FAST FACTS
School of Optometry Attended: Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Year of Graduation: 1997
Current Place of Practice: Springfield Opticians in Chadds Ford, PA and Springfield, PA
Currently Working On: Switching to electronic records and getting an OCT at Springfield Opticians
GETTING TO KNOW DR. PIORKOWSKI
Choosing Optometry
For Dr. Thomas Piorkowski, becoming an optometrist wasn't something he had initially planned on doing. Piorkowski originally graduated in business but considered going back to school for optometry after speaking to other optometrists and getting support from his family. His wife Janice was experienced in the optometric field, as her father started Springfield Opticians in 1964. The business is currently under the direction of Janice and her brother Gary, and Dr. Piorkowski is the head optometrist at the practice. However, before becoming the head doctor, Piorkowski had to work hard through some untraditional challenges while in school. During his time at PCO, Piorkowski and his wife had two children, Gina and Natalie. "Going to optometry school is hard enough, especially after not being in school for six or seven years, and then having kids really adds another dimension," Piorkowski said.
Optometry as a Family Business
Optometry is certainly more than an occupation for Piorkowski. Having married into a family that was already involved in the field, optometry became a family business and something in common amongst his family. Piorkowski said that because he is in the same practice as his wife, it strengthens their relationship since they both want the practice to succeed. "With any relationship, when you're both working on the same thing it definitely helps build the relationship," he said. Piorkowski is now also able to share the commonality of optometry with his oldest daughter Gina, who is a second year optometry student at PCO. "For Gina it's great, she calls me when she learns about something new and now we have that in common," he said.
Medical Mission Trips
The most challenging and rewarding thing that Piorkowski has experienced in his optometric career is his involvement in medical mission trips. Through his church, Piorkowski planned two separate mission trips to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic where he completed eye screenings and dispensed numerous optometric products to local people in need. "It's rewarding as you're helping so many people and making people's lives a little bit better, but it's the hardest work I've ever done," said Piorkowski. While on these trips, Piorkowski dispensed sunglasses, readers, and artificial tears thanks in park to numerous companies that donated items or sold items at a reduced cost. He also gave out prescription distance glasses that were donated, neutralized, and categorized so that they could be matched up properly to a person in need. His wife Janice did a lot of the dispensing and adjusting of frames while he would find a prescription. Piorkowski's advice to anyone looking to be involved in an optometric medical mission trip is to talk to another doctor who has already been on a mission trip. "It's something I wish I would've done," he said. "But if you get the chance to go someplace, it's a great thing to do."
Advice for Optometry Students
Piorkowski's main piece of advice for current optometry students is to take advantage of all the pathology that you will see during your time at TEI, hospital rotations, and clinical sites. "When you get into private practice, most optometrists just don't see the amount of pathology that you do while you're in school," he said. "Get the most out of those experiences because you only see it here-and-there and not on the regular in private practice."
For more information about Dr. Thomas Piorkowski, visit the Springfield Opticians website at: https://www.springfield2020.com.
QUICK Q&A
What is the wildest diagnosis you've made?
"In private practice we don't seem to get the most exciting pathology compared to The Eye Institute (TEI), clinical, and hospital sites, but the story I tell the most is about a patient that came in with itchy eyes. Naturally I was thinking just allergies because it was the spring, but it ended up being Pthirus Pubis. The presentation is quite atrocious: eggs, nits, red/brown feces, and of course the little crabs working up and down the base of the lashes. Every time I had an itch for the next 3 months I was hoping they didn't get me."
What is your favorite place you've traveled?
"Italy. It's the most beautiful country we have visited."
What is your favorite optometry pun?
"For a pun it is 'eye am an optometrist, my jokes are as corneas it gets' but we also have a boat that we call 'OpTomEyes' (Optometry, Tom and Eyes)."
What is the best part of a typical day in practice?
"The best part of a typical day is really just helping people see their best, giving them freedom from glasses, and finding ways to successfully fit those presbyopes in contacts to give them all they want."
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