Occasionally, students find themselves far into their educational journey without a clear idea of what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Dr. Joshua Smith (OD ‘13) found himself in this position while in grad school at the University of Calgary. While aiming to complete his PhD, Josh realized 14 months in that he didn’t want to pursue a career in chemistry, and after completing his master’s in synthetic organometallic chemistry he decided to go back to his original plan, which was to pursue a health-care profession.
“Working in a lab all day every day and weekends means you spend a lot of time in your own head, and you don’t spend a lot of time talking to other people, and I was missing that. There was a part of my personality that was being atrophied,” Josh explained.
Shortly after this, Josh turned his attention to optometry, as he found that the field appealed to him personally due to the patient interactions, primary care and the ability to specialize in a specific area. This led Josh to enrol in the School of Optometry & Vision Science in 2009. Given that this would be his 9th year of university, Josh was worried he would be the oldest student there, but he was pleasantly surprised to see a large variety of ages across the School, all coming from different fields, just as he had.
Josh described attending the School as a very different, but intimate experience unlike anything he had experienced before. He also thought it was an intense experience coming from an unrelated field, but his previous study skills and school experience helped. He was even class president and sat on the faculty council, which came with a lot of extra responsibilities. One of Josh’s fondest memories from his time at the School was winning the Corneal Cup and getting to keep it in his apartment as class president.
Overall, Josh had a really great experience, not only because he got to engage as a student leader, but because the School carved out a nice, niche space for him.
“It was different from the other university experiences I had because you were with the same people all the time, every day.”
After graduating with a doctorate in 2013, Josh launched a very exciting and impactful career, one that included a mix of patient care, leadership, and volunteerism.
Josh went straight into practice in Alexandria and Cornwall and has been with the practice ever since. Starting as an associate at the SD&G Optometry Clinic, and now a partner, he is trying to reduce barriers for those who need services beyond primary care and treatment.
Josh also quickly developed a special interest in post-stroke visual neurorehabilitation after being asked to work with post-stroke patients and started working closely with the regional Stroke Rehabilitation Centre at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria.
Josh was on the Ontario Association of Optometrists board for seven years and was president from 2018 to 2020. He also spent time on the National Eye-Health Council for three years among many other professional leadership and development experiences. Josh’s leadership experiences furthered his drive to make a difference in the field.
“[Being] involved in leadership really opened my eyes to the challenges that our profession faces even more than what I was aware of when I was in school and I, you know, I had the energy to do it and I had the drive to do it and it was the right time.”
Josh is an advocate for volunteerism, strongly believing that money isn’t the only incentive to get things done. Given how supported he feels in the profession, he strongly believes that the best thing to do is to give back to keep the field sustainable. The profession of optometry relies on volunteers, and that’s why it is so important to Josh.
One of the milestones of Josh’s career was helping to open a hospital in a rural Northern Ghana and working with and training the professionals who will be staffing the optometry clinic. Josh was motivated to take medical mission trips to help those around the world who really need it.
“It was a great learning experience when I was in school, but I came to realize after a few years that without any kind of sustainable approach, your impact is limited.”
Being actively involved in something as significant and impactful as the implementation of the hospital was therefore very meaningful. Attending the opening of the hospital last August was one of the most meaningful moments of his professional career.
Josh is also a large supporter of the Waterloo Eye Institute (WEI), believing that it is the next step in the field of optometry, playing an important role in not only educating future optometry students, but also practicing optometrists. Josh strongly believes that the WEI will expand the scope of practice for optometrists.
“One of the things that attracted me to optometry is the ability to work in primary care to address, manage and prevent disease. The Waterloo Eye Institute is simply the next step in our evolution.”
Overall, Josh has done a lot in his time to contribute towards the field of optometry, from patient care to his leadership and development experiences, and even to his volunteerism and engagement in the field.
