Defocus Media Eyecare and Optometry Podcast Network
by Defocus Media Eyecare and Optometry Podcast Network
the #1 Eyecare Podcast Network, where vision meets voice. Trusted by optometrists, opticians, ophthalmologists, and eyecare leaders, we deliver authentic conversations, clinical pearls, and real-world strategies that shape the future of patient care and practice management.
Episodes
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Uveitis and Autoimmune Disease: How Inflammation Can Affect Your Eyes
A painful, red eye may seem like an isolated problem, but for some people, it can be a sign of inflammation connected to the immune system. On the Eye-Q Podcast, Dr. Rudrani Banik and uveitis specialist Dr. Deep Parikh explain how autoimmune disease can affect the eyes, which symptoms deserve...
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Beyond Chucky: Horror, Hospital Optometry, and the Human Side of Care
A killer doll might seem an unlikely starting point for a conversation about compassionate eye care. But in this Halloween episode of OD’ing on Movies, Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson welcome Dr. Maciel Cruz for a discussion that moves from Child’s Play to the realities of hospital...
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Beyond the Salary: How Optometrists Can Evaluate Workplace Benefits
A job offer may look appealing on paper, but salary tells only part of the story. Paid time off, health insurance, retirement contributions and professional expenses can all shape the value of a position—and an optometrist’s experience in it. On the Depth Perception Podcast, Dr. Douglas Akidi and...
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How Optometry Practice Branding Builds Patient Trust
Before patients enter an optometry practice, they may already have formed an impression through its website, social media or emails. In an episode of 4 the Record, Tyler Kemp and Marketing4ECPs content strategist Rachel Topp explore how those impressions shape trust—and why a clear brand strategy...
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Optometry Equipment Warranties: Why Dr. Adam Ramsey Says One Year Isn’t Enough
An expensive piece of office equipment breaks down, but the monthly payments keep coming. For Dr. Adam Ramsey, that experience raises a question about what optometrists should expect when investing in their practices. In an episode of Play Chess Not Checkers, he argues that equipment purchases...
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Optometry Practice Management: Closing the Patient Follow-Through Gap
The examination ends with a diagnosis, a treatment recommendation and a patient who appears ready to act. What happens afterward is less certain. Instructions compete with work, family responsibilities and established routines, leaving a gap between the care recommended and what a patient…
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Verity: When the Book Tells a Different Story Than the Movie
What happens when a bestselling psychological thriller makes the leap from page to screen, but leaves some of its most compelling details behind? On this episode of the OD’ing on Movies Podcast, Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson welcome special guest Dr. Eric Harris, an experienced...
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How to Improve the Contact Lens Patient Journey and Grow Your Practice
Key Takeaways: Grow your contact lens practice through personalized patient care. Create a memorable patient experience that builds trust, strengthens loyalty, and supports long-term contact lens practice growth. Identify more first-time contact lens wearers. Ask lifestyle-focused questions to...
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Virtual Assistants in Optometry: How AI Is Transforming Practice Management in Eye Care
Key Takeaways Virtual assistants in optometry are real people who can use AI-enhanced tools to improve efficiency while preserving human interaction. Teem’s AI phone coaching tool can help virtual optometry assistants and team members improve patient communication, information gathering, and...
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Buddy Movie Review: Dark Comedy and the Eye Care Behind the Horror
What happens when a beloved children’s television mascot becomes a ruthless killer? In this episode of the OD’ing on Movies Podcast, Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson review Buddy, a horror comedy that transforms the cheerful world of 1990s children’s programming into a bloody nightmare.…
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Myopia Management Practice: How to Slow the Progression of Childhood Myopia
Childhood myopia, or nearsightedness, does not have to mean stronger glasses every year. Myopia management offers treatment options designed to slow the progression of nearsightedness in children, including MiSight contact lenses, orthokeratology (Ortho-K), atropine, and myopia-control glasses.…
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How to Build a Profitable Dry Eye Practice: Systems, Staff and Smarter Patient Care
Dry eye care has become far more than recommending artificial tears and sending patients home. For practices willing to build the right systems around diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, it can become a sophisticated clinical service that improves patient care while creating a meaningful new...
