OPTICAL PRISM | NEXT GEN
NEXT GEN
Pride in helping others
Optometrist Dr . Abby Jakob loves making a difference in patients ’ lives
BY DAVID GOLDBERG
On the shores of Lake
Erie , in the picturesque town of Kingsville , Ont ., there ’ s a small optometry clinic nestled between other businesses on Main Street .
It ’ s a small brick building painted all white and in front of the window , there ’ s a flower box filled with plastic flamingos waiting to welcome you inside .
That ’ s where you ’ ll find the owner of EYES , Dr . Abby Jakob , ready to help whoever walks through the door .
From a young age , Jakob knew she wanted to be an eye care professional .
“ My eye doctor growing up inspired me to go into optometry because he was the only adult I knew who enjoyed his career and it was so obvious he loved what he did ,” she said .
Jakob has many fond memories of those annual checkups where she and her ultra-competitive brother would see who could read the eye chart more precisely .
After graduating from optometry school in Chicago , Jakob returned to practice in Canada and joined the Ontario Association of Optometrists .
Finally , she could start helping people like she always wanted to .
“ I discover what the issue is and help them understand it . Together we come up with a decision or treatment plan and when they come
back to me with improvement , that always makes my day . When patients believe that what I ’ m doing is helping and trust that I have their best interest at heart , it feels very rewarding ,” she said .
As her practice continues to grow and her clinic racks up more fivestar ratings on Google , Dr . Jakob has developed a keen interest in treating patients with dry eye . She suffers from the condition herself and so
she takes great pride in helping others .
“ I recently implemented Lipiflow into my office . We are now performing meibography on every patient , as well as performing a dry eye screening questionnaire . We ’ ve been looking for and catching a lot more dry eye and when the patients understand their symptoms and
“ Patients don ’ t care how much you know until they know how much you care .”
have that lightbulb moment , it makes all the long-winded explanations about dry eye and meibomian gland disease worth it .”
When it comes to her philosophy about helping patients , Jakob always goes back to her favourite quote :
“ Patients don ’ t care how much you know until they know how much you care .” OP
30 OPTICAL PRISM | March 2021