OPT Visionary - Spring/Summer 2013

THE V ISIONARY • S PRING /S UMMER 2013 — 13 While completing her residency in pediatric op- tometry and vision therapy, Dr. Coulter practiced as an associate in the private practice of Mitchell Scheiman, O.D., which also focused on pediatric and vision therapy services. “I was very lucky to work with Dr. Scheiman at the start of my career because he was an excellent teacher, researcher, and author of several textbooks,” she explained. “He exposed me to all sides of optometry—academia, private practice, research—and I was encouraged to accept work on projects and trials on a regular basis.” Pediatric Growth at NSUCO Because she already lived in Florida and had a Florida license, Southeastern College of Optometry in North Miami Beach (the precursor to NSUCO) was an attractive option when it came time to pursue ca- reer opportunities. “Although I did not initially plan to work in the academic realm, it was not a big stretch,” she said. Dr. Coulter accepted an appointment at South- eastern University of the Health Sciences in 1992, and the university “created a job around what I liked to do.” Dr. Coulter said that when she started, “There was just one lane for the pediatric service.” Within three short years, she was appointed as chief of the Pediatric Optometry Service. “During this time, we grew from 1 to 10 lanes,” she explained. We started new clinics on Broward Boulevard and in Davie. In 1996, under Terry In- graham, O.D., the interim dean at the time, we started the pediatric residency.” Dr. Coulter served as chief of the Pediatric Op- tometry Service from 1995 to 1999 and believes the growth of the pediatric division to a center of excel- lence is the achievement she is most proud of, “bring- ing a national level of care to the local community.” Today, the pediatric service remains strong with 10 specialist faculty members and 5 out of 8 residents specializing in pediatric optometry and vision therapy. CITT Study In 2001, Dr. Coulter served as principal investigator for NSU’s Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial (CITT), a multi-year study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI). She regards this project as one of her proudest professional achievements, which she shares with her fellow faculty members. Interestingly, the project was an offshoot from one of the many pilot studies Dr. Coulter had been involved in following the advice of Dr. Scheiman early on in her career. With a diverse patient base, NSUCO was one of just six optometry schools to participate in the trial, which resulted in publications in such journals as Archives of Ophthalmology , Optometry and Vision Science , and Ophthalmic Epidemiology . “The pedi- atric faculty at NSUCO is one of the best groups of any optometry school,” she proudly stated. “I am very proud to have been part of that.” In addition to the NEI funding, Dr. Coulter received an NSU Health Professions Division Research Grant for the “Base-In Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial” and the “Ocular Motility and Attention Study.” She also is a two-time NSU President’s Faculty Re- search and Development Grant award recipient for studies relating to preschool vision screening. Sabbatical Enhances Skills In 2011-12, Dr. Coulter took a one-year sabbatical to complete a master’s degree in Exceptional Student Education and focus on an area of interest—autism spectrum disorder (ASD). “Less than one percent of children in the United States have ASD, and there are very few optometric publications or vision-related re- search studies on patients with ASD,” she explained. “Optometrists want clearer information and evidence- based practice guidelines.” During her sabbatical, Dr. Coulter worked on sev- eral projects related to the care of patients with ASD. She travelled to the United Kingdom to meet with spe- cialists working in this field and complete a research exchange with Glasgow Caledonian University. She also attended the 11 th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research in Toronto, Canada, in May 2012 and visited a number of private practices throughout the United States, where she provided innovative care to patients with ASD. In addition, she completed her certification as a DIR/Floortime provider—an ad- vanced clinical competency in a working interdiscipli- nary model with special needs children. Since returning to NSUCO, she is receiving regular referrals for children with ASD from non-optometric practitioners in the local community such as physi- cians, speech and language therapists, psycholo- gists, and CARDs. In addition, Dr. Coulter is receiving referrals from Bascom Palmer, showing clearly that there is increasing demand for this specialization. The attainment of her master’s degree has also attracted attention and is bringing her three or four referrals a week for children with other special needs. “They may have learning difficulties, fallen behind in class, or reached a plateau after working with a therapist,” she said. Dr. Coulter explained that her master’s degree has helped her better understand the education system and the issues faced by the teachers and parents in these circumstances. It has also helped her with creating appropriate documen- tation to assist the school in offering aid or making