Dr. Frank Fontana on the Early Days of Contact Lenses and the Future of Eye Care!

[AdminWolf]

Dr. Fontana (aka optometry's "Uncle Frank, The King of Contact Lenses"), in his 69th year attending SECO (!!), talks about being a pioneer the field of contact lenses, and what the future might hold for ECPs.

He also gives a shout-out to our own Paul Farkas and Ted Kassalow, who were also party to this history...

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Up Next: Dr. Ernie Bowling on Achieving Work-Life Balance & Avoiding Burnout

Or: go to the list of all InSight interviews from SECO2018
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[AdminWolf]

Thanks again to Dr. Fontana, it was really fun to be able to sit down with him for a few minutes and reminisce!

 

[Paul Farkas]

Thanks again to Dr. Fontana, it was really fun to be able to sit down with him for a few minutes and reminisce!

A great interview!

A pity more senior ODs don't join the conversation. Many have great stories and history to share.

Hopefully some are still contributing to the profession and making history.

 

[Zsolt Tapaszto]

Great interview! Thanks Uncle Frank, thanks Adam!

Editor's note: Zsolt is a long time friend and colleague. He the "go to" person for contact lenses in Hungary.

 

[Fred L. Von Gunten]

A great interview!

A pity more senior ODs don't join the conversation. Many have great stories and history to share.

Hopefully some are still contributing to the profession and making history.

Hi Paul : Was really great to view this interview with Uncle Frank - "The King of Contact Lenses".

As you know my twin brother Ted had a contact lens practice in the St. Louis area where Dr. Frank practiced. I got to know Dr. Frank well as result of being close to Ted and his practice.

Ted often mentioned that doing the "Glory Years" (early 70' to late '70) of Fitting Hard Contact, that overhead costs extremely low verses the Professional Fees that were available to Optometrists who pioneered this marvelous time in Optometry.

Thanks to you, Ted Kassalow, Rex Gormly, Bob Ketteing and many others that I had the privilege of meeting, at the Heart of America Contact Len Congress in the '70s.

 

[Tom Byers OD]

Opthaine etc was frequently used on new patients to “aid” the initial fitting process.

 

[Paul Farkas]

Hi Paul : Was really great to view this interview with Uncle Frank - "The King of Contact Lenses".

As you know my twin brother Ted had a contact lens practice in the St. Louis area where Dr. Frank practiced. I got to know Dr. Frank well as result of being close to Ted and his practice.

Ted often mentioned that doing the "Glory Years" (early 70' to late '70) of Fitting Hard Contact, that overhead costs extremely low verses the Professional Fees that were available to Optometrists who pioneered this marvelous time in Optometry.

Thanks to you, Ted Kassalow, Rex Gormly, Bob Ketteing and many others that I had the privilege of meeting, at the Heart of America Contact Len Congress in the '70s.

One day you'll have to share with our readers how you were a subject that I placed under hypnosis at one of the Heart of America meetings as part of my "Hypnosis and the Optometrist" presentation.

Maybe it was me being 40 years younger, but there were many more laughs the old time meeting before everyone was mainly concerned about C/E credits for relicensure.

 

[AdminWolf]

One day you'll have to share with our readers how you were a subject that I placed under hypnosis at one of the Heart of America meetings as part of my "Hypnosis and the Optometrist" presentation.

Maybe it was me being 40 years younger, but there were many more laughs the old time meeting before everyone was mainly concerned about C/E credits for relicensure.

Dad -- if you'd like, at AAO I could interview a bunch of "old timers" like I did with Uncle Frank. Including you!

It might be nice to have, just for archival purposes. Big question is ... who is going to be in San Antonio?

 

[Paul Farkas]

Dad -- if you'd like, at AAO I could interview a bunch of "old timers" like I did with Uncle Frank. Including you!

It might be nice to have, just for archival purposes. Big question is ... who is going to be in San Antonio?

The only living "Old Timers" I know who shows for the AAOpt meeting is Dr Donald Don Korb and his wife Dr Joan Exford Korb? You may get a few more who are still practice in their seventies.

Unfortunately most of us seniors have a face better suited for radio. TV interviews not so much!

Really is a challenge.

 

[AdminWolf]

The only living "Old Timers" I know who shows for the AAOpt meeting is Dr Donald Don Korb and his wife Dr Joan Exford Korb? You may get a few more who are still practice in their seventies.

Unfortunately most of us seniors have a face better suited for radio. TV interviews not so much!

Really is a challenge.

If the Korbs will be there, I would love to corner them and get it done. They are both still active, and are pioneers, so I'm sure have some great stories.

Maybe we could get Irving Bennett on the phone one day and just let him talk....

 

[Fred L. Von Gunten]

One day you'll have to share with our readers how you were a subject that I placed under hypnosis at one of the Heart of America meetings as part of my "Hypnosis and the Optometrist" presentation.

Maybe it was me being 40 years younger, but there were many more laughs the old time meeting before everyone was mainly concerned about C/E credits for relicensure.

Paul : let me research my memory bank about that experience with you placing me under Hypnosis and even the night when you and Ted used Hypnosis to relieve a serious throat infection. I remember it worked well... but as my mouth feel wide open, everyone started to laugh and I could feel Hypnosis begin to fall rapidly.
Were do I find the "Hypnosis and the Optometrist" presentation Thread ?

 

[Paul Farkas]

Were do I find the "Hypnosis and the Optometrist" presentation Thread ?

That paper was published in the Journal of the AOA in the early 1970s.

Don't have a clue, if it was archived.

 

[AdminWolf]

That paper was published in the Journal of the AOA in the early 1970s.

Don't have a clue, if it was archived.

The paper is still a thing --

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1027844

I may know of an academic librarian who can retrieve the full-text body of it for you....

 

[Paul Farkas]

The paper is still a thing --

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1027844

I may know of an academic librarian who can retrieve the full-text body of it for you....

There was even an earlier paper called in the Journal of the AOA titled "Hypnosis and the Optometrist".

it would be interesting to see if writing style changes in over 40 years.

 

[AdminWolf]

There was even an earlier paper called in the Journal of the AOA titled "Hypnosis and the Optometrist".

it would be interesting to see if writing style changes in over 40 years.

I'll see if I can get my hands on them, it might be challenging unless the publication was digitized. Though I imagine our friends in St. Louis have it at least on microfiche

 

[Paul Farkas]

I spent a few minutes viewing the interview Adam had with Dr Frank Fontana again at SECO 2018.

"Uncle Frank"not my uncle, more like a wise older brother who was part of the "Greatest Generation".

Dr Frank Fontana was one of a kind and he is missed.