With 21 optometry schools  in operation in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (four founded since 2008), and two new optometry schools currently going through the accreditation process in Kentucky and Virginia, there are plenty of opportunities for optical groups to cultivate relationships with the schools themselves, their students, and their recent graduates.

The following leading regional optical retailers discuss how they create and maintain relationships with the optometry schools in their area and the resulting benefits for both themselves and the students.

Allan Barker, OD, owner, Eyecarecenter, Rocky Mount, N.C.

How does your company interact with optometry schools and establish and maintain relationships with their students and recent graduates? Personally, I served on the alumni council of the Southern College of Optometry for three years up until two years ago. I also personally sponsor the Allan and Susan Barker Family Scholarship for third year students at the Southern College of Optomety.

Eyecarecenter has various externships with the schools. We had externs from Salus University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry but mostly from Southern College of Optometry. There’s probably never a time when we don’t have at least one extern working with our doctors. Our externships are very popular because North Carolina is more of a medical model state than most, and optometrists all practice full-scope optometry, so our externships are highly requested. Our externships even lead to career opportunities since many of our externs wind up working with us once they get out of school and get licensed.

How do you use these relationships to build awareness of your operation and the opportunities it presents to graduates? We utilize the American Optometric Association’s placement service. We have initiated contact with doctors through our state association, which holds meet-and-greet times with doctors. We’ve always attended those. A lot of the interest in Eyecarecenter has been through word of mouth. People come to us asking for opportunities because they know that we are the type of organization that they want to work with. There are more people coming to us than we have positions available. We’re moving toward a situation where we give residency trained doctors higher regard because they are medically oriented.

What influence has this interaction already had on your business, and how do you predict it will impact your business into the future? Personally is where this interaction has had a very positive impact on me. It’s led to my wanting to be more involved in optometry organizations. Interacting with the schools and seeing the importance of supporting schools has been a catalyst for being more active in state and national organizations.

John D. Marvin, president, Texas State Optical (TSO), Houston

How does your company interact with optometry schools and establish and maintain relationships with their students and recent graduates? Investing in our relationship with the University of Houston College of Optometry and the University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry is extremely important to our organization.

We invest both time and money in our relationship by contributing a substantial amount each year to scholarships and an endowment fund. Each year we award three scholarships to third year students at both schools as well as making a significant contribution to an endowment fund to generate additional, ongoing scholarships for first year students.

We also host special events for students in each year of optometry school—a meet-and-greet for the first year students, hosting of an annual mentor dinner for second year students, and a special spring banquet for third and fourth year students. In addition, we contribute a substantial amount to each school’s student association annual scholarship and awards banquet.

The most important commitment we have made to the education of optometrists occurred in 2007 when our network members contributed over $1 million to the construction of the University of Houston Health and Biomedical Sciences Building. The state-of-the art research and health science center includes over 16,000 square feet dedicated to optometry education and an ambulatory surgery center. For their contribution, the Doctors of Texas State Optical have an alumni education, multi-use center named in their honor. This facility hosts speakers from all over the world dedicated to the continuing education of Texas optometrists.

How do you use these relationships to build awareness of your operation and the opportunities it presents to graduates? One of the TSO Network’s core values is to invest in relationships, and we do so in sincerity and authentically. We do not use our relationship for any self-serving purpose but rather to support and contribute to the quality education of optometrists. It has been our experience that students recognize our genuine interest in their career, and many identify with our values. Some of those have made a decision to join our organization and in turn appreciate our continued commitment to their alma mater.

What influence has this interaction already had on your business, and how do you predict it will impact your business into the future? By practicing another of our core values, leadership through service, many students see that the Doctors of Texas State Optical are committed to something larger than themselves. This resonates with today’s young graduates, and they want to be a part of making a difference in their profession and community. Each year we attract many of the leaders and best of each class of graduates. Our investment in their education is good for the profession and it is good for our network.

