Life Lessons

How do you choose a doctor?

How do you decide where to get your child’s next eye examination?

Are all eye examinations pretty much the same, or is there a difference between one exam and another?

I think we all instinctively understand that there is a difference. There are some plumbers that are better than other plumbers, there are some restaurants that are better than other restaurants and there are some doctors that are better than other doctors; Okay, but how do you know who to trust with your vision and your good eye health? Who do you trust with your child? Let me share with you an unlikely lesson in excellence that my Mother taught me as a youngster.

My Mom had asked me to sweep the floor in the kitchen. I really didn’t want to sweep the floor but I knew it was expected of me. As you might guess, I wasn’t being all that diligent at my sweeping job. I just wanted to get it done so I could go do what I wanted to do. I pushed some dirt around and got some of the dirt off the floor but I was neither thorough nor careful. After I pronounced that I had finished the job Mom told me we needed to go look to see if the job was done properly. (Don’t you hate it when Mom’s do that?) I am glad I had a Mother who cared enough to expect my best effort.

That day I learned a great lesson. My mother said to me,

“Anyone can sweep the middle of the floor. That part is easy. But if you do a good job of sweeping around the edges, your work will be exceptional, because most people don’t bother to do a good job of sweeping around the edges.”

Mom wasn’t just talking about sweeping floors. She was talking about life. She was trying to teach me to give it my all, to pay attention to details and to not just “get by” in life. She wanted me to learn the difference between just doing a job and doing a job with excellence.

I started private practice in Casper in 1985 in the Eastridge Mall in a tiny 450 square foot office that I rented from Royal Optical. That office was small and crowded and there wasn’t much opportunity to bring in more cool equipment or more than one employee. I had to work with the basics.

It was pretty frustrating. I wanted my own building. I wanted to be able to grow and expand.

...but first I had to learn to “sweep around the edges” where I was. I had to take care of the person who trusted me enough to come and see me that day and the next day and the next day after that and I had to do that for about 6 years when I was finally able (with the help of a friendly banker) to build my own eye care clinic.

I have been practicing in our current location since 1991. We have added more equipment, more employees and my son, Dr. Seth Jensen, has now joined the practice. Once again we are a little bit cramped. Someday we need a bigger building, but no matter what sort of changes we make, some things will never change: Excellence is the standard.

I will never forget what my mother taught me that day in the kitchen with the broom. We are not perfect. We are not where we want to be. There is always something we can do better and every day is a new challenge to learn and to get better. But we promise you that we will do our best to serve you and your family. We will do the best we know how to do and tomorrow we will try to do it better still. We will take the time with each patient to make sure that we always “sweep around the edges”.

Earnestly, Dr. Clark