Eye Care for Rhode Island helps Salve students envision careers in medical fields

To become a physician's assistant (PA) students need to have more than 1,000 hours of hands-on patient experience – before they can even apply to a PA program.  

For close to a decade, Eye Care for Rhode Island (ECRI) has stepped into that role for students at Salve Regina University, opening their practice to up-and-coming optometrists, PAs, research technicians and other health care professionals to gain critical experience. The Middletown, Rhode Island practice is a top-tier eye care provider committed to consistent excellence, compassionate service and professional integrity.

Dr. Kimberly Curesky, lecturer and health advisor in the Department of Biology and Biological Sciences, assists pre-health students and alumni with medical school applications and guides them on coursework, research and internships.  

"While our nursing programs have clinical support, students in pre-health programs also are required to serve those all-important patient hours," she explained. "ECRI has been an amazing partner in helping us fulfill those requirements – not just for those who want to become optometrists, but for students in other pre-health programs too."  

"None of us got here by ourselves. Bringing students along is paying it forward," said ECRI's Dr. Frederic J. Kelley III, O.D. "Our method for training Salve students is based on how we train our own technicians. We put them in with the technicians and they become peers."

"The students coming here from Salve are motivated, curious and dedicated," he added. "When we bring in a young person who has a goal in mind, who wants to understand health care, it makes us better at what we do. Our patients also want to be part of helping local students to do well. It's nothing but a positive on all sides."

On the path to a dream career

For Jackson Brenek '26, a paid intern at ECRI, optometry has always been his dream career.  

"When I was in first grade, the teacher kept moving my seat up until I was in the front row because I couldn't see the board," he recalled. "My mom took me to the eye doctor, and I remember getting that first pair of glasses. Driving home from the appointment, I could see trees and words on street signs for the first time. It made my mom cry. I've wanted to help do that for a family ever since."

When he started at ECRI, Brenek observed the technicians for a week. Then he would get one patient task at a time, learning the charting system and gradually building up to taking patient medical histories, testing their vision, taking refractions to anticipate their prescriptions, dilating their pupils and sending them in to the doctor.  

"The first learning curve is tough, but the doctors and techs take the time to help," Brenek said. "Beyond that, they are always pulling me aside to show me interesting things they see and bringing out their books. The knowledge they share helps so much – I'm exposed to things I wouldn't be learning until the second year of optometry school."  

More importantly, Brenek values the patient experience. "I see how the doctors and techs talk to patients and get the answers they need. With kids and special needs patients, it's particularly important to get good answers. Seeing what these doctors do helps me understand how talking to the patient matters almost more than what you see."

Critical mentoring

Samantha Winters '25 interned at ECRI while she was a biology major at Salve. Today she's working toward her Doctor of Optometry degree at New England College of Optometry.  

"I was able to shadow several of the phenomenal doctors at the practice and had the privilege to sit in on pre-testing, standard yearly examinations, emergency visits and ocular disease management visits," she said. "Whenever they had an interesting case they always made it a point to teach me and the other technicians about it. They loved helping us expand our knowledge. In my PA program we are learning about eyes now and I feel like a pro compared to everyone else in my class."  

Confirming their path

While gaining hands-on time and building their patient care abilities, working with ECRI also gives students a feel for what it's like to work with patients day after day, and decide whether they truly want to pursue a medical career.  

"Watching and working with a doctor lets you know... Am I down for this? What's it like to work with a patient who is pediatric or geriatric? Optometry school is a big financial and time commitment," explained Brenek. "It's priceless to be able to see doctors practicing – how they navigate challenges. How it brings them joy."  

"The experience was nothing short of affirmative that this was the career I wanted to pursue, and that this was the manner and standard of practice I wanted to uphold for my own patients one day," said Winters.  

Michaela O'Leary '25 worked at ECRI for two years while she was a biology student at Salve. Today she's in the PA program at Gannon University. "Helping so many patients each day was such a rewarding feeling, and I can't wait to do it for the rest of my life. I wouldn't be where I am today without all the staff at ECRI and because of that I am extremely grateful."

Curesky is grateful to ECRI and many other partners for their dedication to supporting Salve students by bringing them into their practices. Anchor Dental in Newport has given many Salve students experiential opportunities, as has Newport Fire and Rescue, Jamestown Fire and Rescue and others. "Everybody wins when Salve partners with local businesses and organizations," she said.