Emerald Jones, a third-year student in the College of Optometry, currently serves as president of the Missouri Optometric Student Association. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)
When Emerald Jones first started seeing optometry patients after her white coat ceremony in May, it originally felt daunting.
But she feels her preceptors have been extremely helpful in making sure that she and her fellow third-year students in the College of Optometry at the University of Missouri–St. Louis know what to do and feel comfortable asking questions as they arise.
“For the most part at this point, you pretty much know what’s going on, but if you ever have a question because you haven’t seen something before, I feel like the preceptors are very receiving,” she said. “It’s been a great environment to learn, and I feel like I just learn drastically every day. This morning, I actually had my first translated exam with a Spanish-speaking patient, and it was a unique experience. There are little things that might make the exam different, but overall are making me a better doctor in the future.”
Jones, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Missouri–Columbia, originally started out pre-med, thinking that she wanted to become a pediatric oncologist. Midway through her undergraduate career, however, someone floated the idea of optometry past her. She decided to shadow Dr. Mark Curtis, an optometrist at Insight Eyecare in her hometown of Warrensburg, Missouri, who she’s seen since she was a kid. It didn’t take long for her to realize that optometry would be a better path, and she continued to return to work at Insight over breaks in college.
Curtis also introduced Jones to the Missouri Optometric Association, the statewide chapter of the American Optometric Association, which provides education and advocates for optometrists across the state of Missouri. “Optometry is a legislative profession, so what we’re allowed to do and how we practice is all governed by the state laws,” Jones said. “This association advocates for us, makes sure that we’re able to practice how we should be practicing and makes sure that we have the state laws on our side.”
As Jones learned more about the organization’s work and started to connect with optometrists across the state, it instilled a passion to advocate for patients and the profession as a whole. She currently serves as the president of the Missouri Optometric Student Association, the student branch of the MOA. In this role, she seeks to better connect her fellow students in the College of Optometry to the MOA and educate them about the organization’s work, such as a bill to expand the scope of practice for optometrists in Missouri. She’s able to network with optometrists working across the state, help out with conferences and sit in on meetings with the MOA board to learn exactly what the organization is doing in Jefferson City.
“I just realized that if we don’t advocate for our profession, it can be taken away from us, or things can change that might not necessarily be of benefit to our profession,” Jones said. “If you didn’t have a student division, you might not really know about the organization. I think having a student advocate that is connected to the board and the student body and can relay information is really helpful.”
Jones will start her final year of optometry school in May and hopes to be working mostly in the Kansas City area so she can live at home. After she graduates, she plans to return to practice at Insight Eyecare in Warrensburg and eventually buy into the practice. She enjoys working in primary care – especially with kids – and being the first line doctor for eyecare, but above all, she just loves helping her patients.
“I feel like we don’t really realize how important vision is in our daily life,” she said. “Even something as little as glasses can really make a big impact in how you function on the day to day. I think that’s why I like primary care, and then especially helping kids – when you see a little kid put their glasses on for the first time, their little faces light up. It’s just so exciting to think that you helped do that for them and to just provide primary care. Everyone needs vision, so I think it’s exciting to be a little part of everyone’s life.”
