The Eye of the Beholder
Story appeared in the 2017 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY HAYLEY PICARD, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
ALUMNI DR. MEGAN POLAK (‘04)
Sometimes the value of lessons learned in school are not understood for years. The experiences can be quiet, yet profound. We safely store these moments deep in our hearts and minds, not knowing they will mold our perceptions of the world and develop our character, guiding our future actions.
Frederica de Laguna was a pioneer in the field of archaeology and ethnology in North America. Her ground- breaking work serves to inspire Dr. Genevieve Hill (‘99) today.
As she gently sips her hot chocolate, Megan Polack (‘04) reflects on her experiences at QMS while sitting in a cozy Duncan coffee shop. “Looking back, my years at QMS were tranquil ones where I had the opportunity to do what I love, which was ride horses, study, and where I had my first experiences in service. I didn’t really think about these experiences much after graduation. There were so many small moments that obviously shaped part of who I am, but for me they were below my level of awareness.”
Megan always knew she wanted to practice medicine of some kind. Her father’s career as an ophthalmologist stirred her curiosity at an early age. “I saw how much my dad loved what he did, so optometry appealed to me. In fact I wanted to be a vet at first, but I discovered that I prefer to work indoors. So when I was in high school, I knew what I wanted to do. Everything I did academically was focused on achieving this goal.” Her strong scholastic efforts resulted in a scholarship to the University of Victoria, followed by an acceptance into the optometry program at the University of Waterloo.
The opportunity to combine her love of horses, optometry, and a growing passion for giving back came in the form of a medical rotation in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Megan’s passion for travel and horses drew her to the John Kenyon American Eye Institute for four months of work experience. While there, she discovered a service organization called Second Stride.
The not-for-profit group provides professional rehabilitation for retired thoroughbred race horses so they can find a new purpose in life. Megan’s service muscles twitched and working with the group brought her a new depth of love for horses. “I worked with five different horses during my time in Kentucky and every single one of them was successfully retrained and adopted to wonderful families,” she shares. “I loved the experience of finding a way to volunteer in a new and meaningful way.”
In her final year of studies, Megan was once again provided an opportunity to travel and volunteer. As part of her Primary Care rotation, she chose to travel with Third World Eye Care Society of Canada (TWECS) to Olongapo, Philippines. Her international experience included working with a team of optometrists, students, and staff whose mandate was to provide free eye care exams and corrective lenses to low income families in developing countries. “We weren’t required to go on this trip,” Megan murmurs softly over her cup. “Something resonated with me when I read about what TWECS gave to communities in need. I thought the experience would be very moving. I wasn’t disappointed.”
While in Olongapo, Megan assisted with a high volume of men, women and children in triage, visual acuity (VA) testing, auto refraction and basic ophthalmoscopy. “The dilation drops I placed in people’s eyes would burn a little, so I was always apologizing. Surprisingly, everyone thanked me, knowing that the momentary discomfort was part of the process. For many, this was the first eye exam in their lives! I loved interacting with all of the patients in the triage station and starting them on the right track to a solution for their vision issues.”
One young woman stands out in Megan’s memory. At the age of 18 she was almost blind. Due to the severity of her prescription, they were only able to provide her with glasses that partially assisted in regaining her eyesight. Yet the improvement to her quality of life was immediate. Custom lenses were shipped later from Canada to replace the temporary lenses. In the end, Megan and her TWECS team assisted 500-700 patients each day for over two weeks, helping a total of 5,700 people and successfully providing 5,000 pairs of glasses to Olongapo locals.
Following graduation, Dr. Megan Polack chose to return to the Cowichan Valley to join Dr. Trevor Miranda and Dr. Anita Voisin’s optometry practice, Cowichan Eyecare, already a partner of TWECS. Her hope is to travel abroad with the volunteer organization again in the future, now as a full doctor, to help more people. In the meantime, she encourages the donation of used glasses at her clinic so they can be sent overseas on various eye missions around the world.
Does Megan feel that her exposure to service learning at QMS set the foundation for a life enjoyment of giving back to our global community? Her cup of hot chocolate is almost empty and she smiles gently. “QMS was and is many things to me. I believe all of our life experiences help broaden our lens of the world. QMS was a shaping instrument for widening my perspective and I am grateful for it.”