices, as pediatrics is of special interest to Sahithi.

Sahithi’s goal is to work primarily in clinical practice in pediatrics, while playing a major role advocating for the profession.

New England College of Optometry student Matthew Barnes was prescribed his first pair of glasses at 11 years old. The ability to see the world more clearly inspired him to want to give that same gift to others.

After researching CooperVision’s Best Practices, Matthew realized that being recognized for the program wasn’t about who made the most money or who fit the most patients. Being a Best Practice means making a real difference in not only the community, but in people’s lives. Matthew hopes to emulate ideas he learns from the honorees in his future practice.

Matthew intends to open his own practice after college. Since his greatest interest is in myopia management, he hopes to develop a practice with an emphasis on pediatrics, focusing on young children who are just beginning to develop issues with their eyes.

Christina Cherny grew up in western Germany, always knowing that she wanted to be a doctor. It was until she earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University that she knew she wanted to pursue optometry. While on a medical brigade to Peru, Christina injured her left eye while working on a community project. It was this experience that ignited a passion for helping others improve their vision and providing them with quality eye care.

As a student at SUNY College of Optometry, Christina had a particular interest in corneal disease and specialty contact lenses. She enjoyed learning how the Best Practices honorees apply evidence-based medicine and scientific research to their practices. Christina applied to the Best Practices Student Scholarship Program hoping to incorporate others’ ideas and best practices into the future care of her own patients.

Christina’s goal is to work in a New York City hospital fitting specialty contact lenses.

Optometry was not always in the picture for Matthew Howell. He first earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Arkansas, but then, on a mission trip to Uganda—as the only non-medical student on the team—he was introduced to a completely new experience. Within only a few weeks of his trip, Matthew changed his career path to pursue optometry.

Seeing medical professionals and students play a first-hand role in helping underserved communities in Uganda had inspired Matthew to provide that same invaluable care in people’s lives. He realized that providing primary care was something he would ultimately like to do to help. Matthew ended up shadowing his own optometrist in Texarkana, Texas, to learn more about the profession.

Matthew’s goal is to open his own practice. Aware of the challenges associated with this dream, Matthew applied to the Best Practices Student Scholarship Program for mentorship and training experience from some of the country’s most successful practitioners.