By Essence Johnson, OD, FAAO
As new ODs enter the profession, there is often an unspoken expectation that the path forward is clear: secure a position, begin practicing, and build a career with confidence and direction. However, not every journey into practice follows a linear or predictable course. For many, the transition from student to doctor is shaped not only by professional decisions, but by personal experiences that redefine priorities, timing, and identity.
Learning to navigate uncertainty is just as important as developing clinical skills.
When Life Disrupts the Timeline
During optometry school, I experienced a significant personal loss: the death of my mother. In the midst of rigorous academic and clinical training, grief became an unexpected and defining part of my journey.
While my peers were preparing for graduation with a sense of direction, finalizing job offers, selecting practice modalities, and planning their next steps, I found myself in a very different position. I had completed the same education, passed the same exams, and earned the same degree, but I didn’t have the same clarity.
Grief has a way of reshaping everything. It impacts focus, decision-making, energy, and even how you envision your future. What others may interpret as uncertainty or indecision can often be the result of navigating experiences that are not visible from the outside.
For me, the question was not simply, “Where do I want to practice?” It was, “What do I need in this season of my life to move forward in a sustainable way?”
Choosing Residency as a Strategic Pause
In the absence of a clear plan, I chose to pursue a residency.
Residency is often framed as a decision driven by clinical interest or specialization. While those factors were certainly part of my experience, my decision was also influenced by something less frequently discussed: the need for time.
Time to continue building my clinical confidence.
Time to gain additional exposure to patient care.
And time to process a major life transition without the pressure of immediately committing to a long-term role.
In many ways, residency served as both a professional and personal bridge. It allowed me to continue progressing in my career while acknowledging that I was not yet in a position to make definitive decisions about where or how I wanted to practice.
For new graduates, it is important to recognize that career decisions do not exist in isolation. They are shaped by life circumstances, emotional readiness, and personal capacity. Choosing residency, or any transitional step, can be a strategic decision, even if it does not align with the traditional timeline.
Redefining Success in the Early Years
Early in your career, it is easy to measure success by external markers: job placement, salary, practice type, or perceived stability. However, those markers do not always reflect what is necessary for long-term growth.
In my case, success was not defined by immediately securing the “right” job. It was defined by maintaining forward momentum during a time of uncertainty.
That meant allowing myself to:
- Make decisions that prioritize sustainability over speed
- Accept that clarity would develop over time, not overnight
- Recognize that personal experiences were influencing my professional path
This required a shift in mindset. Instead of viewing my lack of a clear plan as a weakness, I began to see it as part of a process of recalibration.
Not having all the answers did not mean I was unprepared. It meant I was still becoming.
The Role of Grace in Professional Growth
One of the most important lessons from this period was the importance of extending grace to myself.
Healthcare training often emphasizes precision, decisiveness, and confidence, qualities that are essential in clinical practice. However, those expectations can unintentionally carry over into how we approach our careers, creating pressure to have everything figured out immediately after graduation.
The reality is that growth does not always happen in a straight line.
There are seasons where progress looks like exploration.
There are seasons where progress looks like rest.
And there are seasons where progress simply looks like continuing, even when the path is unclear.
Giving yourself permission to move through those seasons without judgment is critical to both personal well-being and professional longevity.
Advice for New ODs Navigating Uncertainty
For new doctors who may find themselves in a similar position, graduating without a clear plan or navigating unexpected life circumstances, there are several key considerations to keep in mind:
1. Your timeline is your own.
There is no single “correct” way to begin your career. Comparing your path to others can create unnecessary pressure and distract from what you actually need.
2. Clarity develops through experience.
It is not uncommon to feel uncertain early on. Exposure to different environments, patient populations, and practice styles will help shape your direction over time.
3. It is okay to choose space.
Whether through residency, part-time work, or other transitional roles, creating space to grow and reflect can be a strategic decision, not a delay.
4. Personal experiences matter.
Life events, both expected and unexpected, influence how we show up as clinicians. Acknowledging that impact allows for more intentional decision-making.
5. Forward movement is still progress.
Even when your path is not clearly defined, continuing to engage, learn, and grow is meaningful.
A Final Reflection: Becoming in the In-Between
The transition from student to doctor is often framed as a moment of arrival. In reality, it is the beginning of a new phase of growth, one that is shaped as much by personal development as it is by professional experience.
For me, the period following graduation was not defined by certainty, but by becoming.
Becoming more confident clinically.
Becoming more aware of what I needed in a practice environment.
And becoming more aligned with the kind of doctor and person, I wanted to be.
Not every path in optometry will be clearly mapped out from the beginning. And that is not a limitation. It is an opportunity.
Because sometimes, the most important work you do in your early career is not in having all the answers.
It is in giving yourself the space to find them.
Essence Johnson, OD, FAAO, is the Executive Director of Black Eyecare Perspective and Director of Healthcare Careers at Uplift Education. A graduate of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University, she and her Black Eyecare Perspective colleagues received the university’s Presidential Medal of Honor in 2022. She completed a residency in ocular disease, serves as an associate professor at Rocky Mountain University of the Health Professions School of Optometric Medicine, and practices as a community health and clinical trial optometrist.
Dr. Johnson is known for expanding pathways into healthcare for underrepresented students and co-founded the Black Eyecare Perspective Pre-Optometry Club. She lives near Dallas, TX with her husband and two children.
