She’s in a good place at Manchester Eye Care
Growing up in Grass Lake, Dr. Michelle Danko always dreamed of working in health care.
“I was never afraid of dentists, doctor visits, or the eye doctor,” she says. “I always enjoyed it. That’s kind of weird, I know.”
And she always knew she wanted to be able to work with children. At first, she thought she would become a pediatrician; but as she started looking into that career path she realized that the hours and the demands of such a practice were not compatible with the kind of family life she wanted to live.
“My family is so important to me,” she said. “I didn’t want to sacrifice that for my career. My roommate’s sister, at Ferris State University, was in optometry school, and that’s when I realized it would be a perfect choice–I could be in health care, I could help kids, and still have a family life!”
After graduating from Ferris, Dr. Danko attended optometry school in Fort Lauderdale, attracted by the more favorable weather, and thinking that perhaps she would start practicing there. But, once again, family pulled at her–her niece and two nephews, now aged 10, 6, and 2, were growing up back here in Michigan; and she was watching it happen on FaceTime. She knew that returning home was what she needed to do.
“I love them to pieces,” she says. “I missed out on the little things as well as the big things. And being able to be at their school plays and recitals and ball games is priceless. I love being local and seeing them all the time.”
She graduated in May 2017, returned to Michigan, and a month later started her job at Manchester Eye Care Center. People are beginning to get used to seeing her “new face” and remembering that there are now two doctors they can see in the familiar, trusted office established by Dr. Julie Marvin-Manders more than 25 years ago. Dr. Manders even added on an extra examination room to welcome her new colleague.
Dr. Danko’s favorite part about her chosen career is being able to truly make a difference in people’s lives–especially children’s.
“I referred a seven-year-old for vision therapy when I realized there was a muscular problem with the child’s vision,” she says. “Getting a call from the parent, saying ‘I can’t thank you enough,’ was just so rewarding and it gives me chills all over again to tell about it. It makes what I do so worthwhile.”
Other memorable moments have been fitting kids with their first glasses and realizing that they can see clearly for the first time–or fitting them with contacts when they’ve had to wear glasses for so long. “It’s just so awesome,” she says. “Everyone has bad days on the job, but this job is just full of surprises and rewards.”
Eventually, Dr. Danko says, she’d love to start her own practice, but she sees that as a long way off.
“In school, they teach you about the eye, and how to do exams, and all of that,” she says. “But you have to be a good business person to be successful in your practice, and that’s something I need to learn a lot more about before I could consider going off on my own.
“I always thought I would be the one who would travel and live far away, but I guess that wasn’t my path. For now, I think I’ve landed in a great place and I am where I am supposed to be.”
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