Forty years ago, Dr. Ray Moser was faced with a choice.
He had recently graduated from the optometry program at the University of Waterloo, and he could either go to Estevan or Regina to start his career.
“I decided I wanted to try a smaller centre,” Moser told the Mercury. “I was raised basically in Regina, and just decided to come to Estevan instead.”
The Energy City has proven to be home for the past 40 years.
Moser’s lengthy career as an optometrist was celebrated on Aug. 11 with a reception at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch. More than 250 people turned out for the come and go reception, including former colleagues and patients, as well as friends and family.
He described it as a great day for him and his wife Susan.
When he came to Estevan in 1979, Moser worked for Dr. Lawrence Burnard and the late Dr. John Seale at the Estevan Eye Clinic.
“Dr. Seale had a big influence on how I practised,” said Moser. “He always stressed the patient comes first, and make sure you listen to people. You can’t listen to them if you’re talking all of the time. I basically tried to adhere to his rules throughout my career.”
He remained with the Estevan Eye Clinic until 2011.
Moser then started with a part-time practice in Carnduff, working two days a week from 2012-2018.
“It was a little bit different mode out there. We just didn’t have as big of an operation out there. But it was really neat, because of getting to know the local people out there, and seeing them around town.”
Susan Moser worked alongside him after taking an optometric assistant course. She was an assistant, an administrative person and someone who worked with frames.
“It was a little more hands on. I had to do a little more work with frames, where in Estevan we had somebody that looked after all of that stuff. It gave me an opportunity to be more involved in the dispensing of glasses as well as the eye exams.”
Moser sold the optometry clinic in Carnduff at the end of last year. He spent some time earlier this year working at South East Eye Care in Estevan. When he didn’t renew his work insurance at the start of July, it officially marked the end of his career.
The retirement celebration was a cap for his career. Moser’s kids organized the event, and he and his wife expressed their gratitude for making his practice successful.
“I saw a lot of people that I hadn’t seen for a while, which was good,” he said.
Burnard, who retired several years before Moser, and Dr. Amanda Olsen from South East Eye Care offered tributes to his career.
“We had a person who I first started with and a person who I handed things off to,” he said.
He noted that Olsen was an early patient of his, and she told him he influenced her decision to become an optometrist.
Moser said he loved the uniqueness of each day. Every patient he saw was different, eliminating predictability in his job. He particularly enjoyed working with kids and hearing their comments.
“Giving kids glasses for the first time was always a really neat experience to see their reaction, when they realized that when they put their new glasses on, they really didn’t see as well as they thought they did.”
Equipment that optometrists use has gone through some advancements. Some of the technology is still the same, such as the eye test machines.
But a lot of the pre-testing equipment and auxiliary testing equipment for glaucoma and eye disease have come a long ways.
“It used to be a patient would come into my room, and that’s the only room they would see in the office, unless they needed glasses, because I could do all of the testing in one room. But nowadays patients are going into a pre-test room, sometimes doing some extra testing, so they’re in two, three or four rooms for their eye exam.”
The scope of the practice has also changed. He noted that thanks to legislation changes in 1992, the Estevan Eye Clinic could start to use antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops on patients to treat certain conditions.
In 2014, they could start treating glaucoma and administering oral medications.
Enjoyment of the work kept him in optometry for so long, and he enjoyed the people he worked with.
“I think what I miss the most is interaction with people. That’s probably one thing I’ll miss in the future.”
There are times he has missed his work, but he’s been busy around the house since retiring, and he believes that after 40 years, now is the time to move on. He looks forward to spending time with his children, travelling and having more time down south.
