Phyllis Ho is a second year Canadian optometry student at the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. Not only does she excel in school, but she actively contributes to the student community. Phyllis is the class president for the Class of 2018, where she acts as the liaison between students and the school faculty. She brings her classmates’ concerns to the faculty, where they work together to find solutions.
While she supports her colleagues, she also strives to become a better optometrist. This past summer, she had the opportunity to improve her clinical and dispensing knowledge through the CAOS internship program. She took an internship under Dr. Ritesh Patel at his practice in Toronto where she gained valuable insight on running a private practice. She plans to apply this experience to her practice in the future. During the school year, Phyllis is involved with several optometric initiatives, one of which she considers an important part of optometry, sports vision. Earlier this year, she volunteered with the Sports Vision Club for Special Olympics Vision Screenings in Barrie, ON and Ottawa, ON. She also volunteered at the Parapan Am Games as part of the Classification Crew where she worked under many optometrists and ophthalmologists.
Prior to entering her optometry studies, she had the opportunity to travel to Peru in 2012 with Students Offering Support (SOS). There she, along with other students, visited a village to help build a school for them. This highlights Phyllis’ passion for education and making it more accessible (as the closest school was 4 miles away). The experience was so rewarding that Phyllis wants to continue volunteering her time for similar initiatives. As such, she is participating in the Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) trip to Moldova this summer- where she will haveopportunity to help the locals!
Moreover, Phyllis is responsible for the finances of both the UW Optometry Lions Club and the Optometry Orientation Committee, and represents the University of Waterloo School of Optometry as a Science Ambassador. With all that said, she is a kind and warm hearted individual who will go out of her way to help those around her. Whether it’s preparing a get well card signed by the class, to ensuring every classmate has Happy Birthday sung to them- Phyllis is an amazing human being, and by extension, will become a great optometrist. For all these reasons, she is student doctor for the month of December.
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