Diva of the week – Mona Patel, O.D.

The featured Diva for this week is Dr. Mona Patel.  Read the full feature below to learn how a college course helped her find her calling.

1. Tell us a little bit about you?

I’m originally from Mumbai, India and was raised in the States since I was nine. I have been married to my amazing husband for 12 years, and we have 2 beautiful children; an 11 year old girl, and a 10 year old boy. We love traveling to new places every year as a family.

  2. What made you decide to become an Optometrist?

I always knew I wanted to be in a health related field early on, and was on the track to go to Medical School until my second year in college. During that year at school I took a course titled “Medical Careers”. Every week a different medical professional would come and talk about their field.

 

One week a young female Optometrist came to talk about the field of optometry. I knew nothing about it at that time; I did not even wear any glasses. I ended up shadowing her the following week, and fell in love with Optometry!

 

What was great about being an Optometrist was that I wouldn’t have to deal with blood.  And the patients are largely happy when they come to see the eye doctor. I knew then that I had found my calling! 

  3. What Optometry school did you go to?

Salus University College of Optometry (Formally known as PCO)

  4. Where do you currently practice?

I’m an associate at Bayhead Eye Center 

  5. Do you offer any specialty services in your practice?

Not at this time

6. Name 1 to 3 hurdles you personally faced as a private practice owner and how did you overcome them?

One of the main hurdles (for most women) is the life/ family balance. The feeling of overwhelm is familiar to all professional women, especially with the many directions that we get pulled into as a doctor, wife, mom, etc.

 

The one thing that I have discovered that really helps me is taking time out for myself for yoga and/ or meditation. I feel taking time out has truly helped me cope with the high demands of my day, and always makes me feel more centered and grounded. 

  7. If you could go back to when you were a student, what advice would you give yourself?

I would probably tell myself to take more breaks from schoolwork – take more time out for myself , work out/ exercise more, and really enjoy and explore the area where I was. There was a lot of interesting places to go, and things to see that I never had a chance to explore.
I also wish I would have bought stock in Zeiss and some other optical companies early on. I’d be rolling in the dough right now!

To contact Mona, you can check out her website at BayheadEye.com or click on her social media profile links below.