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Optometry
The Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University knows a good candidate when it sees one. And, it doesn’t take the College long to invite the top candidates to be part of the family.
By the time Frank Mai, OD ‘16, returned to his hotel room after his initial interview for optometry school, he already had an email confirming he had been accepted to PCO/Salus.
Growing up and spending his entire life in California, he celebrated by doing something typically Philly — he enjoyed a cheesesteak at Geno’s and he visited the Rocky statue at the Philadelphia Art Museum. “It was my first-time visiting Philly and I wanted to explore a little bit,” said Dr. Mai.
After graduating from the University of California Riverside in 2009 with a degree in biology, Dr. Mai was unsure what career path to pursue. He had shadowed his local optometrist, Gary Fishberg, OD ‘78, a graduate of PCO. Dr. Fishberg talked a lot about his education and experience at PCO and that really interested him. During undergraduate school, Dr. Mai became a technician for Dr. Fishberg and then following graduation, became an optician at LensCrafters.
“After that, I really wanted to get into more ocular disease, so I decided to apply for optometry school and PCO was one of my top choices,” he said. “I had a couple other interviews and I went to those, but I stuck with PCO as my top choice.”
What he found when he got to PCO was that there was a lot more to being an optometrist than he initially anticipated. But he liked the culture and diversity of the school/campus. He also became involved in the Student Optometric Service to Humanity (SOSH) organization and eventually became the group’s president for the Class of 2016. As a result, he was part of a mission trip to Haiti.
“We were able to give eye exams to 1,200 people during the week. It was very rewarding to be able to help the Haitians,” he said.
The program’s early clinical experience really positioned Dr. Mai to hit the professional ground running. “I’m a very hands-on learner, so being in the clinic early really helped me put the pieces of the puzzle together in my mind. I learned a lot on my rotations and that helped me prepare for my residency,” he said.
That residency was in ocular disease at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where Dr. Mai trained under another PCO/Salus alum, Robert Wang, OD ‘10, FAAO. Dr. Mai also had a chance to precept and oversee some students while working at the VA. After his residency, he then secured a job in 2017 as a staff optometrist, and eventually a clinical supervisor, at the Ernest Childers VA Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he works today. In addition to his duties as staff optometrist, he’s currently co-residency supervisor of the program.
All that traveling around from the West Coast to the East Coast and then back to the middle of the country not only benefitted him professionally, but also personally. It was in Oklahoma that he met Amber Hartsell, a nurse working at Oklahoma State University. The two got married on May 1, 2021.
During their non-work time, the couple like to hike, run and play tennis. They also are heavily into collecting Funko Pops, which are collectible figures from pop culture. Their collection numbers are around 500 and includes characters from Star Wars, The Office and the Marvel superheroes.
Career-wise, Dr. Mai is happy right where he’s at - for the time being.
“Initially what I wanted to do was get a little bit involved with education and also keep that clinic background,” he said. “The VA was kind of perfect for me because I was able to see patients and precept students. Now I’m co-residency supervisor, and that’s awesome.”
