tions. Dr. Shishino and his partners developed the Culver City Medical Arts Building and the Culver West Convalescent Hospi-tal, two additional re-sources for the Culver City community.

Dr. Shishino spent his child-hood in Los Angeles and, briefly, in Minneapolis and was interned at the Gila River Relocation Camp. His younger sister Masako and his oldest brother John predeceased him. His is survived by his wife of 47 years, Helen Shishino, his four daughters and two grandchildren. His brother Hayao and his wife Misuko ("Mitzie") and their three children and seven grand-children also survive him. A memorial service was held on August 23, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at the Venice Japanese Community Cen-ter located at 12448 Brad-dock Drive, Los Angeles, 90066.

Born on May 7, 1928 in Los Angeles, California, Dr. Shishino peacefully passed away in his sleep on August 11, 2008 in Culver City, California. Dr. Shishino served the community for almost 50 years as an op-tometrist, opening his first office in Culver City in 1953. Dr. Shishino was founder and first president of the Japanese-American Optometric Association and elected to the board of the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO) for over 26 years, serving in every chair of the executive committee including chair-man. Dr. Shishino also sup-ported and mentored aspir-ing optometrists, hiring dozens of young profession-als and helping them estab-lish their own practices. In 1994, friends and associates of Dr. Shishino established, in his name, an endowed student award at the SCCO in honor of his service to the optometric profession.

Dr. Shishino earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1950 and a Master of Optometry degree in 1951 from the University of Cali-fornia, Berkeley, School of Optometry. He earned the title of Fellow of the Ameri-can Academy of Optometry in 1985. In 1998, for his distinguished service, Dr. Shishino received the de-gree of Doctor of Ocular Science from the SCCO.

Not only was he known as a respected doctor, but he was also an active commu-nity volunteer. He served twice as president of the Venice-Culver chapter of the Japanese American Citi-zens' League, raised funds for the construction of the Venice Japanese Commu-nity Center, was a docent for the Japanese American National Museum, was among the founding mem-bers of the Mar Vista Opti-mist Club and volunteered as a board member of vari-ous health related organiza-

IN MEMORY OF DR. TAKAO SHISHINO

A PUBLICATION OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC SOCIETY

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

EYE TO AAOS

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

BOARD MEMBERS 2-3

AAOS FOUNDATION 4

ASK DR. WONG 5

WIN A $25 GIFT CER-

TIFICATE TO CHEESE-

CAKE FACTORY

5

SUMMER CE PHOTOS 7-8

CLASSIFIEDS 9

JOIN US SATURDAY JANUARY 10TH FOR THIS YEARS INSTALLATION BANQUET, WHICH WILL BE A TRIBUTE TO DR. SHISHINO AND THE OTHER CHARTER MEMBERS. AND FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, WE ARE PLANNING A CASINO NIGHT FOR THAT NIGHT. STAY TUNED!

I would like to start off by thanking all the members who attended our annual CE meet-ing at the Brea Embassy Suites in August and making it once again a very successful event for our society. I would also like to thank Dr. John Lee and Dr. Stephen Bae for put-ting it together, without their help and dedication to AAOS the meeting would not have been such a big success. Lastly, I would like to thank Alcon, Inspire and TLC for their support at the August CE.

As the year comes to an end, the board members of AAOS are working very hard to put together the 2009 board of AAOS. I encourage all mem-bers to get involved and par-ticipate if you can. It does not matter if you are a new mem-ber or a member who has been with AAOS for a while. If you know of someone or if you yourself would like to be part of the AAOS board, please let us know. Nomina-tions are being accepted for the upcoming year. If you would like more information about a position, please do not hesitate to contact the current board member to get more information.

In conclusion the AAOS board is quickly working to put together a Dr. Shishino scholarship, one of the found-ing fathers of AAOS, which recently passed away in his honor. Also, are putting the final touches on the AAOS Foundation, which helps AAOS members during diffi-cult times. More information on the Foundation can be read within this newsletter. If you would like to make a dona-tion to either fund, please contact Aaron Sako or Kenny Fukuda.