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Optometrist Burnout: Are You Really Burned Out or Just Bored?
Burnout has become a familiar word in optometry, but Dr. Adam Ramsey believes it may not tell the whole story. In a solo episode of Play Chess Not Checkers, Ramsey challenges doctors to consider a different question: Are they truly burned out—or have stress, repetition and shrinking margins…
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The Sheep Detectives: What a Movie About Sheep Can Teach Optometrists
A flock of sheep solving the murder of their shepherd may not sound like an obvious starting point for a conversation about optometry. But on OD’ing on Movies, Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson welcomed Dr. Janette Pepper for a discussion that moved effortlessly from The Sheep Detectives to...
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Dry Eye Discordance
Dry eye disease rarely presents as a straightforward clinical puzzle. Some patients report burning, grittiness and blurred vision despite showing few visible signs; others have significant corneal damage yet feel little discomfort. In a conversation with Dr. Darryl Glover, dry eye specialist and...
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From Compassion to Leadership: Phernell Walker’s Vision for Opticianry
Long before Phernell Walker became a master optician and the first Black chair of the American Board of Opticianry, a childhood encounter gave him a reason to care about sight. Speaking with Tarrance Lackran at the United Opticians Association Leadership Conference in Chicago, Walker traced a...
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The Odyssey Part 2: Monsters, Moral Choices, and the Long Journey Home
In part two of their discussion of The Odyssey, Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson are joined once again by honorary co-host Dr. Morgan Jones. Together, they follow Odysseus through the darkest and most dangerous stages of his journey home. Between thoughtful analysis and hilarious side...
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What Canada’s New Optometrists Really Want From Their Careers
For optometry students and new graduates, choosing where and how to practice can be challenging—especially when reliable career information is difficult to find. Dr. Wynn Nguyen is helping close that gap through the Canadian New ODs report, a crowdsourced survey exploring compensation, career...
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Women’s Eye Health: Connecting Hormones, Beauty Trends and Dry Eye
Dry eye disease affects women at approximately twice the rate of men, yet the relationship between women’s health and the ocular surface is often overlooked. In a conversation on The 20/20 Podcast, Dr. Harbir Sian and Dr. Janice Luk explored how hormonal changes, beauty routines and inflammation...
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From Scleral Lenses to Mindful Leadership: Dr. Melissa Barnett on Innovation, Burnout and Impact in Optometry
In this episode of the Play Chess Not Checkers Podcast, Dr. Melissa Barnett joins Dr. Adam Ramsey to reflect on her evolution from a shy student into an internationally recognized optometrist, educator, author and coach. Their conversation explores how mentorship shaped her career, why...
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Michael Inspires a New Generation and Lessons Beyond Music
On a special episode of the OD’ing on Movies podcast, hosts Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson welcomed Dr. Darryl Glover, Dr. Ashley Johnson, and their children, Ariyo Glover and Rammona Johnson, to discuss Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic. For Ariyo, a devoted Michael Jackson fan who...
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Can Face Wash Make Dry Eye Worse? What Eye Doctors Should Know
A patient comes in with red, irritated eyes. Their eyelids are swollen. Maybe they have recurring styes, or perhaps they have tried several contact lenses and insist that every one of them feels dry. For an eye care professional, the natural response is to start thinking about treatment. But Amy...
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How Dr. Jennifer Tsai Is Redefining Optometry
Dr. Jennifer Tsai’s career does not fit neatly into the traditional definition of optometry. She is an optometrist, practice owner, content creator, and entrepreneur who has built a personal brand reaching hundreds of thousands of followers while developing two practices in New York City. But the...
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Beyond the Eye: Rethinking Pain, Patients, and Human Connection
Optometry is built on measurements, clinical findings, and treatment plans. But some of the most challenging patient encounters cannot be fully explained by what appears under the slit lamp. On The 20/20 Podcast, host Dr. Harbir Sian sits down with Dr. Richard Maharaj to explore a more human...
