Morgan Garman is currently a third year student at Nova Southeastern University. Now that she has completed the notorious second year curriculum, she is eager to start seeing patients at The Eye Care Institute. Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Morgan completed her Bachelor’s degree in Oklahoma while on athletic scholarship. She was always interested in a career in health care, but the notion of becoming an optometrist was not immediately evident. With no past or present family members in the eye care business and never wearing glasses herself, Morgan did not initially know much about the profession. However, after personal research and much encouragement from her professors and family, she chose to apply for optometry school and has never looked back.
Morgan’s eagerness to learn and strong desire to help people has always been apparent. Upon entry into optometry school she quickly joined a variety of clubs and became an active member in the Nova community. Besides being a CAOS member, she is also a part of the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists, and Vice President of the Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honour Society at Nova Southeastern. She has achieved academic excellence by continually being named to the Chancellor’s List since her second semester.These awards as well as her involvement in these clubs have allowed her to make lifelong friends and memories that could never be replaced. Of all her experiences at NSU, the most memorable is the mission trip she attended last summer with the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists. She was a part of approximately 30 students who travelled to Nicaragua under the guidance of faculty members and licensed doctors. Through their efforts they were able to treat over 600 patients who would have never been able to receive quality eye care. Throughout their four days of mission work the group was able to set up service sites at the church, hospital, local school, and even provided care to a community by make-shifting lanes for retinoscopy and binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy in the personal homes of a Nicaraguan family. The genuine thankfulness of the Nicaraguan people and the blessings received on the trip will forever be cherished. Other notable experiences include representing CAOS at Community Fest 2016 and attending Nova’s Eyeball which took place on a yacht last month.
Morgan’s time at NSU has flown by and she cannot believe that it is almost time to prepare for the licensing examinations while also thinking about choosing rotation sites. With graduation in 2018 she plans to move back to Canada and explore job opportunities across the Prairie Provinces. While she initially believed that ocular disease interests her the most, she is also intrigued by binocular vision and is looking forward to learning more about contact lenses.