About InSight Family and Pediatric Eye Care
InSight Family and Pediatric Eye Care proudly serves the Clayton, NC area with quality eye care services and a friendly staff. Dr. Belanger takes great pride in offering the best vision care possible for your entire family. Whether you need to be fitted with eyeglasses or contact lenses, or you need a comprehensive eye exam, our practice utilizes the latest technology and treatments available. Our staff will take the time to answer all of your questions and explain treatment options through your entire eye care experience.
Dr. Julie Belanger
Dr. Belanger has been practicing optometry for 12 years, serving over 30,000 patients during that time. Starting as an ophthalmic technician 20 years ago, she has a uniquely blended experience that encompasses both ophthalmology and optometry, academia and private practice, with roles as employee, employer and entrepreneur.
Dr. Julie grew up in New England, majoring in Biology and Spanish during undergraduate studies at Juniata College. Desiring to achieve fluency, she studied abroad in Ecuador. After graduating, she worked as an ophthalmic technician for a cataract surgeon for four years. Dr. Belanger realized her love of the eye during this time and eventually graduated cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Optometry. She then pursued an optional, post-graduate, clinical residency at The University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry in Binocular Vision and Contact Lens.
As an optometrist, residency is optional – only 18% of graduates pursue it. Of the hundreds of residency positions offered, only 11 specialize in binocular or pediatric vision. Additionally, only Berkeley allows a doctor to combine two areas of interest. This advanced training gives Dr. Belanger’s patients hard-to-find expertise in children’s vision, including managing amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes) and double vision. It also let her develop advanced skills designing custom specialty gas permeable contact lenses for keratoconus and presbyopia (age-induced near vision loss) as well as fitting soft multifocal lenses. Residency also gave Dr. Belanger the experience needed to effectively engage patients as young as 9 months as well as those with disabilities.
Always knowing she wanted to be in private practice, Dr. Belanger began noticing where her favorite patients lived. After the third patient came from Clayton, she researched the community and officially opened InSight in 2011. She is the only bilingual optometrist in Johnston County. Dr. Julie is passionate about being an advocate for her patients by staying aware of new medical developments, being involved in all operational areas of InSight and carefully listening. She enjoys both the rare and the routine and greatly appreciates interdisciplinary collaboration.
Dr. Julie grew up in New England, majoring in Biology and Spanish during undergraduate studies at Juniata College. Desiring to achieve fluency, she studied abroad in Ecuador. After graduating, she worked as an ophthalmic technician for a cataract surgeon for four years. Dr. Belanger realized her love of the eye during this time and eventually graduated cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Optometry. She then pursued an optional, post-graduate, clinical residency at The University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry in Binocular Vision and Contact Lens.
As an optometrist, residency is optional – only 18% of graduates pursue it. Of the hundreds of residency positions offered, only 11 specialize in binocular or pediatric vision. Additionally, only Berkeley allows a doctor to combine two areas of interest. This advanced training gives Dr. Belanger’s patients hard-to-find expertise in children’s vision, including managing amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes) and double vision. It also let her develop advanced skills designing custom specialty gas permeable contact lenses for keratoconus and presbyopia (age-induced near vision loss) as well as fitting soft multifocal lenses. Residency also gave Dr. Belanger the experience needed to effectively engage patients as young as 9 months as well as those with disabilities.
Always knowing she wanted to be in private practice, Dr. Belanger began noticing where her favorite patients lived. After the third patient came from Clayton, she researched the community and officially opened InSight in 2011. She is the only bilingual optometrist in Johnston County. Dr. Julie is passionate about being an advocate for her patients by staying aware of new medical developments, being involved in all operational areas of InSight and carefully listening. She enjoys both the rare and the routine and greatly appreciates interdisciplinary collaboration.