On The Beat 08/26/20 - Columbus Vision Therapy

Dr. John Nail and Dr. Anna Claire Spradling join host Troy Thompson to discuss vision therapy and the necessity of a medical practice like this in the community.

Troy thompson: welcome to on the beat, everyone.

I'm troy thompson.

Joining me in the studio today is dr. john nail and dr. anna claire spradling from columbus vision therapy.

And today we're introducing, of course, dr. spradling, but an incredible new clinic called columbus vision therapy.

Welcome to the show, both of you.

Dr. nail: thanks for having us.

Troy thompson: nice to meet you.

Dr. nail, i'm going to let you do the introductions of dr. spradling and how amazing that she's come into our area.

Dr. nail: absolutely.

So amazing that she's come back home.

She's from west point in the golden triangle.

So glad to have her back.

We've been thrilled to have her in our clinics and have just already seen what an asset that she is to our clinic, being an outstanding doctor, being a great person, but we're especially excited to be able to offer our patients some new services because of her specialty training in vision therapy.

And that's led to our opening, the new vision therapy clinic, columbus vision therapy.

Troy thompson: well, let's just talk about that for a moment.

Let's step back about your training to begin with.

Where did it all start and why did you decide to get into it?

Dr. spradling: i actually became interested in optometry through dr. curtis in columbus, mississippi here, and in school, i was very interested in vision therapy when we learned about it.

And i pursued a residency, nsu college of optometry in fort lauderdale and focused in pediatrics and vision therapy.

Troy thompson: i'm curious because what is vision therapy to begin with?

Because i just assumed it's optometry.

Dr. spradling: it is, it's optometry.

Troy thompson: because you help us with your vision, right?

Dr. spradling: yes.

Troy thompson: so what is vision therapy?

Dr. spradling: vision therapy is a treatment for visual efficiency issues.

So are your eyes teaming together?

It's also a treatment for visual processing issues.

So are your eyes and your brain teaming together?

It helps everyday visual function, whether you're reading or playing sports or doing various activities with your eyes.

Troy thompson: okay.

So is it more advanced than just reading?

Is it a different type of analysis that you need to do?

Dr. spradling: so we do do a more in depth analysis of your visual function, absolutely, than a regular eye exam.

We're seeing how you function not only on a day-to- day level, but when you're fatigued.

Can you maintain your visual function at the end of the day, at the beginning of the day.

Troy thompson: okay, i understand.

Why did you decide to bring curtis optometry and columbus vision together?

Dr. nail: sure.

So in bringing envision therapy to the clinics, it starts with seeing a need.

Seeing thousands of patients, you start to pick up on things that they need, and we've always wanted to be committed to providing whatever we can to meet the patient's needs, whether that's investing in technology for better exams or offering new services like we're doing here.

And just the opportunity to team with dr. spradling was just the icing on the cake for going ahead with the new clinic.

Troy thompson: okay.

Now we are open, which is fantastic.

Dr. nail: yes.

Troy thompson: we've got all the details going up on our screens now, but i want to ask you.

I always ask this of new people i interview.

What's one of your favorite things about your job and why do you love it so much?

Well, i hope you love it.

Dr. nail: absolutely.

Just seeing what happens when you can help a patient, that's the reward.

And that's why i still enjoy going to work every single day.

And i'm sure for dr. spradling, same kind of thing.

Dr. spradling: yes.

I agree.

Vision therapy is an opportunity for the children that are really struggling with academics, that are really struggling to function in a classroom.

A classroom projects us into our careers.

And so seeing them find so much, i guess, joy in vision therapy, because it's a lot of fun, as well.

I really enjoy that.

Troy thompson: well, that's something we're going to talk about in other segments.

We're so lucky to be able to keep you here, but i also want to say to you when it comes to doing this type of job in our current climate, if you wouldn't mind me talking about it, with covid-19, you were still open to the public.

Talk me through your safety practices.

Dr. nail: absolutely.

It starts with controlling the flow of patients, how many and who is coming into the office.

We're screening patients for symptoms and temperatures coming into the office, including screening staff when they come into tice in the morning, extensive cleaning throughout the day, which a lot of that's going on even before this, but we're making sure that we are showing patients firsthand what we're doing to clean.

We're cleaning and disinfecting glasses.

And just anything you can think of to be safer,