Please enjoy our newsletter and hope to see everyone soon.

Dan Tang

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: DAN TANG, O.D.

SOCIAL CHAIR: STACEY GIN, O.D.

chinda recipient of the Art Sugino Scholarship and Dr. Christina Tanouye, recipient of the William Yamamoto Scholarship. Each recipient received $1000 and a beauti-ful plaque. We would also like to recognize our past 4th year liaisons, Drs. Kristal Kawamoto, Tawny Kaeo-chinda, Christina Tanouye, for their time, efforts and dedication to our society.

Mark your calendars for Sat-urday, January 10th! AAOS is planning the Installation Ban-quet at a new and exciting venue. You don’t want to miss out on this historic eve-ning. Watch for your invita-tion in the mail. You can also find information about past and upcoming events on our website: www.asianamericanoptometricsociety.org. See you all soon!

Stacey Gin

Greetings AAOS,

Thank you to those who at-tended our annual Senior Awards and Student/Doctor Mixer at Wildfish Seafood Grill in Newport on May 18th. We had over 40 doctors and students attend this fun event! It was an evening of delicious food, great company and great raffle prizes! Con-gratulations to our scholarship recipients: Dr. Tawny Kaeo-

PAGE 2 EYE TO AAOS

“Saturday, January 10th! AAOS is planning the Installation Banquet…”

Hello to all the members of the AAOS. Hope you all had a great summer. It sure did get hot didn’t it? I’m looking forward to cooler weather this fall. Thanks to all the members who showed at our last CE event. We had a great turnout.

As for a quick update on the AAOS book. Our total bal-ance in our account is $17,186.23. Of this money $8,664 is in our various scholarship funds. The Rodger Kame Fund was en-dowed last year in the amount of $25,000.

Please call if you have any questions regarding the fi-nances of the group. We are looking forward to seeing all of you at our next AAOS CE event.

-Aaron Sako, O.D.

ten and is playing soccer for the first time. She enjoys both immensely! Nearing the end of the year, it’s time to get those applications in for 2009 membership! Please find the application enclosed or download one on the web-site,

Where does the time go??? I can’t believe we are already in October!!! Hope you all enjoyed your summer. My daughter, Maddy (5), has been busy learning how to swim and dance/sing like the cast of High School Musical!!! She has just started kindergar-

www.AsianAmericanOptometricSociety.org. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at Kfuku-daOD@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing you at the various events we have planned for next year!

TREASURER: AARON SAKO, O.D.

MEMBERSHIP: KENNY FUKUDA, O.D.

EDUCATION: JOHN LEE, O.D.

are actively preparing for next year’s CE program. We are planning to keep the same weekends for next year’s meeting, namely the first weekend in April and the

third weekend in August. If you have any suggestions on speakers, topics, or anything else, please let any of us on the AAOS board know. Thanks! John

On the education front, we’ve had a very successful year of CE. Our CE meeting in April brought in 60 people while our August meeting brought in almost 80. We

PAGE 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

ADMINISTRATIVE ASST: CHRISTINA LEUNG,

Hello AAOS members!

I hope everyone is doing well. The holidays are right around the corner which means an-other year is coming to an end soon. This is my first year serving on the AAOS board

and I have enjoyed getting to know the board members better. Nominations for new board members are approaching quickly. As the Administrative Assistant, I attend all the board meetings and record detailed minutes.

I am excited as we plan for next year. Hope to see all of you at the next big event!

-Christina Leung, Administra-tive Assistant

Hello everyone! It has been a wonderful experience fulfill-ing the position as the first “New Graduate Membership Chair” for AAOS. This posi-tion was created in hopes of continuing involvement with AAOS as new graduates tran-sition from student life to becoming a doctor. All too often, our student members were lost as soon as they re-

ceived their diplomas and entered the working world. My job as New Graduate Membership Chair is to keep interest in AAOS alive, en-courage my former classmates to continue their member-ships, and inform my fellow colleagues of our events and the many benefits that AAOS has to offer. This position has not only allowed me to be an

active leader in our profes-sion, but has also allowed me to keep in touch with friends and former classmates. I en-courage anyone interested in getting involved and having fun to apply!

