I am extremely honored to be the first recipient of the Ming Chen Foundation
scholarship pursuant of the doctor of optometry and thankful that I can share my mentoring
experience with an optometrist in Chicago along with my passion for primary eye care.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Kasia Aleszczyk, OD since the fall of 2021 and
her passion for optometry, along with her support of me and my pursuit in the field, have been
paramount in where I am at today. After graduating the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO),
where I will begin my doctoral education this coming fall, Dr. Kasia has been practicing since
2013. Our day started in the morning at Solo Eye Care in the South Loop neighborhood of
Chicago, just off of Michigan Avenue.
A typical day, most of our patients consisted of established and returning patients either
coming in for routine vision and eye health check-ups or maintaining and monitoring patients in
their after-care from ophthalmic surgeries. On a normal day, Dr. Kasia expects to see around
13-14 patients, most of which are for routine vision maintenance, but about 1-2 per day have
emergent eye issues which she will asses before referring out to an ophthalmologist. When
patients arrive, they first check-in at the reception desk for their appointment before having an
ICO student, since Solo Eye Care is an externship site for the college of optometry, perform all
of the pre-tests before Dr. Kasia’s examination. These tests include a vision check,
autorefraction, optomap photos, along with tests for eye pressure and overall health. The
student will then report his or her assessment notes to Dr. Kasia where she will then re-check
the patients’ vision and update any eyeglass or contact prescription using a manual phoropter
and check the health of the eye with use of a slit lamp. After every exam, Dr. Kasia explains to
the patient how they should proceed with new eyeglasses or contacts and answers any
questions that the may have about their time in the office. Most patients we saw received
updated vision prescriptions and received information about how to best manage their allergies
and dry eye, but one patient who we noticed had an enlarged optic nerve from his optomap
photos coupled with high eye pressure measurements, Dr. Kasia notified him about needing
routine check-ups to monitor for glaucoma.
Dr. Kasia has been more than I could ever hope for in a mentor, inspiring me to become
the best optometrist possible and helping me get started with my optometric career. I am
proud to be attending the same optometry school as her and look forward to being able to
learn from her and seek her help in my future education. Again, I would like to say thank you for
the honor of being selected to receive the Ming Chen Foundation scholarship which will help
me in my pursuit to become the best primary vision care provider I can be.
