Dec. 6, 2024
Ferris State professor Emily Aslakson one of just nine ever to earn prestigious honor from American Academy of Optometry for excellence in teaching
Just nine people in the history of the American Academy of Optometry have earned the title of Diplomate of Optometric Education. Now that Dr. Emily Aslakson has been presented with the prestigious title, two of them are at Ferris State University’s Michigan College of Optometry.
Leaders say that speaks to the quality of the faculty and the strength of the program in Michigan’s first college of Optometry.
Professor Emily Aslakson recently was recognized as one of 16 Fellows in the American Academy of Optometry to have earned the honor of Diplomate for 2024 – and she was one of just nine ever nationwide in the Optometric Education category. She joins MCO Dean Daniel Taylor in that group.
To become a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry means completing an extensive candidacy process.
The AAO estimates only 10 percent of practicing optometrists in the United States are Fellows. Becoming a Diplomate then requires demonstrating extensive skill in a specific area, in the case of Aslakson and Taylor, optometric education.
Taylor said having Aslakson achieve the Diplomate in Optometric Education demonstrates the commitment she has to her students, and to her own personal development as an optometric educator,
“Like the rest of our faculty, Dr. Aslakson is dedicated to continually learning how to become the best teacher she can be,” he said. “It’s all for the benefit of our students—at Michigan College of Optometry, we want to provide our students with educational interventions that clearly, directly, and measurably provide them with the knowledge and skills they need for patient care.”
For Aslakson, being named a Diplomate was a satisfying conclusion to a long process.
"It took many years, and the culmination of it was very fulfilling," she said. "While the process was extremely difficult, and there were many times when I questioned whether I was even 'good enough' to earn the Diplomate, it was absolutely worth it. I feel that I am a better writer from the process, and I feel more comfortable with my identity as an educator from going through the Diplomate process."
That the Michigan College of Optometry has two of the nine Diplomates nationwide in optometric education is a testament to the strength of the MCO faculty, Aslakson added.
"Optometric education, or health care education in general, is unique because most people do not have any formal training in education," she said. "We all have the credentials to be doctors of optometry, so we know that very well, but teaching optometry is a whole other animal. I think the fact that MCO has two (of the Diplomates) shows how much MCO and Ferris State value quality education. Being a strong educator is important to the culture and mission of MCO and FSU."
Aslakson grew up in Cadillac and did her undergraduate education at Alma College, 85 miles southeast of her hometown.
There she majored in psychology and theatre arts, a combination she said is pretty unusual for someone who ended up working in optometry.
"Most students interested in optometry get their undergraduate degree in science-related fields," she said. "But I certainly think that my degrees made me stand out as an applicant to optometry programs and future employers, and the skills I learned, both the psychology and the theatre performance, from my undergraduate degrees have absolutely helped my success."
In fact, she has an academic paper in process called "Delivering Serious News: Utilizing Trained Actors to Train Optometry Students," that draws heavily on her theatre background.
"I am very interested in patient communication because we know that how health care providers deliver information to patients has a major impact on how patients understand their disease and can even impact how compliant they are with treatment and their overall mental health surrounding their diagnosis," she said.
She noted that optometrists have numerous encounters with patients where they have to deliver serious news about vision, often news about life-altering changes. Managing emotions becomes a critical part of those encounters, Aslakson said, as often patients get angry or cry or shut down in the face of bad news.
In order to help her students get ready for these scenarios when they are optometrists, she has them practice by delivering bad results to trained actors.
"We use actors to play patients," she said. "The students have an opportunity to review the patient's information. It's all fake patient information but based on very real scenarios. The news usually is related to vision loss and often loss of independence such as driving or career opportunities. The actors are told to react how they would if this were really them receiving this diagnosis.”
Aslakson said the students need to work with the patient to explain the diagnosis and manage the emotional response. They then receive feedback from the actor about the experience from a patient perspective on what they did well with and what they might need to consider in the future.
She said students overwhelmingly report that this workshop is extremely valuable for their development."
After Alma, Aslakson earned a Doctor of Optometry, High Distinction, at Indiana University, then did a Residency in Pediatrics/Vision Therapy at the MCO and finally earned her master's degree in Education at Ferris State.
She said she was drawn back to teach by the atmosphere at the MCO.
"I really like the small class size at Michigan College of Optometry," she said. "And I really like the environment at Michigan College of Optometry because I get to know my students, colleagues and co-workers very well. I like getting to know my students and I think it in turn helps me as an educator to be a person that they can make mistakes with, because that is really how we learn is through our mistakes."
She laughs when she talks about being in the front of a classroom as a professor.
"I love the excitement and curiosity of students," she said. "As someone who also genuinely loves to learn, I really enjoy being in an environment with my students who all want to be here and are excited to learn. I like the challenge of being an educator because I really have to be at the top of my game to keep up with my students, who are really, really smart. I think they push me just as much as I push them."