NEW GRADUATES CHAIR: KRYSTAL KAWAMOTO, O.D.

PAGE 4 NEWSLETTER TITLE

Asian American Optometric Society Foundation

The Asian American Optometric Society (AAOS) Foundation was established on January 1, 2009 to help AAOS members in need of financial assistance. This program provides money for AAOS members and their families facing financial

hardship as a result of Medical/Health issues (i.e. Cancer, Stroke, Surgery, Long term

disability, Death, etc) and natural disasters (i.e. earthquake, fire, flooding, etc) resulting in a loss of income due to the inability to work.

Approval of funding will be based upon the number of applicants, amount of money available, time frame of financial hardship, and the amount of funding

requested.

The Foundation may also help locate “fill in” doctors to help cover the mem-ber’s practice, if the owner is unable to work.

ASK DR. WONG!

The Infant Vision Exam

I know, you are all wondering, how do I examine an infant. Well, it doesn’t require much. What do you really need to know? The first thing is the refractive error, afterall, this will give you an idea of what the visual acuity should be. Secondly, is there a strabismus present and lastly is there any obvious ocular pathology. All of these can be done in your office. You don’t need any special equipment or training. Everyone was trained to do this throughout your career.

Refractive error, there is something called Retinoscopy. I am sure you have all done this and by now should be pretty accurate with this technique. How do I perform retinoscopy on an infant? Well, Mohindra Retinoscopy, of course. Remember this is done at 50 cm in complete darkness and the patient fixates the light on the retino-scope. It would help if you had a lens rack but loose lenses will work just as well. Don’t forget to take out your working distance +1.25.

How do I do a cover test? Hirshberg test, you shine a transilluminator at the patient and look at the corneal reflexes (purkinje images) to make sure they are symmetri-cal. In a dark room, the infant will fixate the light and allow you to do an alternat-ing cover test. Remember, if the parents tell you there is a strabismus present then there probably isn’t one. However, if the grandparents tell you an eye turns then you better find one.

Pathology, do I dilate? Case history is very important to determine if there is any family history of pathology. In most cases, the pediatrician and obstetrician will know if there are any high risks pathology and will be treated right away. There is that rare occasion you may need to rule out any pathology. So, you dilate and try your best. If you have any concerns then you can always refer to a pediatric oph-thalmologist. Remember, one of the key things to look for is leucocoria.

Strabismus Surgery or Not

A 2½ year old girl presents for a 4th opinion for Strabismus Sur-gery. The pregnancy, birth and developmental milestones were all normal. There is no family history of any strabismus or am-blyopia. The parents report that the eye turn is more noticeable when she is tired or sick. Both eyes turn out, however, the left eye seems to turn out more. This was first notice approxi-mately 8 months ago. This was the first visit to the ophthalmolo-gist and a report was written. It was noted that she had a 40-50 pd exophoria and she has “good control”. In addition, her vision was 20/25 for both the right and left eyes with Allen Picture Cards. The parents then brought her to see a pediatric ophthal-mologist who recommended strabismus surgery. The parent wants to avoid surgery and went to see a Developmental Optome-trist who was very noncommit-tal.

What is your opinion? Should they have surgery or not?

(cont. pg 8)

PAGE 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

Dr. Lyndon Wong is the chief of primary care services at SUNY college of optometry. Being on the west coast, most of you may not know of him, but he is best known for his bubbly personality and unfathomable patience with 3rd year students. Nonetheless, his expertise and knowl-edge leave him second to none. He has decided to share some of his ex-perience with us and is open to any questions you may have regarding this case or any other situations.

