The son of two school teachers, Dr. McGiffen grew up with a passion for kids and their academic success. During his optometric training, he completed two externships at practices that help kids who struggle with vision-related reading problems. His experience has enabled him to establish two vision therapy programs in the state of Kentucky to benefit kids struggling with reading comprehension. He was also trained at fitting specialty contact lenses at one of the SMART study sites utilizing contact lenses to slow the progression of nearsightedness in children. Because of his passion for kids and name similarities to a beloved Disney character, many of his patients affectionately refer to him as “Doc McGiffen” or often even “Doc McStuffins”.
While completing his doctorate at Indiana University, Dr. McGiffen utilized his undergraduate training in optical engineering to do research working four years in a contact lens research lab and crediting him with multiple publications. His extensive contact lens experience has caught the attention of many of the eye surgeons in the Louisville area receiving a number of referrals from surgical centers such as Bennett and Bloom Eye Centers and John-Kenyon American Eye Institute for his contact lens expertise.
When he’s not at Mooney EyeCare Centre, Dr. McGiffen enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife Ashley and their kids. Dr. McGiffen likes to joke that when he’s not at work, he is engaging his kids in rigorous and serious learning. Because as Fred (“Mr.”) Rogers puts it:
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning.”