Dr. Sims went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree from Maryville College. While preparing and applying for Optometry school, he was fortunate to gain early exposure to eye care by working for many esteemed eye surgeons who became his mentors. His ambition for learning about eye care was quickly rewarded by being assigned the role of supervisor at a busy clinic at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas. It was during that time that he gained valuable insight into the complexities of clinical procedures and large practice operations. Most importantly to Dr. Sims, he recognized the value of personal attention to patients and the importance of excellent communication skills.

When the call to attend Optometry school came from The Lone Star State, Dr. Sims accepted the invitation from the University of Houston College of Optometry with his newly acquired clinical skill set. After obtaining his degree, Sims accepted an offer to join a private practice near the world’s largest Medical Center in Houston, where he practiced for several years. All the while, he never lost personal or professional ties to his Tennessee roots. In fact, even when he studied and practiced in Texas, he still maintained his Tennessee license to practice because he knew he’d return someday.

“My family has always been in the Knoxville area, so as I had made frequent trips to visit, I was better able to stay in touch with this area from a distance,” Dr. Sims said. “I thought if the door opened for me anytime during those years, I would come back in a heartbeat.”

Coming back to Tennessee, however, meant it had to be for the right practice opportunity.

“There are so many practice venues for Optometry,” he said. “Even as an undergraduate student at Maryville College, I was getting the lay of the land, so to speak, to what might be best suited for me once I finished Optometry school. Thankfully, my dad was (and still is) a patient with Drs. Campbell, Cunningham, Taylor & Haun. During those student years, I could see the very model of how I aspired to practice.”

That impression was quite profound because after all those years away from his hometown, as Dr. Sims affirms, “I landed right back where I belong in the practice best suited for me to participate in delivering unparalleled eye care to this family of patients. I’m truly blessed.”

And Sims iterates that an essential part to his professional responsibilities is maintaining the call to have his patients’ eyes examined annually.

“One of the things that appeals to me about primary eye care is that it’s like casting a wide net,” Dr. Sims said. “Every time we see a patient for a routine eye exam, there’s potential it could evolve into finding much more than expected – in a good way. We might very well be identifying a sight-threatening issue that has not resulted in any vision loss yet. That’s where I proudly come in.”

Beyond primary eye care, the practice model at Drs. Campbell, Cunningham, Taylor & Haun allows patients to have the continuity of care that, as Dr. Sims notes, has been historically difficult to maintain with other practice settings that tend to disrupt the timeline of care, maybe even time-sensitive care for the patient.

“The specialists at this group really are the pioneers to value and nurture a practice relationship with primary eye care to the great benefit of each of their patients,” Sims said.

When issues arise with the eye, it doesn’t always manifest in obvious ways as many people might expect.

“It resonates with me to follow a methodical approach when trying to identify a problem,” Dr. Sims said. “Even if we know where the problem is, we have to be more meticulous in isolating the issue by assessing the eye starting from the front and working our way back. Only then can we have the complete story to treat or refer to our specialists accordingly.”

When patients do need specialist care, Dr. Sims expresses his utmost appreciation in having direct access to their expertise within the practice.

“When you consider the eye relative to any other organ, there are more doctors assigned to it as subspecialists for treatment specific to each anatomical component,” he said. “To name a few examples, eyelid tissue requires an oculoplastic specialist, the cornea has its own specialist, retina, optic nerve and glaucoma, pediatric and even eye cancers require a specialist for treatments unique to the ocular tissue. This is what comprehensive care can be at a practice where patients reap the benefits of seamless, coordinated eye care.”

Eye care is constantly evolving. Almost on a daily basis, we seem to be introduced to a continuous series of advancements among the fields of vision research. One area of which Dr. Sims is excited about involves even further improvements with cataract procedures that have dramatically improved quality of life for patients.

“Sometimes, when we tell patients they are developing cataracts, they may react with a bit of alarm or express concerns about potential blindness,” he explains. “But I’m here to provide you with better understanding of cataracts along with some good news. It may be a bit of my Southern disposition and tendency for using analogies, but I refer to cataracts being up there with gray hair and wrinkles. Our natural lenses that we’re born with eventually become too cloudy for enough light to get through. The good news is that when the time comes for that discussion, we can provide many wonderful treatment options to help correct age-related conditions.”

Now that he’s back home in East Tennessee, Dr. Sims says he looks forward to experiencing four distinct seasons of the year again; the fall weather, in particular, was sorely missed while he was living in Texas. Restoring the time spent away from his family will include lots of laughs and good food. High on his agenda is getting reacquainted with delicious country cooking and reconnecting with friends. He also loves traveling and the learning experiences that come with it in unexpected ways. And a most welcome bonus to being back is visiting more often with his son, who lives and works in Nashville.

For any other spare time, Dr. Sims says, “If I’m making myself useful to someone in a meaningful way, then I’m happy.”