Juliana Van Niekerk

We would like to introduce our newest member of the Gulf Family Clinic Team. Juliana van Niekerk joins us with a wealth of knowledge and experience spanning a 17 year optometric career. She graduated from the first and renowned Optometry school in South Africa. From there she explored different optometry environments before settling at the high end luxury practice located on the High Street of Melrose Arch, the premier shopping destination in Johannesburg.

Juliana successfully ran this practice until she was headhunted in 2021 to act as Project Manager and establish a brand new optical boutique chain in Dubai. She applied her extensive experience to build the optometric software, assist in the design of the shop, assembled a team of eyecare professionals, handled the marketing and travelled to Paris, France to hand-select the frames and sunglasses for the store. She successfully duplicated the store in Abu Dhabi in December of 2022 and both branches are now running successfully.

Not being satisfied without a challenge, Juliana recently studied towards and successfully registered on the Irish Optometry board as well as enrolling in a Fellowship program at the most prestigious contact association in the world, the BCLA where she plans to sharpen her skills and knowledge in contact lens application, anterior eye conditions and treatments and the latest buzzword in optometry, Myopia Management.  Juliana is registered in 3 countries as well as being a member of the British Contact Lens Association. An avid triathlete and Iron-man participant, Juliana applies a disciplined and focused approach to every aspect of her life.

In 2 short years, Juliana has become a household name in optometry in the South African expat community in the U.A.E. and although being in high demand in the retail environment, her passion has always been providing a deeper level of care and applying her academic mind which retail practices cannot cater for, hence the move to a long established Ophthalmology Clinic to enrich the services rendered with the best of Clinical Optometry and Specialty Contact lenses, for those patients who need more than a simple set of glasses & contact lenses. Juliana plans to explore her passion for myopia management and binocular vision therapy in the dynamic team environment at Gulf Family Clinic under the guidance of specialist ophthalmologist, Dr. Milicent Grim.

Juliana’s “leave no stone unturned” approach to optometry ensures the highest level of patient care. Each symptom is thoroughly investigated, diagnosed and she will provide excellent and focused solutions to every problem. Juliana genuinely cares about her patients and as is her nature in everything she does, she will ensure an excellent patient experience.