Community Connection

Interviewee – Dr. Harminder Antal

 

Works at Coquitlam Centre Eye care

MW: Why are you passionate about your job?

HA: I’m passionate about it because I feel like vision is big in life, there’s more to optometry than just glasses! There’s the health of the eye, eyesight in general, it’s huge in our lives and it’s something very important to us.

MW: What obstacles have you faced to get where you are today?

HA: Rigorous training. Getting through school, just the interviews getting in to a good university is a challenge. The work for school is very intense and you have to be very focused.

MW: What made you interested in this career?

HA: I shadowed a lady doctor and she said as a woman it was an illustrious career. I saw that other opticians thoroughly enjoyed the job. In India I saw someone on the street with an eye problem and my brother in law, who is also an optometrist, was saying how if this was in a country like Canada we could’ve helped. I was inspired by those two doctors, they made me realize just how important this profession was.

MW: What advice would you pass on to someone who is interested you are doing?

HA: Shadow somebody, make sure it’s for you. It’s a distinguished career. People think it’s just glasses but it’s not, there’s the health aspect, you may have an emergent care and can have surprises, you have to be prepared!! Don’t underestimate what optometry provides in your life.

MW: Would you be open to further contact from Riverside students?

HA: Sure! This is my email hkaurantal@gmail.com

MW: Are there any negatives to your job?

HA: For patients, it’s not always covered by the government. For myself, I think vision care is so huge, so I tend to find more personal connections, at the end you really hope the patients vision is going to be fine.

MW: Describe a difficult experience you’ve gone through in this career field…

HA: When you know a patient needs the extra care from a specialist, but they refuse it anyways.

MW: Would you say it took teamwork to get you where you are today?

HA: Yeah! Even in aviation, before I was in optometry I studied aviation, you had to work as a team. You have to look at the bigger picture all while carefully paying attention to intricate details as well.

MW: Thank you so much Dr. Antal!

HA: No problem.

End of Interview.

Who did you interview?

For my community connection I interviewed Dr. Harminder Antal, she is an optometrist associate of Coquitlam Centre Eye Care. She works alongside two other opticians in this small yet successful clinic in Coquitlam Centre Mall. Her role in the clinic is enormous, she has to check every patient’s general eye health, their prescription and rule out any possible eye diseases they may have. Dr. Antal has to be very thorough with her work, definitely going back and double checking, making sure her information on the charts are correct. If the doctor notices there is something there they suspect, they also refer patients to eye specialists for extra care they may need. Overall they encourage people to get their eyes checked regularly to make sure that everything is in tack!

Why did you choose to interview this individual?

After high school I plan on going to university or college and study to become a doctor. Not quite sure which field yet, got to keep your options open! I chose to interview Dr. Antal because she is an amazing role model, inspiring woman, a great family friend and a even better person to work alongside. I work as a receptionist at Coquitlam Centre Eye Care so I get to know Dr. Antal personally and professionally. She is definitely someone I look up to 🙂

What did you learn from the interview and how did it connect to your interests?

I learned so much about optometry through this interview. You get to dig deep and get this quick crash course on the inside of a doctor’s job. I learned the hardships you go through to become a doctor, the whole deal of the job and what you might experience. I got to learn the depth of optometry and how important your vision is. It was a pretty cool experience, you get to be inspired by their experiences and you get an insight on their perspective of why they do their job.