Beyond the Title: How Experience, Education, and Purpose Can Build a Career in Healthcare
From Front Desk to Healthcare Leadership: A Journey Built on Purpose, Learning, and Patient Care
Beyond the Title: How Experience, Education, and Purpose Can Build a Career in Healthcare
By Megan Cheeley
Ten years ago, I walked into an optometry practice as a front desk employee with no idea where my career would eventually take me.
Today, I lead and operate a specialized dry eye department, work directly with patients suffering from chronic ocular surface conditions, perform advanced treatments, and help create a patient experience that extends far beyond a traditional eye examination.
My journey has taught me something I believe every woman should hear:
Where you begin does not have to determine where you end.
I did not start my career with a traditional medical degree. I started by answering phones, greeting patients, learning the operations of a medical practice, and paying attention.
Then I kept learning.
I became a technician. I moved into management. I began specializing in dry eye care. I pursued continuing education and advanced training. I learned new technologies, treatment approaches, patient communication strategies, and the business side of building a successful specialty department.
Over time, I didn't simply find a position that I enjoyed.
I built a career around a purpose.
Finding My Calling in Dry Eye Care
Dry eye disease can be incredibly frustrating for patients. Many people spend years experiencing burning, irritation, fluctuating vision, redness, discomfort, and frustration without fully understanding why they feel the way they do.
What drew me to dry eye care was the opportunity to spend time with those patients.
I could listen to their experiences.
I could educate them.
I could help them understand their condition and their treatment journey.
And, most importantly, I could become part of a team working toward improving their quality of life.
Today, I have more than seven years of specialized experience working with advanced dry eye technology and have performed thousands of treatments throughout my career.
One of the technologies I specialize in is OptiLight IPL, which has become an important tool within our comprehensive approach to dry eye management.
My expertise also extends to Radiofrequency, TriLift 2.0, BlephEx, AgeJET plasma technology, and WiQo PRX treatments.
Each technology requires training and technical knowledge, but I have learned that technology itself is never the entire answer.
The person operating the technology matters. The education surrounding the treatment matters. And the relationship with the patient matters.
The Importance of the Patient Experience
One of the most rewarding parts of my role is the amount of time I get to spend one-on-one with patients.
I personally perform approximately six to eight treatments each day. That means I am not simply performing a procedure and moving on to the next patient.
I am talking with people.
I am answering questions.
I am educating them about their condition.
I am helping them understand what to expect from treatment.
I am listening to their concerns.
And I am building relationships.
That human connection is something I believe healthcare should never lose.
Patients want expertise, but they also want to feel heard.
They want to know that someone understands what they are experiencing.
Sometimes, the most important thing we can give a patient is not another piece of technology—it is our time and our attention.
Creating Value for Patients and Physicians
Building a successful specialty department isn't simply about purchasing an expensive device and putting it in a treatment room.
It requires systems.
It requires education.
It requires organization.
It requires patient communication.
It requires staff training.
And it requires understanding how to integrate the specialty into the larger practice.
My role allows me to focus heavily on the education and treatment side of the patient journey while working collaboratively with the optometrists.
That collaboration creates value on multiple levels.
Patients receive dedicated education and treatment support. Doctors are able to optimize their time and focus on examinations, diagnosis, and other areas of patient care. And the practice is able to develop a specialized service that can grow alongside its primary eye care offerings.
For me, that is what leadership looks like.
Leadership isn't always about having the highest title in the room. Sometimes it is about becoming the person others can depend on to make something successful.
When Healthcare and Aesthetics Intersect
My career eventually expanded beyond dry eye care into medical aesthetics and professional skincare.
I work with professional skincare lines including SkinCeuticals and ZO Skin Health and have gained experience with treatments designed to support skin health, collagen stimulation, and aesthetic confidence.
At first glance, dry eye care and aesthetics may seem like completely different specialties.
But I have discovered that they have something important in common:
People want to feel good about themselves.
Whether someone is coming to see me because their eyes hurt, their vision fluctuates, their skin concerns are affecting their confidence, or they simply want to invest in themselves, the foundation is the same.
Listen to them.
Educate them.
Give them your expertise.
Treat them with respect.
And help them feel confident in the decisions they make about their care.
What Women Can Build When They Stop Limiting Themselves
My career did not follow a traditional roadmap.
There was no ten-year plan sitting in front of me when I started at the front desk.
There was simply an opportunity to learn—and I took it.
Then another opportunity came.
And another.
Every time I learned something new, I became capable of taking on something more.
That progression changed the way I viewed my own potential.
I realized that sometimes we are waiting for someone to give us permission to become the person we are capable of being.
We wait for the right title.
The right degree.
The right opportunity.
The right person to recognize us.
But sometimes, you have to recognize yourself first.
You have to be willing to learn when nobody is watching.
You have to become excellent before anyone gives you the title that reflects it.
You have to take ownership.
And you have to be willing to step outside of what is comfortable.
My greatest professional lesson has been that expertise is built one decision at a time.
Every patient interaction taught me something.
Every training taught me something.
Every challenge taught me something.
Every new technology required me to grow.
And every time I stepped into a greater level of responsibility, I became more confident in what I could contribute.
Influence Is Measured by Impact
Being influential isn't necessarily about how many people know your name.
I believe influence is measured by impact.
It is the patient who tells you they finally feel comfortable again.
It is the person who walks out of your treatment room with renewed confidence.
It is the colleague who learns something from you.
It is the employee you encourage to pursue a bigger opportunity.
It is the practice that becomes more successful because you were willing to take ownership of something and build it.
Those moments may never make headlines.
But they matter.
And I believe women in healthcare should recognize the influence they already have, even when their job title doesn't fully describe everything they contribute.
Looking Beyond My Own Practice
Today, one of my greatest professional goals is to take what I have learned beyond the walls of my own practice.
I want to help other practices understand how to develop successful dry eye programs—not simply by purchasing technology, but by building the infrastructure around it.
A successful dry eye department requires much more than a treatment device.
It requires patient education.
It requires efficient workflows.
It requires staff training.
It requires communication.
It requires thoughtful treatment protocols.
It requires understanding the patient journey.
And it requires someone who is willing to take ownership of bringing those pieces together.
That is the perspective I hope to share with others.
I Didn't Simply Find My Career. I Built It.
When I look back at the woman who walked into an optometry practice ten years ago, I don't think she could have imagined where that first job would lead.
She started at the front desk.
She learned.
She became a technician.
She became a manager.
She discovered a passion for dry eye care.
She pursued advanced training.
She embraced technology.
She developed relationships with patients.
She helped build a specialty department.
And she kept going.
My story is not about having the perfect credentials or following the perfect path.
It is about what can happen when you remain curious, work hard, take opportunities seriously, and refuse to put a ceiling on your own potential.
You don't always need to start with the title. Sometimes you build the expertise first—and the title follows.
After a decade of growth, learning, innovation, and caring for thousands of patients, I know one thing for certain:
I am not finished building.
I'm just getting started.