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Vision Therapy in Practice: Finding the Line Between Appropriate Use and Overreach
Vision therapy has long occupied an interesting place in eye care. For some conditions, there is a growing body of research supporting its use. For others, questions remain about where appropriate treatment ends and overreach begins. On the 4-Eyed Professor Podcast, Dr. Chris Lievens sits down…
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What Eye Care Can Learn From Great Retail Experiences
What makes someone want to return to a store? It is rarely just the product. For eye care practices, where healthcare and retail intersect every day, the experience surrounding the product can be just as important. On 4theRecord, host Tyler Kemp speaks with Lea Wilhelm, owner of The Peacock, a...
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The Odyssey Through an Optometrist’s Lens: Why This Epic Still Captivates Audiences
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has become one of the biggest cinematic events of the year, but for Dr. Jacobi Cleaver, Dr. Jacob Wilson, and Dr. Morgan Jones, the film offered much more than stunning visuals. Their conversation blended mythology, filmmaking, and optometry into an entertaining...
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Should You Do an Optometry Residency? Everything You Need to Know
Choosing an optometry residency is about more than getting a match—it's about finding the residency that matches your long-term career goals. Dr. Whitney Powell explains how identifying the type of practice she wanted helped her choose a program that accelerated her clinical skills, confidence…
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Building a Dry Eye Practice Around Passion, Patients, and Progress
When Dr. Cory Lapin opened his dedicated dry eye practice, he was not stepping into a polished operation with a large staff and years of established systems. Just four weeks in, the practice consisted largely of Lapin and a virtual receptionist, leaving him involved in nearly every part of the...
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Autonomous: When AI, Horror, and Human Nature Collide
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, from chatbots to autonomous vehicles. In this episode of the OD’ing on Movies Podcast, filmmakers Erin Aine and Kyle Valle discuss their newest micro-horror series, Autonomous, a suspenseful story that explores what happens when...
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The Simple Blueprint That Grew an Optometry Practice from $280K to $4 Million
Learn how to build an optometry practice with leadership, practice culture, and proven business strategies from Dr. Kurt Steele's journey to $4 million.
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How Alain Mikli Redefined Luxury Eyewear Through Fearless Design
For nearly five decades, Alain Mikli has challenged the eyewear industry to think beyond function. In a conversation with Tarrence Lackran on EyeConversations, the legendary designer reflected on building one of the most influential eyewear brands in history, proving that success comes from...
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Myopia Management in Practice: How to Get Started
Myopia management in practice is no longer limited to specialty clinics. Learn how to start myopia management, overcome common barriers, educate parents, and confidently deliver myopia control across corporate optometry, private practice, and academic settings.
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Leonardo Learning Platform: Transforming Eye Care Team Education
Learn how the Leonardo Learning Platform helps eye care practices improve staff education, leadership development, patient experience, and long-term practice growth.
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Beyond the Exam Room: Dr. Ansel Johnson’s 40-Year Legacy in Optometry
For Dr. Ansel Johnson, a 40-year career in optometry has never been defined solely by prescriptions, practice ownership, or professional titles. His journey reflects something much larger: the power of representation, lifelong learning, community service, and using eye care as a gateway to better...
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How to Scale an Optometry Practice Without Losing the Human Touch
Looking to build or scale an optometry practice? Jamie Rosin shares proven strategies for growing an eye care practice by improving leadership, patient experience, team accountability, and operational systems. Learn how to optimize your current practice before expanding and build a scalable...
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Glaucoma 101: Understanding the Silent Thief of Sight
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide, yet many patients are unaware they have it until significant vision has already been lost. In this episode of the Eye-Q Podcast, Dr. Rudrani Banik breaks down the fundamentals of glaucoma, explaining what every patient and...
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From Disclosure Day to Specialty Contact Lenses With Dr. Lisa Wahl
What happens when a science-fiction movie about extraterrestrial life brings together conversations about iris color, specialty contact lenses, career growth, and the importance of having a life outside optometry? On the OD in Our Movies podcast, Dr. Jacobi Cleaver and Dr. Jacob Wilson welcomed…
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3 Simple Ways To Improve Employee Retention In Your Practice
Running a successful eye care practice requires more than clinical expertise. Practice owners must also lead teams, manage performance, communicate expectations, and build a workplace culture where employees can thrive—often without formal training in human resources. Dr. Alanna Wilson shares how...
