Tasha J. Schellenberg,
OD
Northeastern State University, College
of Optometry
Tahlequah, Okla.
After being encouraged by a friend who was
in optometry school, Tasha Schellenberg, who had been teaching
eighth-grade math, took her advice. She then shadowed an
optometrist who was a friend. “After that, I felt I would
really enjoy it. It’s a good mix of math, science,
technology, medicine, and more all rolled into one,” she told
VM.
Schellenberg graduated magna cum
laude and was a member of the school’s Honor Society. She
received the college’s Clinical Excellence Award, and the GP
Lens Institute Clinical Excellence Award, and the Dr. Chester H.
Pheiffer Scholarship for the 2006 Outstanding Research Project. Her
professional memberships include the AOA, the AOSA, COVD, and the
Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians.
She will begin her service to the
United States Army as an optometrist stationed at Fort Leonard Wood
in Missouri, starting in October. She would like to be involved in
rural eyecare. She believes primary optometric care is important.
She will also continue being involved with the state optometric
association. “We learn a lot about the legislative process
and lobby while we are in school,” she noted.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “She
consistently demonstrated the highest level of professionalism in
the clinic, classroom and social settings.”
Sylvia Lynn Jones,
OD
Ohio State University College of
Optometry
Columbus, Ohio
Sylvia Jones started out as a biology major
and became interested in optometry via a fellow student who loved
the profession. She shadowed optometrists who loved their work, and
decided that optometry would give her the flexibility to raise a
family.
She was admitted to OSU in 2003 into
the school's OD/MS dual degree program, and she became president of
the school’s chapter of the National Optometric Student
Association. She was also involved with the AOA, the Academy, and
the National Optometric Association.
Her graduate project tested a form
that would allow more efficient communication between optometrists
and general physicians with regard to diabetic patients’ eye
problems. Her interest in diabetes is intensely personal, as her
own husband is diabetic. She also presented and defended her thesis
while eight months pregnant.
Jones would like to do more
research, especially with underserved populations with diabetes and
glaucoma. She is also considering teaching in the future as
well.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “Sylvia is
one of the most positive individuals we have worked with. The
faculty and administration take great pride in Sylvia Jones’
outstanding accomplishments, contributions and leadership. She will
clearly serve as a top role model.”
Courtney M. Goetsch,
OD
Pacific University College of
Optometry
Forest Grove, Ore.
Courtney Goetsch's interest in optometry
stemmed from observing her aunt, an optician, who loved her work.
“That made me curious,” she told VM. She wound up
working for an optometrist in Nebraska as an optician.
At the Pacific University College of
Optometry, she maintained a high grade point average and received
the President's Award for outstanding dedication to optometry, and
was inducted into Beta Sigma Kappa. She also served on a variety of
professional groups. In the AOSA, she was a trustee and sat on the
executive council as secretary. She also was a student
representative to her school's Academic and Professional Standards
Committee, and helped organize the school's First White Coat
Ceremony. She also served as local liaison for the Association of
Schools and Colleges of Optometry and for the National Board of
Examiners in Optometry, and national liaison for Infants and
Children's Vision Coalition. She was a student member of COVD and
of Amigos, a non-profit organization dedicated toward providing
eyecare for underserved populations locally and
globally.
Goetsch would like to continue her
involvement with state- and national-level optometric groups. She
likes “organizing optometry” and wants to be
politically involved for children's vision causes.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “She is a
leader for her class and a role model for other
students."
Ruth Shoge, OD
Pennsylvania College of
Optometry
Elkins Park, Pa.
An internship during high school whetted Ruth
Shoge’s appetite for optometry. “I liked the ability to
really work with patients and still be able to raise a family,
which is important for women,” she told VM.
In addition to serving as class
president throughout her four years at PCO, she also worked with
school's chapter of First Year National Optometric Student
Association, and the school's chapters in the National Optometric
Student Association, the AOSA, and SVOSH. Additionally, she
received the Maryland Optometry Student Scholarship.
During her years at PCO, Shogue
worked as a teaching assistant and was also a clinical skills
instructor to second year medical students at Drexel University in
Philadelphia.
Shogue is currently doing her
residency at PCO, where she specializes in pediatrics and vision
therapy, the latter of which helps people train their eyes to focus
better. She worked with a doctor who specialized in vision therapy,
which led to her taking some classes in the subject.
"Vision therapy is a concept that
people still need to learn about. It’s a great alternative to
having surgery on children," she noted. She would also like to work
with adults and people with learning disabilities, mainly
children.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “Our choice
was clear [in suggesting she be in this section]. She was president
of the class all four years she was a student at PCO, and she
delivered the commencement address.
Stacey Gin, OD
Southern CaliforniaCollege of
Optometry
Fullerton, Calif.
Stacey Gin's interest in optometry began during
high school, when she worked for Glenn Nakayama, OD, as his
receptionist. Thus inspired, she worked with Jay M. Enoch, OD,
while an undergraduate at the University of California,
Berkeley.
