Dr. Patricia Hrynchak is retiring after a 37-year career at the School of Optometry & Vision Science
Scattered throughout the country, there are optometrists who have a bracelet reading, “What would Patty do?”
An initiative of one of the past graduating classes of the University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Science, the bracelets are a reminder to clinicians to stop and think about the advice of one of its longest-serving and most beloved faculty members, Dr. Patricia Hrynchak.
Hrynchak, or “Patty,” as she’s commonly known, may be retiring, but her teaching will live on in generations of alumni who are now mostly practicing optometrists.
Multiple classes have shown how much they appreciated Hrynchak. One class all showed up to the final exam in T-shirts reading, “Refraction ≠ Prescription,” since this was one of Hrynchak’s oft-repeated phrases.
Most recently, students served up a birthday and retirement surprise for Hrynchak when they donned blonde wigs to mark her last lecture with cake, a card and flowers.
All the teaching accolades still surprise Hrynchak, who describes herself as a quiet person. They shouldn’t, though – she has an armload of awards to her name. Among them:
- University of Waterloo President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, 2020, 2021
- American Academy of Optometry Michael G. Harris Family Award for Excellence in Optometric Education, 2018
- University of Waterloo Excellence in Science Teaching Award, 2014
- University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2019
- School of Optometry and Vision Science Distinguished Teaching Award, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017
She became a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry in 1989, then an AAO diplomate in optometric education in 2019 – no small task, an honour reserved for the very top people in North America.
Hrynchak grew up in Western Canada and was always interested in healthcare. She first came to the School in 1979 and graduated as part of the OD Class of 1983.
Class of 1983 reunion, 2023 - Patricia Hrynchak is third from right, bottom row.
Her class had a reunion last year in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Hrynchak was surprised to see all the pictures in a slide show Prince Edward Island classmate Dr. Joe Hickey put together, which showed her at multiple social events.
“I thought I spent most of my time studying but I guess I did other things as well,” says Hrynchak.
After graduation, Hrynchak spent four years practicing in Saskatoon, but then her husband, who had been doing a PhD in clinical psychology, got a one-year internship at what was then the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital (now Grand River Hospital). Not wanting to be apart from him for so long when they’d only been married two years, Hrynchak decided to apply for a job at the School, thinking the move would be temporary.
If you include her time as a student, she ended up being at the School more than 40 years.
Dr. Patricia Hrynchak (right) talks to Drs. Lisa Christian and Stan Woo, the School director, at her retirement party
Initially, Hrynchak primarily did clinical and laboratory teaching, then transitioned into classroom instruction. She discovered a passion for teaching and worked hard to improve her skills, taking courses on quality teaching through the University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence and on evidence-based practice through McMaster University. She then earned a master’s degree in health practitioner teacher education through the University of Toronto, graduating in 2014.
Hrynchak also served on multiple academic committees and has published more than 40 papers and numerous other publications, many of them about optometric education.
By editing and contributing to the Procedures in Clinical Optometry manual still used today, she literally wrote the book on optometric skills education in Canada. The first edition was in 1990 and she’s currently working on a new edition she hopes to have out before the 2025 winter term.
Hrynchak also has other research projects on the go, some with School colleagues, that she plans to continue to work on. So, while she’s looking forward to having more time to spend with her baby grandson in California, not to mention time with the rest of her family, Hrynchak isn’t planning on stepping away entirely.
“Retiring is bittersweet,” she says.