Jonathan Rosin, MD, co-president, Rosin Eyecare,  Chicago

How does your company interact with optometry schools and establish and maintain relationships with their students and recent graduates? We are fortunate to have The Illinois College of Optometry right here in Chicago. We host students for summer externships, recruit new associate doctors through the school’s job fair, and post professional opportunities on the college bulletin board.

How do you use these relationships to build awareness of your operation and the opportunities it presents to graduates? By hosting students during externships, they receive a real world experience in a private practice setting, and we get a meaningful preview of potential future candidates’ strengths and weaknesses. We value a healthy mix of new graduates among our professional staff as they bring cutting-edge knowledge, fresh ideas, and a high level of energy and enthusiasm to our practice.

What influence has this interaction already had on your business, and how do you predict it will impact your business into the future? This often has the effect of pushing our more seasoned staff to seek newer and better ways of treating our patients. Because the patient’s experience (which begins in the examination room) has such a profound influence on their purchase and referral behavior, I believe that our ability to easily recruit outstanding new doctors from a strong academic institution will continue to position Rosin Eyecare as a leader in our marketplace.

Kirsten Albrecht, director of professional services for acquisitions, MyEyeDr, Charlotte, N.C.

How does your company interact with optometry schools and establish and maintain relationships with their students and recent graduates? MyEyeDr stays in touch with the placement directors at several optometry schools and at least annually schedules on-site visits to those schools. We believe it is important to have that face-to-face relationship. Our goal is to develop student attachments as early in the process as possible and cultivate these relationships for all four years and beyond through phone calls from practicing ODs and email correspondence, keeping the students up-to-date on how our organization is growing within the industry. In addition, we are always looking to add externship opportunities with several schools.

How do you use these relationships to build awareness of your operation and the opportunities it presents to graduates? The best way is through informal interactions when we conduct our annual visits. When MyEyeDr visits the schools, we meet with third and fourth year students to explain our practice model in a more personalized fashion, and we use this time to recruit upcoming graduates.

The other method is utilizing externs from these select schools in our offices throughout the year. By having externs experience our model first-hand, it allows the students to evaluate us and at the same time enables us to help the students develop their optometric skills in a private practice setting. After the externs have spent time with us, we are able to place them right into a practice with the appropriate doctor/mentor that can best prepare them for the board exam.

What influence has this interaction already had on your business, and how do you predict it will impact your business into the future? Many of our new doctors have been identified and recruited through these school relationships. In the future we anticipate that we will continue to be a viable practice opportunity for new graduates looking to join an established group that has location options in multiple states.

New graduates often need to experience different office environments with diverse patient bases to determine the best fit for their skills long-term. In our model and with our expansion plans, doctors with this early career flexibility are invaluable for our growth, but for the new doctor, it helps them to find the right home, both personally and professionally.

Charles “Matt” Matthews, president, Crown Vision Center, Alton, Ill.

How does your company interact with optometry schools and establish and maintain relationships with their students and recent graduates? Our information is on file with the placement office of all OD schools within a 300 mile radius (Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis). We also use their bulletin boards for current job listings. In addition, we have offered internships during the academic year in our surgery and lasik centers.

How do you use these relationships to build awareness of your operation and the opportunities it presents to graduates? The internships in particular are good exposure for those previously unfamiliar with Crown. We are fortunate over the past 25 years to have hired several graduates from the same three to four schools. Through that network, our word-of-mouth reputation that we are a good place to practice has helped tremendously.

What influence has this interaction already had on your business, and how do you predict it will impact your business into the future? We have a community partnership with our local optometry school ( University of Missouri – St. Louis College of Optometry) called "Kids Vision for Life" that has enabled us to provide economically disadvantaged children with free eyecare and glasses. We are now screening nearly 10,000 elementary age kids per year, performing 3,000 eye exams, and dispensing over 2,000 pairs of glasses to children in need of good vision who otherwise could not afford them during a critical time to their learning and development. We cannot perform these services without the relationship to the University of Missouri – St. Louis College of Optometry. This program has doubled in size twice in the last four years. We are now serving over seven school districts in St. Louis.