Most importantly this newsletter has a very significant UMSL influence. It was initiated almost 10 years ago by Section Chair Dr. David Seibel (’87). Currently, the Chief Editor of the newsletter is Dr. Dan Friederich (’08). And Dr. Friederich has much assistance from UMSL graduates as three of the 12 newsletter columnists are graduates of UMSL. These include: 1) Dr. Jordan Jones (’11), currently a part-time faculty member in the contact lens department at UMSL and a past graduate of the Cornea and Contact Lens Residency program at Northeastern State University College of Optometry, 2) Dr. Stephanie Woo, a 2012 graduate of UMSL’s Cornea and Contact Lens Residency program and currently in practice in Lake Havasu, AZ, and 3) Dr. Robert Ensley (’13) who is currently the UMSL Cornea and Contact Lens Resident. It is also important to indicate that Dr. Ensley was the national student liaison to the AOA Contact Lens and Cornea Section in 2012.
And Dr. Friederich greatly appreciates the efforts of his UMSL team. “The CLCS council and newsletter editors carefully vet potential writers for the CLCS newsletter. First and foremost, you have to have writing talent - everyone loves their own writing, but that doesn’t mean that everybody else will love it too. Just as important is the ability to avoid unintended bias by heavily referencing your work with evidence-based literature. Drs. Jordan Jones, Stephanie Woo, and Rob Ensley - all UMSL graduates and/or contact lens residents - each presented with these qualifications and were invited to become full-time CLCS writers after exceeding the CLCS’ expectations when fulfilling their writing assignments as CL residents. These doctors have true writing and researching talent, with the skill to produce clear and concise, unbiased and accurate, relevant and strongly-researched work. Clearly, their abilities were nurtured and enhanced during their optometric and contact lens training at UMSL, and the CLCS is fortunate to have these reliable writers.”
Dr. Friederich’s journey to editorship is a very interesting one. He was profiled in the Summer 2008 issue of the EyeWire because he initiated his optometric education in August, 2004 only a few weeks after he returned from serving his country for 13 months in Iraq. Not long into the program he became hooked on contact lenses as he relates, "During my communications course in my second year of UMSL’s optometry program, we were assigned to shadow an optometric practice of our choice and then write about the experience. I met and shadowed Dr. David Seibel at Vision Care Consultants (VCC), which was founded by Dr. Rex Ghormley as a contact lens specialty practice and continues to emphasize specialty CL’s now. A few weeks after shadowing, I applied to work as a tech and was hired by Dr. Seibel. It did not take long for me to realize that this modality of practice, as a contact lens specialist, was exactly how I wanted to practice optometry. The mentoring provided by Dr. Seibel, Dr. Ghormley, and Dr. Craig Brawley was truly invaluable, and I ultimately realized that this practice was a perfect fit for my professional goals, and where I wanted to continue after optometry school. VCC felt the same, and I joined the practice as an optometrist upon graduation in 2008."
It was Dr. Friederich’s own initiative as a student that resulted in his ultimate relationship with the AOA CLCS. “During my third year of optometry school, I submitted two contact lens research papers (on two different topics) to the AOA-CLCS Student Research Competition. One of those papers was the research I had done for Dr. Bennett’s Contact Lenses II course and it won 1st place, which included a trip to the annual AOA Optometry’s Meeting to receive the award (the other paper won 2nd place). While in Boston attending the meeting, I met the CLCS council and learned that my work had caught their attention; I was invited to become a writer for the CLCS monthly newsletter and subsequently began writing for the section. After four years of dedicated writing and research for the newsletter, I was promoted to co-editor and then chief editor the following year.”
He rightfully takes great pride in the outstanding publication that is under his control. “The CLCS newsletter is recognized as a leading e-publication in the eye care field. With a talented board of contributing editors and writers, the newsletter delivers the latest information on contact lens technology, clinical management, and practice management strategies. The CLCS newsletter addresses a different topic each month with about 6-8 concise, insightful articles that cover various aspects of that month’s topic. As editor, I create the newsletter by choosing the month’s topic, assigning the articles to our writers, editing their work, and submitting the finished product for publication. The newsletter emphasizes the use of peer-reviewed literature to provide unbiased information on the most pressing topics in contact lenses.”