Ophthalmic Medical Technician Instructors

Sheri DeMartelaere, Ophthalmic Medical Technician Instructor

Sheri Lynn DeMartelaere, MD

Ophthalmic Medical Technician Medical/Program Director
Colonel (ret), Medical Corps, United States Army

Dr. DeMartelaere attended medical school at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, graduating in 1993 with the Hewlett-Packard Award Top Medical Graduate and the Janet M. Glasgow Achievement Citation, as well as being named to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society in 1992.

She recently retired from the Army after serving for nearly 29 years, initially as an Ophthalmologist and then as an Ophthalmic Plastic Reconstructive Surgeon. During this time, one of her positions was the Program Director for the most prominent military ophthalmology residency training program at the San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC), a combined Army and Air Force program. While on faculty at SAMMC for 17 years, she successfully trained and graduated over 85 residents.

In May of 2021, she completed a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Education and is currently in the Master’s Degree for Holistic Health Studies program at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

She has been an American Board of Ophthalmology certified Ophthalmologist since 1998 and is licensed to practice medicine in the states of Minnesota and Texas. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has bestowed upon her their Achievement Award, Distinguished Service Award, and Secretariat Award.

Dr. DeMartelaere serves as Medical Director for the Ophthalmic Medical Technician Program at Alexandria College.

 

Aaron Shukla, Ophthalmic Medical Technician Program Director

Aaron V. Shukla, Ph.D., COMT (Ret.), Fellow ATPO

Ophthalmic Medical Technician Program Advisor and Consultant

Dr. Shukla studied Geology at Princeton University where he earned his M.A. and, subsequently, he earned his Ph.D. in Geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY. After completing his degree, he worked as a senior geologist (petroleum) with Texaco until 1988. Later, he completed the Ophthalmic Medical Technology program and earned his COT.

He relocated to Arkansas to start the Ophthalmic Technologies department and a technologist-level (COMT) training program at The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Jones Eye Institute, serving as the program director and earning his COMT along the way. In 2004, Dr. Shukla moved to St. Paul, MN, to work with IJCAHPO to complete the Learning Systems DVD. He started a technician-level (COT) program in 2006 at College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University), serving as the program director. Dr. Shukla worked for Eye Care Associates of Minneapolis as a technologist until 2005. Dr. Shukla retired from clinic work and ophthalmic education in 2018.

He has been actively involved with IJCAHPO and ATPO since 1996, and later with COTP and CoA-OMP (now ICA). Dr. Shukla has served as an IJCAHPO faculty, 1996-2019, and a board exam evaluator at the COMT level. He served in many capacities with ATPO, including several years on the Scientific Session committee, the education and ethics committees, the bylaws committee and the Editorial Board for ATPO's Viewpoints Magazine. Dr. Shukla has served as ATPO Vice President and President and helped develop a COMT practical exam review course. In addition to his service to IJCAHPO and ATPO, he has served as the Northern US Representative, Vice President and President of the Consortium of Ophthalmic Training Programs (COTP). Dr. Shukla has also served as a board member for the Commission on Accreditation of Ophthalmic Medical Programs (CoA-OMP), now the International Council of Accreditation (ICA). Dr. Shukla has also published Clinical Optics Primer, SLACK, Inc., as well as Retinoscopy and Refractometry (Chap. 11), in Principles and Practice in Ophthalmic Assisting, JK Ledford and A Lens, Eds., SLACK, Inc.

At Alexandria College, Dr. Shukla is the program’s content developer and technical advisor.

 

Kimi Bragdon, Ophthalmic Medical Technician Instructor

Kimi Bragdon, COT

Ophthalmic Medical Technician Instructor

Kimi obtained her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of MN-Morris. After working as a research scientist for 5 years, she decided to go back to school at Saint Catherine's University in 2011 and graduated with an Associates of Applied Science degree and her COT certification. She is currently the lead technician and surgical assistant to Dr. John Foley, MD, at Foley Eye Clinic in Saint Paul and has been a part of the practice for the last 7 years. Since graduating from Saint Catherine's University, she assisted the COT program as a preceptor until the program came to an end in 2018.

Kimi said, “I am excited to be a part of reviving the ophthalmic tech program in MN. It brings me great joy to share my knowledge and teach incoming students the trade and prepare them to be certified technicians. Being a COT has been a very satisfying career in being an integral part of maintaining and bring sight to patients daily.”

At Alexandria College, Kimi will be teaching several courses including Skills Lab and will be the Clinical Rotation Coordinator.

 

Lisa Rovick, Ophthalmic Medical Technician Instructor

Lisa Rovick, EdD, CO, COMT

Ophthalmic Medical Technician Instructor

Lisa is an Associate Professor and a member of the team in the Interprofessional Education (IPE) Department at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She teaches introductory survey courses in IPE, a course on aging, and two courses spanning both humanities and healthcare topics. In past years, she has taught courses in the Ophthalmic Technician and Orthoptics programs, which are no longer offered at St. Catherine University.

Lisa earned a Master of Health Science, with a concentration in Higher Education, from Nova Southeastern University in 2008, and a doctorate (Ed.D.) in educational leadership and online education from American College of Education in 2021. She continues to promote the importance of vision screening and pediatric eye care, mentoring students at the university and using orthoptic skills whenever possible. In addition, she has taught multiple continuing education courses for AACO, ATPO, JCAHPO, Vision Expo, SECO, and internationally.

At Alexandria College, Lisa will be teaching the Ocular Motility course.