UW Mentorship: Dr. Schell

Written by: April Hsieh (2nd year)

I had the pleasure of virtually meeting Dr. Schell, an accomplished optometrist who operates a primary care clinic and a separate clinic focussed on dry eye and vision therapy. We discussed his path to opening up his own practices, including the different modes of practice that he had the opportunities to work in and what he looks for when hiring new associates now. Even more, he touched on the advantages of pursuing a fellowship (vision therapy in his case) and its significance in showing your commitment to lifelong learning.

One piece of valuable advice he shared was for optometry students to hone their communication skills in order to best convey information and educate the patients that they will be working with in the future, as well as using the internet as a tool to build up your practice and clientele.

Overall, this was a very insightful mentorship visit and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to gain more knowledge and guidance from Dr. Schell!