Elkie Fung, originally from Vancouver, BC, is a 3rd year Canadian Optometry student studying at the State University of New York College of Optometry (SUNY). She did her undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia in BSc Biology. Her passion toward the profession manifests through her extensive involvement in the field. Elkie currently serves as the President of ACE (Accommodation, Conglomeration & Eudaimonia), an Interprofessional Health Society that uniquely has chapters in different professional schools – including Dentistry, Podiatry, Pharmacy and Nursing. She is very passionate about advocating for multi-disciplinary health care and interprofessional education (IPE), especially for students. Her goal this year is to increase IPE awareness amongst students through networking events and joint health screenings. Elkie also serves on the exec board for her school’s Private Practice Club, where she helps provide resources and educational presentations for students interested in owning their own practice. She is also on the board for the Canadian Club and is an active member of SVOSH (Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity).
Elkie’s activities also extend outside of SUNY. She is one of the first student ambassadors for the Optical Women’s Association (OWA), and played a vital role in the creation of a new student membership scholarship, sponsored by Luxottica. The scholarship allowed 30 optometry students in North America to become members of OWA, and attend OWA networking events where they can meet inspirational female leaders and mentors in the optical industry and optometry world. In October, Elkie was selected to attend a fully paid trip to Luxottica HQ in Ohio for the inaugural EyeFwd experience, hosted by Luxottica Retail’s Eye Care Division in North America in partnership with AOSA. During the 5 day course, she was introduced to skills and resources necessary to build a profitable OD practice. Elkie is also very passionate about providing vision care to underserved communities. Locally, she organizes multiple vision screenings through ACE each year. Last summer, she attended a 9-day cataract surgical and medical mission to Calca, Peru and provided vision care to over 1500 patients. She will be attending a mission trip to Panama in January 2018 with SVOSH.
Outside of optometry, Elkie enjoys her time playing indoor and beach volleyball and stalking pictures of dogs on Instagram. In the future, Elkie is planning to complete a Residency, and experience life in different cities across North America. However, her heart lies in Vancouver and in the distant future, she would like to settle back home. Elkie also plans to continue in organized Optometry, and contribute to providing vision care in underserved areas. She hopes to be the kind of practice owner that can leave for mission trips without feeling too guilty and be allowed to bring her 5 future dogs to work.
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