Optometry and Its Avenues

Upon completion of his Doctor of Optometry degree at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), Ross Goukler, OD ‘97, wasn’t sure which professional avenue he wanted to venture down. “I graduated from PCO, I practiced for 10 years, and though I did explore a few different modalities in that time, most of that time was really spent as an independent doctor affiliated with Pearle Vision," he said.

While examining patients was his primary activity and innate passion, during that time, he also started gaining valuable insight into other optometric career avenues. He then moved onto LensCrafters, in which he spent the next 15 years in leadership roles. “I started out as an eyecare director where I worked with doctors and field leaders to build collaborative relationships, elevate patient care and grow their respective businesses,” Dr. Goukler said. “Then I was a zone vice president where I had responsibility over the full scope of operations of stores. Then I took on the role of VP of eye-care for LensCrafters, driving eye-care strategy and implementation.”

But let’s go back to where it all began, PCO. While he and his wife, Donna (Blochaviak) Goukler, OD ‘96, were students at Muhlenberg College, it just so happened that she too was interested in optometry as a career choice. And, while he wanted to become an optometrist since childhood, many friends intimated he really used this fact as a pickup line when meeting his future wife. At the time, since she was a year his senior, Donna had already done the extensive research necessary on different optometry schools and essentially chose PCO based upon its excellent clinical reputation. “That’s what interested me the most as well,” he said. “I know some of the other schools had different areas of concentration, but between the fact that I grew up in Pennsylvania, it was really well known clinically and she was going there, it was a no-brainer for me.” In fact, for the Downingtown, Pennsylvania native, coupled with the fact that it was the only optometry school in the commonwealth, PCO was also the only optometry school where he applied.

That being said, as his clinical rotations progressed, he felt his optometric education prepared him more than most – both clinically and didactically. And, that was really the result of two PCO greats - Carlo Pelino, OD ’94, FAAO; PCO assistant professor and chief of The Eye Institute’s Chestnut Hill site, and Andrew Gurwood, OD ‘89, Resident ‘90, FAAO, PCO professor, who are still educating future practitioners today.

While his education was challenging, he also found it enjoyable and such a great preparation for life after PCO. “I remember study sessions with Dr. Andy Gurwood and Dr. Carlo Pelino and those were a hundred percent voluntary and yet the room was packed full of people because it was just such valuable information and they did such a good job of sharing it that you knew it was going to be beneficial to be there,” he said.

Earlier in 2022, Dr. Goukler moved on to Warby Parker and currently serves as the company’svice president for eye-care and vision services. Currently, Warby Parker has 200 locations in the market with plans to continue to grow this year. One of the reasons the move seemed enticing to him was because of the company’s innate philanthropic culture – to date, more than 10 million pairs of glasses have been distributed through Warby Parker’s Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. According to Dr. Goukler, the overall culture and being connected to the community was a big draw – the company gives back to those in need in a variety of ways; through school vision programs, local charities or helping students of color pursue Doctor of Optometry degrees. “The people and the culture are just amazing - the work to give back to the community, both centrally and through our store teams is really incredible,” he said.

All in all, since earning his Doctor of Optometry degree more than 25 years ago, Dr. Goukler stresses to prospective candidates the variety of avenues one can take as an optometrist. “There are so many different things you can do in this profession beyond patient care, whether it's working in industry, working in field leadership within a company, being a medical director of an organization, doing research or more. It is neat to get exposure to that,” he said. “I definitely think that's something that might be good to help people understand before they choose PCO. It’s nice to understand the full breadth of opportunities that are out there.”

When he isn’t developing strategies, he loves traveling with his wife, hiking with his family (including his kids and their dogs) in addition to the occasional multi-day backpacking trip with old friends.