News from the AOA's Blog

While in Copenhagen for the World Council of Optometry, Dr. Carlson encountered a fitting sign that read “Don’t worry, come to Dori.” “It was a sunglasses store of all things!” she marveled.

Describing soon-to-be AOA President-elect Dori Carlson, O.D., as a working mother is an understatement. She’s more like a highly performing shaper of young lives/ primary care optometrist/ professional leader (and not to mention she is slated to be the first woman to serve as AOA president).

Dr. Carlson describes the components of her life in terms of three elements: family, professional work and the AOA.

“I try to keep all three juggled and up in the air,” she said. “Once in awhile they all come crashing down but hopefully that doesn’t happen very often. I try to keep some semblance of balance between all of them.”

Family

I witnessed some of this magic juggling firsthand while conducting the interview for this article.

As we visited, she was on her cell phone while the home line was ringing and kids were coming and going from her back yard.

“I think I have an extra eight kids in my yard at the moment. Our home has become the gathering spot for 13-year-olds.”

Dr. Carlson and her husband and business partner, Mark Helgeson, O.D., have two sons, Seth (13) and Ian (10). Between scouts, track, basketball, band and choir, life can get crazy at times.

“The school has gotten used to me calling and asking for schedules so I can make arrangements for my schedule, my husband’s schedule or the boys’ schedule,” Dr. Carlson said.

Recently Dr. Carlson has also been acting as the primary care giver for her 83-year-old mother who had back surgery in January.

“Recovery has been a long process that is requiring many long-term care decisions. Thankfully my husband and my kids have been very helpful.”

AOA

Dr. Carlson was actually the one who was keeping track of the publication deadline and contacted AOA News to make sure she could arrange her schedule before a recent trip to the World Council of Optometry in Copenhagen, Denmark.
As hard as she works at following her schedule, there are just some things for which she can’t plan.

In the days leading up to the trip, Dr. Carlson was in Oklahoma giving the commencement address for Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry.

“Unfortunately, I had no luggage,” she said. “And I couldn’t really get up in front of all those people in jeans. I was getting really worried about what I was going to do. Then about an hour before I had to leave for the graduation, my luggage arrived and I got my suit.”

As soon as she made it over that hurdle, Dr. Carlson caught a 7 a.m. flight to Minneapolis the next morning to meet her family for the trip overseas.

While waiting at the airport, she received a text from her husband updating her on their status.

“My younger son, Ian, had thrown up on the way to the airport, and then he threw up again in the parking lot,” she said. “Needless to say, this was a bumpy start to our trip, but all part of having kids.”

Dr. Carlson has no plans to slow down her travels. She intends to visit every school and college of optometry in the country during her time as AOA president-elect and president.

She said she plans to work with the state affiliates and schools to design visits that allow her to connect with students and new alumni who are in the area.

Depending on the needs and demographics of the school, each visit will be slightly different.

“My first one will be at Pacific in October. That’s my alma mater, so no pressure,” she joked. “At least they were very gracious and agreed to be my guinea pigs.”

In addition to her focus on students, Dr. Carlson also puts the spotlight on children’s vision issues.

A founding member of the InfantSEE® Committee, she works tirelessly to get the message out about the importance of children’s vision to overall health and well-being.

She discussed plans for an AOA-hosted Children’s Summit in collaboration with other groups such as the U.S. Department of Education and Head Start centered around school readiness.

“The goal would be to someday get children’s vision examinations to be considered at the same level of importance as immunizations,” Dr. Carlson said.

Professional work

Dr. Carlson practices in rural North Dakota with her husband and a part-time associate, Michelle Carter, O.D.

They were recruited to Park River (population 1,500) by a group of community leaders. In an attempt to pay for airline tickets to show off their town, the community raffled off a 4-foot stuffed raccoon. The doctors eventually moved there and later acquired an existing practice in Grafton (population 5,000).

“We have patients from infancy to 107 years old,” Dr. Carlson said. “But the majority are folks over 65. It’s a medical-based practice. We manage a lot of eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration because of the population. We also manage a fair bit of trauma because of its remoteness and agricultural economy. ”

Dr. Carlson sees patients two to four days a week, depending on her schedule.

To see more about her practice, visit www.visionsource-heartlandeyecare.com.

So what doesn’t Dr. Carlson do?

“I hate cleaning bathrooms—especially with boys! Thankfully I have someone who helps me clean my house.” She also shared she doesn’t clear snow in the winter or mow the lawn in the summer. “That’s why God gave me boys.”

She won’t bait a fish hook or fillet a fish, and while she loves to cook dinner for friends when she’s not traveling “My mom tells me I don’t add enough salt when I make rice pudding.”

Article written by AOA News Managing Editor Tracy Overton