2020 Annual Report

Leading a New Generation in Healthcare Chandra Mickles, OD ’09, MS, is not only enhancing the lives of her patients but also the knowledge of students and fellow ODs nationwide by teaching about Contact Lenses and Dry Eye, an interest that peaked while studying at SUNY College of Optometry.

places to be trained. You just can’t beat the volume of patients or the variety of ocular conditions that you get to see there.”

A native of Old Bridge, New Jersey, Dr. Mickles’s inspiration to pursue a career in healthcare stemmed from her father, a veterinarian. However, her entry into eye care evolved from her need for eyeglasses and contact lenses at an early age. “Believe it or not, I’m a 12 diopter myope, so I was close to eye care very early on. Around the age of eight or nine, I was fit with my first pair of contact lenses. I was amazed at how that small piece of plastic could improve my vision, and so from that point on, I knew I wanted to go into a career focused on eye care,” Dr. Mickles said. She looks back on her days as a SUNY Optometry student fondly, especially the professors she got to know there, “even the tough ones,” she adds. “They made me a proficient and efficient clinician, and I model my teaching style after theirs now that I have my own students.”

Today, Dr. Mickles is well-known in the optometric profession as a national continuing education lecturer, researcher, speaker, and consultant for Alcon, Johnson & Johnson, and Sun Pharmaceuticals. She has been recognized by the Association of the Contact Lens Educators with the George Mertz New Educator Award and NSUCO’s Professor of the Year for two years consecutively. In 2018, she was named a “Top Black Educator” in South Florida. “I really liked SUNY because of the top-notch faculty, and their high boards pass rate. Also, with [the college] located in New York City, I knew I would get to see a diverse patient population,” said Dr. Mickles, an associate professor at the Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry (NSUCO). “Being an educator now, I definitely can see that by far, SUNY probably is one of the best

College Alum Receives NYC Health + Hospitals Award

Dr. Cotler oversees eye care services and provides care for residents of NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur. She is currently leading a longitudinal team project to increase retinopathy screening rates for primary care empaneled patients with diabetes and A1C greater than 8.0. She believes that engagement with quality improvement can prevent burnout by giving front line staff the mechanism to make positive changes in their day-to-day work for themselves, their co-workers, and their patients.

Andrea Nikki Cotler, OD, FAAO ’06, is among nine recipients of the 2020 Performance Improvement Champion Award presented by NYC

Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur, a partner of SUNY College of Optometry. Nominated by peers and selected by a multidisciplinary committee, award winners are recognized for going beyond the call of the duty to improve patient services through collaboration, engagement, and leadership.

41% of alumni are registered users of the SUNY Eye Network (SEN). In 2020, SEN passed the 1,000-member milestone.

66% of alumni registered to volunteer in support

Nearly 100 alumni volunteers helped to facilitate successful digital/virtual engagement programs and events.

of professional development.

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