The Visionary Fall 2009

The Visionary – Fall 2009 • Page 17 While her stints as both class and SGA president were demanding time-wise, Woodie never lost sight of the fact that she was attending NSU to receive the type of education that would allow her to pursue her dreams. In fact, she credits her time at NSU’s College of Optometry for expanding her horizons while also exposing her to areas of interest she never knew existed. “At some point during my first year, a speaker who specializes in golf vision training, Dr. Lampert, came in to talk to us about sports vision,” she explained. “He discussed his practice and how he enhanced the athletes’ games by analyzing and training their vision. For example, if they have a tendency for their eyes to rest in, they usually swing short. Or if they rest out, they swing long. I was like, ‘Sports…this is great! I can work with athletes and be an eye doctor.’ Right then and there, I knew what I wanted to do, which was work in sports vision, which is a further specialization of binocular vision therapy. That way, I could still work with children experiencing vision anomalies as well as professional athletes that wanted to enhance their games.” Woodie Eyes the Future Woodie, who is in the midst of doing her fourth-year externships, spent her summer doing a three-month rotation in Pembroke Pines, Florida, with Robert Davis, O.D., and Jim Morris, O.D., who serve as the official eye care specialists to the Miami Dolphins football team. She also worked with Dr. Rick Ross doing vision screening for the Orlando Magic basketball team last year and has been involved in several research projects to enhance her overall educational experience. “To further my development in binocular vision as well as my special interest in sports vision, I am conducting research with the NSU baseball team, where I hope to successfully demonstrate improvements of dynamic visual acuity and pitch recognition through vision training,” she explained. “This research could open the doors for our program to coexist with the Department of Sports Medicine in a joint project offering vision training to various athletic programs at NSU.” Not surprisingly, with her NSU commencement looming in the not-too- distant future, Woodie has already mapped out a postgraduate plan of action that includes shadowing a renowned optometrist in Connecticut who is one of the pioneers of sports vision and establishing her own practice in Orlando, which she has already named Orlando Sports Vision and Family Eye Care. Another one of her long-term goals is to help develop externships in the sports vision field. “If I am able to establish a successful sports vision practice in Orlando, eventually my practice can be an externship site where NSU students can come to learn,” she explained. “I don’t expect to fill my practice with athletes all the time, but sports vision will give me a niche and help keep the practice growing toward bigger and better things.” As she reflects on her time spent at NSU’s College of Optometry, Woodie makes a point of acknowledging the college’s dedicated faculty members, whom she calls “amazing,” for making her educational odyssey so interesting and enjoyable. “We have such diverse faculty members here that are renowned experts in so many different areas,” she stated. “But the thing they all have in common is that they treat us like we’re not just students, but future colleagues. That’s been a completely different experience than I expected. They’re not just teaching us the skills we need; they’re teaching us how to be the most dedicated and compassionate doctors possible.” Amanda and boyfriend JT looking sharp at the Eye Ball. Amanda gets a hug from the NSU Shark, Razor. Amanda enjoying the day with her family. Amanda and her horse, Dusty. Dr. Loshin with Amanda and her Student of the Year Award.