Be the FIRST person to submit the correct answers to a few easy questions about this newsletter/AAOS and receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the Cheesecake Factory sponsored by your AAOS. If more than one are received on the same day, then those will be randomly drawn for a winner. You MUST be an active member to qualify, so send in those membership forms! Send submissions to Shawn Yamamoto, 211 S. Wilson Ave. #105, Pasadena, CA 91106. Mail only, no emails! $25 Gift

Certificate to Cheescake

Factory

1. What city did Dr. Shishino start practicing in?

2. Besides Dr. Shishino, name another charter member.

3. Name 3 past AAOS presidents.

4. Which board member’s name is misspelled next to their photo?

5. When is the next AAOS Installation Banquest?

6. What is the correct working distance for Mohindra retinoscopy?

7. How many times does the word “asian” appear in this newsletter?

2009 ASIAN AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC SOCIETY Membership Application

Last Name: _________ First Name:______________ Middle Initial:___

Email Address: Spouse’s Name (if applicable): ___________

Optometry School Attended/Year of Graduation: _____________

Referred By: ____

Primary Address and Phone Number: Please circle one OFFICE / HOME

Number & Street Name City State Zip Code

( )

Phone#

If you would like to make a contribution along with your annual dues, please check the appropriate line(s) be-

low

______ AAOS Foundation (New!) $__________

_ Dr. Rodger T. Kame Memorial Fund $ _

_ SCCO Scholarship Fund $ _

_____ Berkeley Scholarship Fund $ _

Research Mini-Grant $ _

_ X

Make checks payable to: AAOS

Please Kenneth Fukuda, O.D. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE SCALE

Mail To: 9615 Nightingale Ave. If you graduated in:

Fountain Valley, CA 92708 2009 (1st year) Membership is FREE

2008 (2nd year) Only $25

2007 and before $75

Please Kenneth Fukuda, O.D. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE SCALE

Mail To: 9615 Nightingale Ave. If you graduated in:

Fountain Valley, CA 92708 2009 (1st year) Membership is FREE

2008 (2nd year) Only $25

2007 and before $75

Photos from Summer CE 2008

C’mon girls, you can look up and take a picture while getting your food.

See,there you go.

Kicking it old school Dr. Daaaaang!

Have you ever noticed that Greg always has the same smile?

Chinese, Japanese, Korean , Vietnamese. I guess we all can get along.

He must practice that smile

Is that the flash reflection in a mirror, or does Long need to blot his forehead?

Summer CE Sponsors and Speakers

My Patient

Back to my patient. The first thing I do on any patient/parent who comes in complaining of a lazy eye, turned eye, . . ., would be Stereo Testing. I want to see if the patient has any binocularity. On younger kids, I play a matching game. I asked them if they see any of the shapes hiding in the box. Then I do a Worth 4 Dot. Again, to give me an idea if there is any binocularity present. Next we check Visual Acuity. Ideally, Tumbling E would be the method of choice. Picture Chart is adequate, unfortunately, there are a lot of cues that the patient can pick up on. Cover testing is important at distance and near. You need to measure or guestimate the magnitude of the eye turn. Wheter it is alternating or unilateral. Then we do Retinoscopy and attempt to refract the patient. In

most cases, I just Trial Frame what I want to RX and recheck VA Binocularly if the acuity was equal in both eyes. Then I check the ocular health as best as I can. In this case, the patient was seen by 2 MDs.

Conclusion

Using my knowledge, I know that most exotropes are intermittent and alternating. In addition, I know success rate for surgery is best prior to 2 years of age and vision therapy pre and post operative surgery is the best. During my entire time spent with the pa-tient I did not see the eye turn once. Stereo testing was very questionable. The patient wasn’t able to appreciate any shapes. Retino-scopy and visual acuity revealed a very low and equal refractive error. So far, everything looks great. I can safely recommend to the parent that I would defer surgery at this time. What I did do was offer some Home VT. For example, pointer in the straw, pencil push up, eating grapes or other small items with a toothpick and even bitemporal occlusion. Then I advised the parent to return in 3 months to monitor the strabismus.

