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Daily Inspiration: Meet Dominique Oker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominique Oker.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started working alongside the LensCrafters in the Eden Prairie Center in college as a technician for the previous owner Dr. Dan Whited. I has just started to explore health care career options and was looking learn more about the eye care industry. Immediately I enjoyed the atmosphere and began to do more research on what it takes to work in the field. While doing this I participated in a vision van in the local community providing eye care to those without access.

After that day, I knew that this was the pathway I wanted to follow. Since then I completed undergrad and went on to obtain my doctorate of optometry at the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico School of Optometry. It was here that my love for giving back grew. I participated in vision screenings throughout the island and participated in S.V.O.S.H- a program dedicated to eye care missions. I was able to travel to different nearby islands and provide eye care in different communities.

After graduation, I was looking for a place to call home and it just so happened that Dr. Whited was looking for help. I started part time back where my eye care journey began – next to the LensCrafters in Eden Prairie.

Eventually, Dr. Whited was looking to sell his practice and by Fall of 2015 I made it my own and Eden Prairie Eye Care was born. Since then I have been fortunate to be able to still do local and international outreach through programs like OneSight and Hellen Keller International. I am truly content with the balance that I can find between working in an office and working in a nonprofit community based setting.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Aside from school and board exams of course – the biggest struggle of practice ownership is staffing. This was a struggle I was not expecting to have! I always thought it would be more about issues with getting insurance payments etc. Although this is true I also have been very fortunate to have a good team surrounding me and have met some amazing people along the way!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Eden Prairie Eye Care is different in that we really strive to keep up with the latest eye care technology to continue to care for your eyes year after year. We always say thank you for trusting us with your eye care needs and in order to gain that trust we do our best to continue to stay up to date with the latest eye care technology. In addition we truly believe in the importance of annual eye exams! We do our best to educate our patients on reasons why and what we can actually find in an eye exam. Its so much more than just what is better one or two! In order to keep you seeing clearly we want to keep your eyes healthy! To help we do our best to make your experience smooth, efficient and possibly even as fun as possible.,

What are your plans for the future?
We hope to continue to grow our business and expand with providing more doctor coverage on additional days in our office. We plan to do this through continuing to build our online presence and really focus on gaining new referrals from our current patients!  In addition, on a personal note, I hope to be able to get back into doing international missions as soon as the pandemic allows!

In the meantime, I am enjoying caring for patients in local community centers and low-income schools through a local non profit Helen Keller International. We often forget how much of a difference we can make in our own communities and neighborhoods and I have enjoyed this experience very much!

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1 Comment

  1. Lisa

    November 4, 2021 at 5:30 pm

    Dr. Oker is a amazing doctor and humanitarian. She has done so much for the under serviced communities locally and internationally! I am blessed to know her!

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