From Ophthalmologist to Optometrist to AI Founder: Why Evolution Matters in Eye Care

Defocus Media Eyecare and Optometry Podcast Network

When most clinicians talk about “reinventing themselves,” they mean adding a new service, buying new technology, or refreshing a brand. For Dr. Henry Reis, reinvention meant changing countries, careers, and ultimately stepping into the risky world of tech entrepreneurship—all while building a thriving, multi-location eye care practice in British Columbia.

In this episode of The 2020 Podcast with host Dr. Harbir Sian, Dr. Reis shares how embracing change has shaped his journey from ophthalmologist in Brazil to optometrist, practice owner, and founder of an AI-driven diagnostics company. His story is a playbook for any eye care professional who feels the pull toward “what’s next,” but is afraid to make a move.

Topics Covered

Reinvention as a Survival Skill

Building AI for Eyes: The Reality of Being a Founder

Integra Eyecare: Collaboration Over Competition

Modernizing Scope: Better Access, Not Turf Wars

Lessons for New Optometrists: Don’t Be Passive

Hard Work, Luck, and the Power of Caring

Reinvention as a Survival Skill

Dr. Reis doesn’t treat reinvention as a motivational slogan, it was a necessity. Moving from Brazil to Canada meant learning a new language, adapting to a new healthcare system, and essentially starting his career over.

In Brazil, the eye care landscape is built around ophthalmology and opticianry; there is no optometry profession in the middle. In Canada, he had to step into that middle ground and reframe his identity. The biggest barrier, he says, is not change itself, but the fear of losing what you already have.

Many clinicians feel this tension: “Why would I change anything when things are comfortable?” Dr. Reis flips that question. In a profession being reshaped by online retail, AI, and new care models, not changing is the real risk. Reinvention is how clinicians stay relevant, serve patients better, and avoid becoming obsolete.

Building AI for Eyes: The Reality of Being a Founder

The most dramatic reinvention in his career came in 2018, when he co-founded AI for Eyes, a hardware/software startup focused on dry eye diagnostics.

The idea was born after a lecture in Vienna on simplifying dry eye disease management. Dr. Reis highlighted a familiar problem: even when evidence-based algorithms exist, busy clinicians default to habit and skip key steps like osmolarity or symptom scoring. The solution he envisioned was bold—a device powered by artificial intelligence that could scan the ocular surface and generate consistent, repeatable, fast dry eye diagnoses.

From the outside, being “CEO and founder” sounds glamorous. The reality, as he shares, was far from it. He pitched investors, raised $1.2 million, and then spent countless late nights doing everything from strategy to marketing, from logo design to website building. The hardware was developed with StarFish Medical, and after multiple iterations, the team produced an alpha device with a working user interface and algorithm.

Eventually, recognizing the need for a dedicated SaaS and software expert to take the product to market, the company brought in a new CEO. Today, AI for Eyes is in its final stages of development and regulatory preparation—proof of concept realized, but only after years of grind that most people will never see.

For eye care professionals curious about entrepreneurship, his journey underscores a critical point: ideas matter, but execution—often lonely, tedious, and unglamorous—is what turns vision into reality.

Integra Eyecare: Collaboration Over Competition

While building a startup, Dr. Reis was also transforming a struggling Burnaby practice into Integra Eyecare, a multi-doctor, multi-location model in Burnaby and Vancouver.

When he purchased the Burnaby office in 2014, it had aging infrastructure, a small active patient base, and poor financials. Instead of walking away, he saw it as an opportunity: a physical location, an existing chart base, and room to redesign from the ground up.

He renovated the space, expanded from one exam lane to two, enlarged the pre-test area, and invested in technology and modern frame lines—before he had the doctor volume to fill those lanes. The long-term vision was never a “Dr. Reis clinic,” but a genuinely integrated center where multiple practitioners with different strengths could collaborate.

That integration now extends beyond optometry. Integra Eyecare co-locates ophthalmologists as true partners, not occasional visiting specialists. Glaucoma care, general ophthalmology, optometry, and advanced dry eye and myopia management all function under one roof. For Dr. Reis, this is more efficient for patients and more responsible for the healthcare system than fragmented care spread across multiple locations.

Modernizing Scope: Better Access, Not Turf Wars

Coming from an ophthalmology background, Dr. Reis is uniquely positioned to comment on scope expansion. Early in his Canadian career, he felt constrained by limits on procedures and oral medications he was trained to use.

He acknowledges that some resistance from the medical community is normal, and that regulation and training standards are important. But he is clear: when scope has expanded responsibly—such as glaucoma management in British Columbia—the outcomes have been overwhelmingly positive for patients and for surgeons.

Modern scope allows ophthalmologists to focus on complex surgical cases while optometrists manage ongoing medical eye care. For rural and underserved communities, expanded optometric scope is not just convenient; it is essential for timely access and reduced system costs.

His message to both professions is simple: with proper training and regulation, modernizing scope is not about optometry “taking” anything. It is about patients gaining more from the healthcare system.

Lessons for New Optometrists: Don’t Be Passive

Integra’s success is built on a strong associate model, and Dr. Reis works closely with many new graduates. His advice to them is blunt:

• Do not be passive. Whether you are in private practice or corporate, you can shape your reality. Take ownership in growing your schedule, learning new skills, and building relationships.
• Act like an owner before you become one. Most independent practice owners are hoping their associates will eventually become partners. Treat the practice as if that is your future, and your career trajectory will accelerate.
• Lean into discomfort. Whether it is fitting your first scleral lens, starting myopia control, or taking on a practice-building project, you only gain experience by doing.

He draws on his own experience with AI for Eyes: in 2019, partnered with a seasoned industry CEO, he often felt small. Today, his advice to his past self—and to young clinicians—is to reject that mindset. If you are trusted with responsibility, you belong in the room. Act like it.

Hard Work, Luck, and the Power of Caring

When asked how much of his success is hard work versus luck, Dr. Reis admits there is more luck than he likes to acknowledge—the rapid growth of the Brazilian community in British Columbia, for example, naturally filled a need for a Portuguese-speaking doctor.

But luck alone does not build a two-location, eight-doctor practice, a startup, and a reputation for excellence. He attributes roughly 90% of his journey to effort: 4:00 a.m. mornings, late nights, relentless execution, and a deep, authentic care for patients.

That authenticity shows up in the small things: remembering a patient’s favorite band and playing it in the exam room, calling to check on someone after starting a new glaucoma medication, and making every interaction feel personal rather than transactional.

In a world where technology, AI, and retail models are transforming eye care, Dr. Henry Reis’s story is a reminder that evolution in this profession is not optional—but it also does not have to cost you your humanity. The future of eye care belongs to the clinicians who are willing to reinvent themselves, embrace new tools, and still make patients feel truly seen.