USNH GTMO Optometrist Recognized Navywide

By Stacey Byington, U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY (NNS) -- Lt. Cmdr. Emily Sprague, the optometrist for U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, has been recognized as the Navy's Junior Optometrist of the Year.

Sprague was recommended for the honor by Cmdr. Kevin Moore, optometrist at Naval Medical Center San Diego, saying "She is an exceptional officer who consistently exemplifies Navy optometry's mission to support the operational forces," said Cmdr. Kevin Moore, optometrist at Naval Medical Center San Diego, who recommended her foth e awrd. "She demonstrates the excellence expected in the Navy on a daily basis, and represents the highest standards of performance as an optometrist, officer, and leader."

The Navy's Specialty Leader for Optometry, Capt. Penny E. Walter, MSC, USN, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, made the announcement to Optometrists Navywide.

"Lt. Cmdr. Sprague has consistently demonstrated outstanding clinical skills, emphasizing exceptional customer service and access to care for beneficiaries," said Moore. "She is a proven leader in optometry."

After graduating from optometry school in 2004, Sprague served at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, California; at Naval Health Clinic Hawaii, where she served as the department head of the largest OCONUS optometry department in Navy Medicine; completed her residency in ocular disease at Baltimore Veterans Affairs Hospital; and in addition to her current duties, also serves as the hospital's director of Clinical Support Services.

"My Dad encouraged me to consider the Navy as an option as I planned to enter Optometry school," said Sprague. "I received a four-year Navy Health Services Collegiate Program Scholarship, and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. My time in the Navy has definitely broadened my horizons and provided so many outstanding opportunities for professional development that would not have been possible otherwise."

Moore's recommendation reiterated Sprague's dedication to the optometry profession.

"She is a 13-year member of the American Optometric Association and a nine-year member of the Armed Forces Optometric Society," he said. "She was selected in 2012 as the Navy's representative on the American Academy of Optometry's Fellowship Admittance Committee, reviewing candidate submissions for fellowship and providing feedback. She was also named as the Southern College of Optometry's Young Alumnus of the Year in 2013."

"The Navy Medicine Optometry community is filled with professionals who work hard every day to ensure the vision readiness and eye health needs of our warfighters and all beneficiaries are served," said Sprague. "I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition given the many others who are most deserving."

"The Navy allows me to practice to the fullest scope of my training, which benefits both me and my patients," she added. "Prescribing a young child their first pair of glasses and hearing that they have begun to excel in reading at school, or removing an ocular foreign body and providing immediate pain relief will never get old. I love my job!"