Working at George & Matilda Eyecare (G&M) in Gympie, Queensland, for optometrist Ms Charmaine Mills feels like a family reunion most days, where practitioner and patient catch up on the events in one another’s lives.
She said there is a commonality between the patient and optometrist, so it’s not just a health professional speaking to a client.
“The personal nature of working in regional optometry is understated, underappreciated but wholly worth the effort of leaving the big cities,” Mills said.
Mills boasts an impressive CV that covers both metro and regional practise and is well versed on the dynamics of both. She has also developed and nurtured clinical and management skills that she uses to this day as both optometrist and practice manager at G&M.
“When I first graduated, I worked in Launceston for three years at Corbet, Wilson and Coulson, before returning home to Queensland – and ultimately Gympie,” she said.
“I worked with Eyecare Plus under the guidance of Tony and Vicki Hanks, and this allowed me to hone not only my optometry skills, but my management skills as well in my role as optometrist and practice manager.”
After a taste of metro practice, Mills said she finds joy in working within regional optometry. She feels included in the community and working is more than performing a job each day.
“Patients become friends and regularly enquire about my family and children,” Mills said.
When moving from their home in Tasmania, Mills and her husband were keen to be based away from a metro setting – and Gympie landed.
“After working away from Queensland, my husband and I were excited to get back ‘home’ and Gympie has been part of my family over the years. My grandfather grew up here, and my aunt, uncle and cousins lived here when I was a child,” she said.
“Gympie has proven to be a wonderful place to live, work and play, and we couldn’t have settled in a better location or raised our children in a better community.”
A patient-first ethos makes up much of Mills’ core beliefs. And, as a company that follows a ‘patient-first’ practice, she said G&M was the obvious place to settle.
“We are established in the wider community and can service the needs of our patients by recommending what is best for each patient we see,” Mills said.
“I would never want to be guided in the consulting room by needing to meet certain targets or sales requirements, especially if it isn’t what is best for my patients. George & Matilda allows me to practise how I see fit, but also be competitive in the optometry world.”
For Mills, G&M nurtures her love for the role, work colleagues and the broader community. She said it has been interesting to watch the evolution of G&M from its inception to its place in modern optometry.
“If your heart isn’t in it, there can be no true joy, happiness or fulfillment in the journey you undertake,” she said.
“I am very lucky to work with staff who I am proud to have in my ‘work family’, they make it a pleasure to go to work each day and collaborate with on a daily basis.
“A positive mindset is the healthiest option today for both our mental and physical wellbeing, and we can be in control of that.”
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