Eyes for the Ears

Feedspot – the “Internet’s largest human curated database of bloggers and podcasts” – recently assembled its “20 best optometry podcasts.” I decided to sample the top 5 entries to see if there is anything worth investing 20–30 minutes of your time in. 
 
It’s a very US-heavy list, but we must acknowledge that the Americans do a lot of things better than we do in the UK, and one of those is talking about a specialist subject with breathless enthusiasm. Starting at the top spot, I clicked on The Power Hour, presented by The Power Practice, a group of doctors and business people who are “bent on success for independent optometry practice owners.” The podcast is described as being “laser-focused on results for practice owners, with a good twist of fun along the way.” 
 
The latest Power Hour two-parter draws some optometry insights from Mike Michalowicz’s book The Pumpkin Plan, which posits that growth strategies employed by successful pumpkin farmers can be applied to modern entrepreneurship. It gets a bit tangled up in the pumpkin comparison, but if you really want to get down with the idea you may end up referring to your customers “big pumpkins” or “small pumpkins.” 
 
Another recent episode is What Optometry Practices Can Learn from Fine Dining Restaurants, in which Matt Rosner compares his former hospitality-industry career with his work as an optometrist. As you may have noticed, The Power Hour is big on analogy!
 
Try Not To Blink is – as introduced by James Deom – “ a podcast about the ups and downs, ins and outs, and tips and tricks of those who live the optometreee lifestyle.” This goes in for a breakfast-show format as James and co-host Roya Habibi josh each other a bit before getting down to a discussion about post lasik ectasia and Roya’s challenges of opening a practice in Costa Rica. It’s very casual and conversational and certainly of more value to an American audience (North, Central, and maybe South), but it’s an agreeable listen if you’re not desperate for an onslaught of hard facts.
 
You will get an onslaught of hard facts at Optometry365 (number 5 on the Feedspot top 20 list). This is to be expected – the podcast is “powered” by the American Academy of Optometry. Recent entries in Optometry365’s Clinical Podcast Series include expert discussions on the treatment of anterior segment disease, binocular vision and pediatrics, and contact lens and myopia care.
 
WO Voices – podcasts from the Women in Optometry organization – ranks at number 3 in the Feedspot list and, not surprisingly, has a strong focus on diversity and representation. But there are also recent discussions on telehealth, marketing, and the “upcoming wave of presbyopia.” Though not quite as slick as the offerings from The Power Hour and Try Not to Blink, the WO Voices episode I listened to – on the four lessons Dr. Jill Saxon learned while practicing optometry in the US Navy –  is quite enlightening. And it only takes 17 minutes of your time. 
 
Last but not least in our round-up (number 4 on the Feedspot list) is a podcast from the UK’s very own College of Optometrists. Like WO Voices, the College’s EyePod series lacks a little of the aural slickness of the top US offerings, but it does offer the home comfort of the College’s Martin Cordiner and Daniel Hardimann-McCartney chatting in a dads-down-the-pub style. And the series is replete with an abundance of topics, so there should be something there to appeal to even the most judgmental podcast listener.
 
Anyway, if you have any of your own podcast recommendations – or want to recommend your own podcast – drop me a line.