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How to Start a Myopia Management Program: A Practical Guide for Optometrists
Learn how to build a successful myopia management program with practical strategies for myopia control, including MiSight contact lenses, Stellest spectacle lenses, orthokeratology, and atropine. Explore clinical protocols, axial length monitoring, pricing, parent education, and team implementation.
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The Future of Dry Eye: Why Precision Medicine Is Changing Everything
Dry eye disease is no longer viewed as a simple problem solved with artificial tears. As Dr. Laura Periman explains, modern research is redefining dry eye as a complex, multifactorial disease that requires personalized diagnosis and targeted treatment. During her conversation on The 20/20…
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Independence Day Movie Review and Fireworks Eye Safety Tips from Optometrists
Nearly 30 years after its release, Independence Day remains one of the defining summer blockbusters. Starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Vivica A. Fox, the 1996 sci-fi classic combined action, humor, and unforgettable visual effects to become a global box office phenomenon. Dr. Jacobi Cleaver...
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Purpose Over Perfection: Dr. Cortez Lewis’ Journey to Success
Success is often portrayed as a straight path marked by perfect grades, ideal circumstances, and flawless execution. Dr. Cortez Lewis’ journey proves otherwise. From growing up in a small Arkansas town and navigating academic struggles to overcoming unimaginable personal loss while pursuing his...
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Vision Benefit Manager Reform: How Louisiana’s S.B. 404 Changes Optometry
Louisiana's passage of Senate Bill 404 marks a major milestone in vision benefit manager (VBM) reform and optometry advocacy. Dr. Amy Puerto and Dr. Robert Janot join Defocus Media to discuss how this landmark legislation improves transparency, protects the doctor-patient relationship, and...
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Experience Persol at Movies With A View This Summer
Persol has spent more than a century building a reputation for timeless Italian craftsmanship, authentic design, and a deep connection to cinema. This summer, those values come to life through one of New York City's most iconic outdoor events. Beginning July 2 and continuing every Thursday…
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How to Build a Dry Eye Practice: Dr. Ada Noh’s Journey From Burnout to Purpose
Building a successful dry eye practice goes far beyond adding new technology. Dr. Ada Noh shares practical strategies for creating efficient systems, improving patient education, and delivering consistent dry eye care that benefits both patients and the practice. Learn how intentional workflows…
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Building Trust, Referrals, and Real Influence in Optometry
As optometry continues to evolve, doctors have more opportunities than ever to specialize, adopt new technologies, and collaborate with industry, but lasting success is built on something far more important than equipment or titles: trust. During a conversation recorded at the British Columbia...
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What Obsession Teaches Us About Passion, Purpose, and Finding Your Place in Optometry
The latest episode of OD’ing on Movies took listeners on a deep dive into the indie horror sensation Obsession, a psychological thriller that explores what happens when admiration turns into unhealthy fixation. While the hosts unpacked the film’s suspenseful twists and unsettling themes, the...
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Virtual Assistants in Optometry: The $20K Cost Advantage with Teem
Key Takeaways Virtual assistants in optometry are becoming a critical solution for practices looking to scale across multiple locations without increasing operational complexity. For optometrists managing growth, the challenge is not clinical care, it is maintaining consistency in scheduling,...
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Dry Eye Demystified: A Closer Look at Xiidra® (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution) 5% for DED Inflammation
Dry eye is showing up in exam lanes every day—and for many practices, it represents one of the most consistent opportunities to improve patient comfort, visual stability, and long-term trust. In this Defocus Media Podcast episode, Dr. Darryl Glover and Dr. Jennifer Lyerly are joined by dry eye...
About this show
the #1 Eyecare Podcast Network, where vision meets voice. Trusted by optometrists, opticians, ophthalmologists, and eyecare leaders, we deliver authentic conversations, clinical pearls, and real-world strategies that shape the future of patient care and practice management.
Hosted by
Defocus Media Eyecare and Optometry Podcast Network