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Brett Howell, O.D., of Howell Family EyeCare performs retinoscopy during a county-wide annual back-to-school event in Pryor, Okla. Dr. Howell and his staff take this opportunity to provide eye health and vision screenings for the students of Mayes County before they return to the classroom and to educate parents of the importance of yearly comprehensive eye care for their children.

Oklahoma practitioner Brett Howell, O.D., and his staff at Howell Family EyeCare have volunteered their time at a county-wide annual back-to-school event in Pryor, Okla., for the last two years.

Dr. Howell and his staff take the opportunity to provide eye health and vision screenings for the students of Mayes County before they return to the classroom and educate parents on the importance of yearly comprehensive eye care for their children.

Dr. Howell became involved in the event through a patient who helps coordinate the back-to-school event and asked him to join the team.

“As one of the few health care providers there, I screened about 120 kids,” said Dr. Howell. “I performed retinoscopy, visual acuity and binocularity assessments.”

Dr. Howell also distributed AOA materials on eye health and vision problems to the children’s parents.

There are no age restrictions at the event, and Dr. Howell said he saw children as young as 3 or 4 and up to 14 years old.

“Out of 120 children, we sent out 40 letters explaining the need for further assessment,” said Dr. Howell. “Most of the concerns were for binocularity or refractive issues.”

Many of the parents were grateful for the care provided by Dr. Howell.

“The biggest thing you get is a shocked look from the parents,” said Dr. Howell. “Most have no clue that their child has a refractive error or even needed an exam before they were 7 or 8 years old. Building parents’ awareness is huge.”

Though Dr. Howell’s staff does not set up appointments for follow-up care at the booth, the event still serves as a practice builder.

“The majority will later come see us,” he said. “It’s convenient for them especially as we are in a small town.”

In addition to his private practice, Dr. Howell is a part-time Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry clinical professor.

The college supports Dr. Howell’s efforts to help local students by providing portable equipment such as acuity charts.

Dr. Howell considers his work a success.

“Even I didn’t think we would catch as many problems as we did,” Dr. Howell said.

“It’s a great service and a good way to give back to your community. It only takes a day, but you can reach a large number of people and make a big impact.”