Michael grew up in Canberra and completed a Bachelor of Optometry graduating with honours in 1992, He spent the first few years of his career in and around Adelaide and South Australia before heading off overseas on a backpacking odyssey through most of South East Asia and a year travelling through Mexico, Central and South America.
Upon his return he cut off his long hair and beard and returned to work in Sydney with one of Australia’s leading contact lens practitioners in Jim Kokkinakis, from there he developed a lifelong interest in fitting difficult contact lenses for conditions such as kerataconus and other corneal diseases.
Michael is a member of the CCLSA (Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia), OSO (Orthokeratology Society of Oceania) and IAO (International Academy of Orthokeratology)and the SLS (Scleral Lens Society).
He previously sat on the board of Optometry NSW/ACT and was also the Deputy Chair of the Optometry Australia board. He graduated with post graduate qualifications in ocular therapeutics in 2010 and is currently a credentialed optometrist (CO) with CASA.
He met his wife Kristy a GP and moved to Coffs Harbour in early 2001 and have since had 3 children Max, Grace and Rose. He became a partner in the practice with Greg in early 2003. When not at work he is usually found at Ayrshire Park where he is heavily involved in the Boambee Football Club where he is registrar and also coaches his son and daughters teams.
He is more than happy to chat about his extensive collection of Dr Who memorabilia which he has on display in his consulting room.
Naomi joined our practice in 2014 when she moved to the area with her family and has recently been welcomed on board as a partner at RJK Optometry. She had previously worked in private practices in Tamworth and Sydney. Her background is primarily working in full scope optometry practices but includes working in a behavioural optometry practice with a heavy emphasis on children’s vision and vision therapy and time spent working in clinics with patients with low vision within Vision Australia. In 2015 Naomi completed her Graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics and is enjoying being an ophthalmic medicine provider and the increasing challenges this has brought to clinical optometry.
When not at work, Naomi and her husband Keith are members of their local Anglican church where Naomi takes a role in children’s ministry. They have two children, Claudia and Ben who both are throwing themselves into life on the Coffs Coast and enjoying all the benefits of living by the beach. Naomi loves walking and swimming at the beach and is part of the Park Beach CrossFit community.
Patrick is a Queenslander who spent his formative years in Brisbane and completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Optometry) at Queensland University of Technology, graduating with Honours in 1997. Since then, Pat has worked in optometric practices in five states of Australia and in the United Kingdom.
Before settling in Coffs Harbour in 2008, he and his family lived in Burnie, Tasmania for 8 years. In Burnie he worked with Daryl Guest, one of Australia’s most respected Optometrists. In 2003, while in Tasmania, Pat was among the first Optometrists in Australia to complete post-graduate qualifications which allowed him to prescribe topical medications for eye conditions.
Since joining Greg and Michael in practice he has been able to engage in his area of interest, Children’s Vision and Behavioural Optometry. He is currently undertaking further post graduate study, he completed his Masters units in Behavioural Optometry at UNSW at the end of 2012.
Pat is a member of the Optometrists Association Australia (OAA) and served on the OAA (Tasmanian Division) Council of Management for three years prior to moving to Coffs Harbour. He is also a member of the Australian College of Behavioural Optometrists (ACBO).
Pat is married to Meagan (a physiotherapist) and they have two children (Clare and Sean) and a scruffy dog (Sassafras). Outside of work, Pat enjoys almost any sport, music and reading, although surfing is his current passion. Those pursuits, however, take a back seat to spending as much time as possible with his young family, mostly at the park and the beach.
Jenny is a Coffs local who has worked in our practice since 1990. Jenny manages all of the ‘behind the scenes’ business of our practice, including liasing with Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicare. She is an expert at managing our appointment books. And at offering unbiased and helpful opinions about form and function, during your frame selection process.
Debbie, another local product; has been with us since 2006 and, with Jenny, manages our appointment book with aplomb. Since that time she has quickly developed a great sense of frame fitting and knowledge. Not only about what looks great, but also meets the needs of today’s advanced optical lenses.
Kelsey obtained her Cert IV in Optical Dispensing in 2018 giving her a in depth knowledge of frames and lenses to advise you on what suits best.
Cathy has been working in optics for years, she originally ran Peter Mills practice in Macksville, before taking a break and getting back into the optical side of things with us in 2015.
Jenny joined our team in March 2017, she has been working in optics for over 15 years and is fantastic at finding the perfect frame for you and advising you on all the best lens options.
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