WINTER 2024
ESSENTIALS: WINTER 2024
When Winnie Li, OD ’19 first arrived in Chicago, she did not have a driver’s license. A native of Toronto, there had never been a need to learn how to drive, so she didn’t. By the time she graduated; after completing four externships in the Chicago area, she left with an OD and a driver’s license. “Chicago was a place where a lot of growth happened,” she recalls.
Only five years out of school, Dr. Li now runs her own private practice in the Vancouver suburbs. “There’s a lot of freedom in having your own practice. I treat the type of cases I want to treat.” She built that clinical confidence at ICO. “In the U.S., there is a different mindset about optometry. In Canada, it’s a completely different ballgame. The climate is so different, and so is the scope. In British Columbia, where I practice, I can’t prescribe oral medications. But because I was trained at ICO, my clinical experience goes well beyond Canada’s scope, and I always feel prepared to treat the patients to the best of my ability. I would never trade my experience at ICO for anything.”
Dr. Li has held several positions over the past few years, but her patients have remained loyal and followed her as she has moved. As ICO grads, she says, “we’re really good at educating our patients. We use words they can understand. I learned that from our attendings.”
Winnie is reserved, but there is also a certain confidence about her. It is clear that her time at ICO has impacted how she approaches the future and the type of challenges she is willing to undertake.
Now, with her own private practice, driving has become second nature, just one more way Chicago left a lasting impact.
Here are a few of her essentials.
BUILDING UP TO A PRIVATE PRACTICE
As an ICO graduate, I felt confident in my clinical skills, but I knew there was a lot to learn in terms of running a business. My goal was always to open my own practice, and I wanted my previous experience to be as diverse as possible. Rather than committing to one practice, I incorporated myself as a business and contracted my work out so I could see how different offices operate. I’ve been very lucky in the past few years to build a loyal patient base that has followed me as I have grown as an optometrist.
Now, I run my own solo practice. All the optometric care is handled by me, while my husband manages the insurance and other business aspects. I have two full-time staff and a few part timers here and there.
CHALLENGES ANE PERSEVERANCE
After two years, circumstances beyond my control nearly forced me to withdraw from ICO. At that time, I was working as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow where I had met my advisor and mentor, Dr. David Lee. I went to him first and let him know my plans. Given that I had already committed two years to the program, he was adamant that I should continue. With a push from Dr. Lee, I went back to ICO and worked with them to find a solution. This was one of the most difficult times of my life, but because I was proactive, I was able to find the resources that I needed to complete my degree. I am able to practice today because I asked for help, and those around me were willing to work with me.
AN UNEXPECTED HAVEN
While I was rotating through practices, I worked in the smaller city of Kelowna. My husband (then boyfriend) would come with me, working remotely as a software engineer. He’d set up his big screens and computer in the hotel room, and I’d head off to the clinic. After work, we’d hike Knox Mountain. Our packed car, the little hotel room, and the mountain became places of refuge during those trips.
We still hike often. Growing up in Toronto and living in Chicago, I’m used to flat landscapes, so Vancouver’s scenery has been a refreshing change. I can’t beat him up the mountain yet, but I’m trying!
A THANK YOU TO BETH KARMIS
I’ve always been someone who did well in school, but during my third year, with so much stress and turmoil, my grades were significantly affected. It was hard for me to navigate all this. I was still so young, and I needed someone to talk to. Beth was there throughout for that emotional support. Beth takes on so much at ICO, and I just want her to know that we appreciate her. She’s made a big difference in my life.
MILLENNIAL DILEMAS
Vancouver is a very high cost of living area. So, even though my husband is a software engineer, and I am building out my own private practice, it still doesn’t make economic sense for us to purchase a home. It came down to this: Do we want to invest our money into a clinic that’s going to grow with us and advance my career? Or do we want to own a home and leave it to the economy to dictate our returns?
I don’t love this thinking, seeing your home as an investment and not as a place to dwell, but these are the realities of my generation. So, we put our money towards our practice instead. We do what we gotta do to continue growing. I think this might be my whole life motto. If you work hard enough, opportunities will arise, and you can find a way to make it work.
I signed a ten-year lease for my office. So that’s ten years of growth. We’ve put a lot of time and love into it, and maybe, ten years down the line, we’ll own a house too. For now, we have spent our renovation budget on the practice, and I am incredibly grateful for what has been given to us so far and all the advantages we’ve had.
A PLACE TO ESCAPE
In Chicago, there was nothing I loved more than the bike path along Lake Michigan. After a hard exam, I would jump on my bike and just ride. Starting at 33rd beach, I’d go on till I reached Navy Pier, and then turn around and bike right back again. An hour there. An hour back. On Friday evenings, especially during the summertime, it was the best way for me to de-stress after a whole week at school. Now that I’m in the Vancouver suburbs, the lake is what I miss most about Chicago.
