The associates we hire can help us surge as a practice. They can expand availability of appointments and improve patient care, sometimes bringing new expertise into our office. Here is what I learned last fall when I participated in the Vision Source Next Practice Crawl for optometry students, which gave these soon-to-be ODs a glimpse of work life in a variety of practices, including my own. As a practice owner, I have a vested interest in keeping independent optometry as strong as possible, and one of the best ways to do that is to ensure there is a large pool of new graduates who are interested in pursuing private practice. Read More