During her years at the Southern
California College of Optometry, Gin was very involved with the
student association and “took pride in serving my fellow
colleagues.” She also served as a student liaison for the
Asian American Optometric Society and SCCO’s liaison for
Sports Vision University. Gin was politically active as
SCCO’s volunteer coordinator for the state assembly campaign
for Lynne Gabriel, OD, and served as Editor in Chief of the
school’s SCOPE Magazine.
She was also active in terms of
serving patients, as well as a vision outreach volunteer to five
elementary schools, and performing vision screenings at the Special
Olympics, the Chinese Lions Club, and a senior center.
Gin is currently doing a residency
in Primary Eye Care at the Veterans Hospital in San Diego and is
also working at the Pasadena Optometry Center. She hopes to someday
work in private practice and to be a clinical staff doctor at
SCCO.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “She was been
very active in student government for three of her four years with
us at SCCO.”
Kristi R.Merritt,
OD
Southern College of
Optometry
Memphis, Tenn.
Kristi Merrit was an undergraduate in a
program geared toward getting African Americans into medical
schools when she wound uphaving her first-ever eye exam at SCO. She
had planned on becoming a dentist, but after talking with
SCO’s Leroy Norton, Jr., OD, she changed her mind. She got a
job at a optical store and also went to work for an
African-American optometrist who wound up becoming her
mentor.
While at SCO, Merritt served as
class vice president and president. She also worked with the AOSA,
the National Optometric Student Association, and the Fellowship of
Christian Optometrists. She also has mentored incoming students.
Merritt also earned a service scholarship award for her work with
vision screenings for the local community.
Merritt would like to be involved
with primary care. She would also like to travel to black colleges
and talk to students about optometry, “which is often
overlooked by all universities,” she pointed out. “High
blood pressure, strokes, and diabetes are prevalent in minority
populations, and I feel it is my duty to tell people to get checked
out and take care of their eyes, as well as the rest of their
bodies,” she told VM.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “Kirsti was
elected to Gold Key, which is one of the highest honors for an
optometry student.”
Sunny M. Stimson,
OD
SUNY College of Optometry
New York
While studying to become an optometrist,
Sunny Stimson, like many New Yorkers, kept herself very busy. In
addition to maintaining a high grade point average, she was
treasurer of the school's student council, was secretary of the
Beta Sigma Kappa honor society, and was a
technician/assistant in the ocular disease clinic. She also spent
time as a clinical skills tutor, and gave tours to student
interviewees.
As a member of the Fellowship of
Christian Optometrists, she served as secretary and national
liaison. She also went on optometric humanitarian missions two
years in a row to Oaxaca, Mexico, with the FCO. Additionally, she
did vision screenings for athletes in the Special Olympics, and
served as student coordinator for an MS Walk vision
screening.
Ideally, Stimson would love to work
at a Veterans Administration hospital affiliated with an optometry
school, so she could stay involved with both patients and academia.
She currently plans to do a residency at a VA hospital in Los
Angeles and recently completed an externship at the Southern VA
Hospital In Tucson, Ariz.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “Sunny
Stimson received the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence this
year. She has a high GPA and demonstrated great leadership
abilities.”
Angela Everett MacDonald,
OD
University of Alabama at Birmingham
School of Optometry
Birmingham, Ala.
As an optician in North Carolina, Angela
Everett MacDonald was in the optical world for many years before
deciding to become an optometrist. 0034I love working with the
patients and wanted to learn more about the medical aspect of it
and realized I could do more if I became the doctor myself,0034 she
told VM.
MacDonald received the Dean's Award
of Excellence and Dean's List with Honors. She was also in the Beta
Sigma Kappa honor society, and received the Eschenbach Award for
Excellence in Low Vision, and the GP Contact Lens Clinical
Excellence Award from the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association
and ABBA Optical.
While at UAB, she was president of
her class for a year, and worked with AOSA, and did vision
screenings with SVOSH in Costa Rica and Honduras. Locally, she has
been involved with health screening for the Latino community, and
doing diabetes and glaucoma screenings.
MacDonald really likes the private
practice aspect of optometry and her main goal is to see the
several generations of patients in a family and follow their
progress.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “Angela is a
well-rounded student. She did well academically and actively
participated in student groups and missions.”
Marisa A. Perez,
OD
University of California, Berkeley,
School of Optometry
Berkeley, Calif
She always wanted to be a doctor, but
wasn’t sure what kind. As an undergraduate, Marisa Perez
worked for an ophthalmologist. After awhile, she realized that
optometrists had more time to spend with patients. “I liked
the rapport ODs have with patients, and that appealed to me,”
she told VM.
Perez was also a member of Beta
Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society. She was also
selected to serve on the school's Admissions Committee. She also
spent a lot of time working with student associations. She was a
member of the AOSA, was a student member of the California
Optometric Association, and was a member of the student chapter of
the American Academy of Optometry.
Perez also reached out to the
community, performing vision screenings for Special Olympics, a
Save Your Vision Week event on campus, and the local Suitcase
Clinic, where 70 percent of the clientele are homeless.
Perez loved observing the
relationship between ophthalmology and optometry.
“There’s more to know about primary care and ocular
disease,” she said. She would also like to get into
academia.
HER SCHOOL SAYS: “She was the
unanimous choice of Dean Levi and our four Associate Deans for this
recognition in VM.”