Your visit with us, and what to expect

We strive to make every visit as pleasant, smooth, and efficient as possible. Prior to your appointment, you will receive a telephone call from one of our friendly staff to confirm the date and time of your appointment. When you arrive, you will check in at our front desk, and if it is your first visit with us, you will be provided with a short medical history questionnaire that will help the doctor to better serve you. After that, you will be escorted to an examination room where one of our skilled staff will speak with you about the symptoms you are experiencing. Your vision and eye pressure will be checked and dilating eye drops will be placed in your eyes. Because our doctors will be examining your retina, expect to have one or both eyes dilated during your visit. For your first visit, we will dilate both eyes so that your doctor can perform a complete examination. Dilating eye drops can take up to 30-45 minutes to work.

Your first visit is usually the longest, and your doctor may need to order in-office diagnostic tests to find out how best to help you. For this reason, you should typically allow up to two hours for your first visit. Dilation may make your vision blurry for up to 4-6 hours after your visit, so we recommend coming with a responsible driver for your first visit or any visit when both eyes need to be dilated.

Your referring doctor may send us copies of your records for our doctors to review; however, if there is any information regarding your eye condition that you can bring with you, please do so as this may assist the doctor in better helping you. Also, if you are using any medications or medicated eye drops, please bring these with you during your first visit as well.

Finally, on your first visit with us, you will be asked to fill out a few brief forms so that we will know a little more about you and your medical status. For your convenience, these forms are also available for download (in English or Spanish) directly from our website. If you would like to download your forms to print and fill out prior to your visit, please click here.