Ask dr. wong (cont. from pg 5)

AAOS Members:

We want to share some exciting news from our partners at Alcon Laboratories, Inc

As our patients continue to struggle with the symptoms associated with dry eye, we need to look for better ways to address the prob-lem. Ten to 20 percent of the U.S. population suffers from dry eye, and will likely experience increased dry eye with age. As contrib-uting factors such as LASIK procedures, contact lens wear, and aging population all continue to increase, it is important for us to be aware of the best available products to treat our patients’ symptoms. Alcon Laboratories, Inc. has recently unveiled the new Systane® Ultra Lubricant Eye Drops which is now available to your patients at retailers.

SYSTANE® Ultra Lubricant Eye Drops is the high performance dry eye therapy with a unique mechanism of action designed to lubri-cate and protect. HP-Guar, Borate and Sorbitol interact to provide an intelligent system to deliver the active demulcents, polyethylene glycol and propylene glycol, to the eye.

At the pH of 7.9, Sorbitol helps control viscosity and creates a loosely cross-linked matrix in the bottle, resulting in minimal blur upon instillation.

Sorbitol dilutes from the tear film, creating an elastic matrix that provides extended protec-tion over damaged areas

This enhanced, viscoelastic matrix works with tear film chemistry and eyelid mechanics to re-build tear film with each blink

SYSTANE® ULTRA Lubricant Eye Drops was designed to make the eyes feel comfortable and lubri-cated longer.

As new products like Systane® ULTRA Lubricant Eye Drops are made available to us and our pa-tients, we encourage you to educate and familiarize yourself with Systane® ULTRA.

CLASSIFIEDS

1. Advertise to fellow optometrists in your area what speciality services you offer that they may not.

2. Place an ad for an associate position, potential partnership opportunity, or even selling your practice.

3. New graduates looking to get started or experienced docs looking for fill in positions, let your availability be known.

Saturday, January 10, Installation

Banquet+Casino Night!!!

“The Purpose of the Asian American Optometric Society is to promote and maintain a social, cultural, scientific, and

educational interchange of information and experiences between the members”

ASIAN AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC SOCIETY C/O Shawn Yamamoto

211 S. Wilson Ave. #105 Pasadena, CA 91106

Phone: (310) 344-3260 E-mail: yamay33@gmail.com

A PUBLICATION OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC SOCIETY

MEMBERSHIP Kenny Fukuda, O.D. (714) 403-1395 Kdog1@hotmail.com EDUC. & RESEARCH John Lee, O.D. (714) 992-7837 jlee@scco.edu ADMINISTRATIVE ASST. Christina Leung, O.D. (714) 864-1175 ChristinaLeungOD@yahoo.com PUBLICATIONS Shawn Yamamoto, O.D. (310) 344-3260 yamay33@gmail.com

PRESIDENT Dan Tang, O.D. (310) 557-6401 DanielSTang@yahoo.com PRESIDENT ELECT Long Tran, O.D. (714) 992-7873 LTran@scco.edu SOCIAL CHAIR Stacey Gin, O.D. (714) 308-5036 StaceyGin@gmail.com TREASURER Aaron Sako, O.D. (949) 586-8200 AaronSako@yahoo.com

NEW GRAD MEMBERSHIP Kristal Kawamoto, O.D. (818) 642-3803 KKawamoto.2008@scco.edu TRUSTEES: Mark Sawamura, O.D., FAAO (714) 449-7407 Msawamura@scco.edu Cindy Siu, O.D., FAAO (949) 640-2023 Dr.Siu@verizon.net Steve Bae, O.D. (323) 938-5558 SteveBaeOD@sbcglobal.net

2008 ASIAN AMERICAN OPTOMETRIC SOCIETY BOARD

W E’ RE ON THE W EB:

WWW. A SIA NAME R ICAN OPTO METR ICSO CIE TY. COM

Judy Tong, O.D., FAAO (714) 449-7429 Jtong@scco.edu Greg Kame, O.D., FAAO (213) 628-7419 DrKame@aol.com Charissa Lee, O.D. (310) 714-7363 Charissa_Lee@msn.com Don Matsumoto, O.D. (310) 390-9527 Cdmatsumoto@hotmail.com