CareerSymposium2021

9th Annual Career Symposium

Eric Baas, OD

Dr. Eric Baas is a co-founder and principal of iCare Advisors, LLC and the co-owner of Sight Optical in Chicago and Union Eyes in Lemont, IL. He is also the Practice Management Curriculum Coordinator at the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) where he teaches the Business of Optometry course and Private Practice Simulator elective. Dr. Baas earned his Doctorate of Optometry degree from ICO and went on to complete a residency in Primary Care and Ocular Disease. Upon finishing residency, Dr. Baas continued to work as a clinical instructor at the Illinois College of Optometry while simultaneously opening a private practice cold in a busy metropolitan area of Chicago. A few years later, he played an integral role in the design, development, and operation of the Rosenbloom Center, which is a state-of-the-art 5000 square foot clinic dedicated to the eye care needs of the aging population and visually impaired. He is the former Chief of the Alfred and Sarah Rosenbloom Center on Vision and Aging at the Illinois Eye Institute and the Director of Continuing Education at ICO. In addition to teaching practice management at ICO, Dr. Baas is actively involved with the Private Practice Club as well as the Sports Vision Club, serving as the team optometrist for the University of Illinois-Chicago. He is also the 2016 Young Alumnus of the Year at the Illinois College of Optometry. Dr. Baas brings extensive knowledge and experience in financing, location analysis, lease negotiation, and practice design to the iCare Advisors team.

Joy Harewood, OD

Joy Harewood, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Optometry. She completed a residency in ocular disease at the SUNY School of Optometry. She has extensive experience in hospital-based eye care and was the first full-time optometrist performing inpatient consults at Northwell Health’s Staten Island University Hospital campus. This is a position she held for 6 years. Dr. Harewood then worked as a faculty member in the Department of Ophthalmology at BronxCare Health System. There, she taught optometry and ophthalmology residents in a clinical and didactic setting, and provided direct patient care. She was a panelist in the highly regarded “Race in Optometry’ series in the summer of 2020 and currently serves on the UC Berkeley Council for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). She was recently named the first Director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at SUNY College of Optometry, and appointed as an Associate Clinical Professor. She has published articles in Review of Optometry, lectured widely, and been a leading voice in the push to increase diversity in the optometric field.