Ask Dr. Gina Sorbara’s colleagues, students and friends to describe her and you’ll hear one word repeated over and over again: passion.
For more than 40 years, that passion has fuelled Sorbara’s many contributions to contact lens research and education, and to optometry as a whole. Now, as she begins a well-deserved retirement, optometrists at WOVS and beyond share some of their favourite recollections of her.
“I have known Gina since we were students at the School here in the 1970s,” says Dr. Bill Bobier, Professor Emeritus and a former Director at the School.
“I watched her path from student to professor. Each step was built on a love and passion for optometry and the School itself.”
Innovation in admissions
Over the years, Professor Sorbara became an expert in teaching and scholarly activity in contact lens. She has led the School’s Contact Lens Clinic since 1984 and has conducted research in topics ranging from specialty lens designs for keratoconus to corneal topography. A fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the British Contact Lens Association, Sorbara also holds a Diplomate in Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Therapies (AAO).
Sorbara lectured on advanced contact lens fitting and aftercare and also dedicated many years as the School’s Admissions Officer. Bobier remembers how she worked diligently to bring innovation and standardization to the admissions process, spearheading the use of Mini Multiple Interviews (MMI’s) and screening tests like CASPer to provide a more complete picture of candidates’ strengths.
“Gina took the reins, added depth and breadth to Admissions and made sure it remained unbiased and confidential. That was the last for a long time that I would need to know anything about admissions!” he says.
“A strong, dedicated, passionate optometrist”
Dr. Etty Bitton, Professor of Optometry at the Université de Montréal, has known Sorbara for years, first as an optometry student and then as a fellow educator.
“I witnessed a strong, dedicated and passionate optometrist and educator who was always willing to share her knowledge and best practices. She motivated and supervised countless students, in Canada and around the world, with her involvement in graduate studies and through her contributions to the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE). She was the school liaison for numerous years advocating for the American Academy and constantly encouraged students to attend meetings because she knew that the experience would have an impact on their career.”
Dr. Lacey Haines, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the School, experienced Sorbara’s encouragement first-hand. She completed her cornea and contact lens residency with Sorbara and has worked closely with her ever since.
“Gina taught me not just about the profession but about the importance of attending conferences and networking,” she says. Sometimes Sorbara’s mentorship extended far beyond academic matters, like the time when she invited Haines to her first British Contact Lens Association conference gala and then discovered that Haines hadn’t packed a dress.
“Gina immediately announced ‘We’re going shopping,’ and then spent the next few hours making sure I had a dress and shoes for the gala,” Haines says.
A mentor and friend
Bitton notes that “Dr. Sorbara was omnipresent at all contact lens meetings, presenting or contributing to the advancement of contact lens education, including the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators (AOCLE), Global Specialty Lens Symposium (GSLS), British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) and more.
In a testament to the relationships Sorbara built with optometrists around the world, Haines notes that whenever her mentor attended a conference, she was greeted enthusiastically.
“She couldn’t walk through the venue without being stopped by people who were not only colleagues but friends.”
The School would like to thank Dr. Gina Sorbara for all her years of dedication to students, patients and educators and wish her all the best in her retirement. As Etty Bitton wrote, “Dr. Sorbara, know that you have left a colossal imprint on Canadian optometry and abroad.”
In lieu of retirement gifts or flowers, Dr. Sorbara has requested that those who are interested consider making a contribution to the School. Please visit this donation page if you would like to make a gift in Dr. Sorbara’s honour. Tax receipts are available.
