As a driven person who is a source of inspiration for her colleagues, Eva Ho (class of 2019 from NECO) believes that optometrists should have the knowledge to be able to provide technical and quality patient care, while maintaining a strong rapport as well.
As an alumna of the University of Western Ontario, Eva is in the process of concurrently completing an OD degree and a master’s of science degree at Boston University medical school in affiliation with NECO, where she is conducting research pertaining to the endothelial glycocalyx in the outflow pathway of laser-induced hypertensive monkey eyes. Her efforts to advance glaucoma research activities through delving into the underpinnings of ocular disease have prompted her to understand Optometry on a deeper level as well as enabled her to educate her patients more thoroughly in her clinical rotations.
Aside from her involvement in the academic community, Eva currently sits on the executive board of the OpTranslate application as their Media and Communications director. This is a new mobile application, founded and created by a fellow NECO classmate, that allows English-speaking Optometrists to perform full exams on non-English speaking patients and includes information regarding patient education and case history. She will represent OpTranslate at the 2017 Academy conference in Chicago, where she will present this mobile application to practitioners, students, and potential stakeholders.
Furthermore, Eva enjoys volunteering her time to serve for various causes; She was the NECO Lions Club President from 2016-2017, an association composed of passionate students involved in philanthropic efforts related to helping the visually impaired. During her term as the president, Eva quadrupled active membership as well as fundraised over $2000, all proceeds of which were donated to the Perkins School for the blind and National Braille Press. Moreover, under her leadership, the Eyemobile clinic was also revitalized and is now being used to serve underprivileged communities that would otherwise not have equitable access to quality eye care. Aside from her variety of projects, including the illustration of several promotional posters for NECO events, she is currently the main web designer for a supplementary website catering CAOS to NECO students.
Eva is excited to return to Canada after graduation, to her hometown in Scarborough ON, and hopes to establish a balance between working in a clinic – a setting where she can cultivate strong and trustful relationships with her patients – and working in an academia as a professor at the collegiate level. Ultimately, Eva has an unyielding dedication to being an advocate of providing quality patient care through her extensive involvement in the academic community and various extracurricular activities. In her spare time, Eva enjoys dancing (especially hip hop), reading science fiction, practicing taekwondo, saxophone, and dabbling in etymology.