Dr. Diane B. Whitaker, OD

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Get to know Optometrist Dr. Diane B. Whitaker, who serves patients in Durham, North Carolina.

Dr. Whitaker is a compassionate, board-certified optometrist & low vision rehabilitation specialist who sees patients at Duke Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina. With a special interest in optimizing visual function at any level, she has a clinical background and skill set for dealing with complex surgical outcomes from various types of eye surgeries.

“I am passionate about advocating for individuals who have any type of visual limitation or impairment.” as stated by the doctor. 

Duke Eye Center is a Duke University Hospital Outpatient Department, Specialty Clinic that offers comprehensive eye care services in the Durham area. Its expert ophthalmologists diagnose, manage, and treat a wide range of eye conditions with a goal to provide excellent care, personalized to one’s individual needs.

Academically, Dr. Whitaker earned her Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Houston College of Optometry in 1998. She then went on to complete his optometry externship at Womack Army Community Hospital. Her past experience includes specialty low vision training at the Lighthouse for the Blind in Houston, Texas and providing vision rehabilitation services at the UNC Department of Ophthalmology from 2001 until 2006. 

A member of the American Optometric Association Low Vision Section and the North Carolina State Optometric Society, the doctor is a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, whose mission is to advance the quality of eye care by promoting excellence through education, assessment, practice, and professionalism for the benefit of all patients.

With extensive experience with refractive, cataract, and post-operative care, she serves as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Chief of Vision Rehabilitation and Performance at the Duke University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Whitaker only participates in clinical research with a direct impact on health care delivery. Program development is her second passion since it drives clinical practice to better serve the community. A large portion of her clinical practice is dedicated to serving older adults with vision loss. Her third passion is to promote successful aging by empowering and equipping individuals with the skills and technology needed to participate in mainstream society. 

Optometry is a health care profession that involves examining the eyes and applicable visual systems for defects or abnormalities, as well as diagnosing and managing eye disease. Optometrists are healthcare professionals who provide primary eye care through comprehensive eye examinations to detect and treat various visual abnormalities and eye diseases. Being a regulated profession, an optometrist’s scope of practice may differ depending on the location. Thus, disorders or diseases detected outside the treatment scope of optometry (i.e those requiring certain surgical interventions) are referred out to relevant medical professionals for proper care, more commonly to ophthalmologists who are physicians that specialize in the tertiary medical and surgical care of the eye. Optometrists typically work closely together with other eye care professionals, such as ophthalmologists and opticians, to deliver quality and efficient eye care to the general public.

Among her most notable achievements, Dr. Whitaker was named an Innovator and one of the Most Influential Women in Optical in 2015. Two years later, in 2017, she received the InSightful Visionary BVI Champion Award and served as the Medical Chair for the Foundation for Fighting Blindness Triangle Vision Walk, which successfully raised over $120,000 to fund research to prevent blindness.

Seeing as how helping others is professionally and personally satisfying to Dr. Whitaker, she is constantly juggling the balance between her professional commitments and her commitment to being an excellent mother to her young children.

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