![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/03\/Rocio-Pasion-500x777.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nCOVID has been hard, but my professional life has changed positively because of it. In August 2020, I had spent my entire professional life (22 years) at the same ophthalmology practice. I was underappreciated and hiding somewhere between thinking about the things I wanted to do and actually doing them. I looked forward to retirement, seeing myself volunteering for an underserved community\u2014specifically using my skills within the Latino\/Hispanic population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My hunch is that fear was holding me back, and I was adept at dressing that fear up in disguises. COVID was an opportunity and an excuse that allowed me to face my fear. COVID was not a hang-up, it was a step to get me closer to my professional finish line. I turned in my resignation and faced the end of my 22-year tenure at the old practice. Within 48 hours I had a Zoom meeting and a job offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My new position at Siepser Eyecare refractive laser center refocused my subspecialty in glaucoma management, ocular surface disease, refractive surgery, and pre-\/post-operative management. And, most importantly, my voice in the new practice mattered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the new practice president\/owner\u2019s tutelage, I procured funds for ophthalmic equipment for Community Volunteers in Medicine in West Chester, Penn. The local migrant\/underserved community can now access\u2014with dignity\u2014eye exams and medical and surgical treatments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was encouraged by the new practice when a primary care position at Nemours Children\u2019s Hospital was offered to me. I now hold a position at a private practice in Pennsylvania, and I see close to 80 children per week at Nemours Children\u2019s Hospital in Wilmington, Del. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Nemours, I speak Spanish about 30 percent of the time and spend my days educating parents about their children’s systemic health, diagnoses, and ocular health. I have also joined the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative to become involved in health equity for minorities (almost all ocular normative data is based on a Caucasian population). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coming from Central Falls, R.I., I was one of the kids living in an underserved community. I was uplifted as an undergraduate student by my Talent Development family at äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾: Sharon and Frank Forleo and Mr. D. (may he rest in peace). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the cumulative effort of professors, advisors, and professionals that restructured my life\u2019s purpose. COVID is still here, and I am still adapting. I am doing everything differently now and, thankfully, have reallocated my life\u2019s purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roc\u00edo C. Pasi\u00f3n, O.D., is a board-certified optometrist specializing in primary care, amblyopia\/myopia retention, and specialty contact lens fitting. She graduated from äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾ with a B.A. in biology and Spanish, and then attended the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University, where she obtained her B.S. in visual science and her O.D. degree. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo courtesy Roc\u00edo C. Pas\u00edon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Dr. Roc\u00edo C. Pasi\u00f3n \u201993, COVID was an opportunity and an excuse that allowed me to face my fear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2023","architecture-your-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8578"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9130,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8578\/revisions\/9130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}