Alumni Focus on Phil Yuhas (OD/MS'14, PhD'19)

DR. YUHAS' STORY

Hometown

I grew up in South Euclid, Ohio before my family moved to Solon, Ohio when I was in junior high. Both towns are east-side suburbs of Cleveland.

Which institution did you attend for your undergraduate degree? What was your major?

I majored in Pre-Professional Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame du Lac outside of South Bend, Indiana.

Which degree(s), related to optometry, did you earn at Ohio State?

I earned OD and MS degrees in 2014 and a PhD degree in 2019.

Who were your mentors at the College of Optometry? Who had a positive effect on your education?

Looking back on my time as a student, I can say with confidence that as a professional I constantly return to lessons learned from a wide range of teachers, attendings, and mentors that I encountered during optometry school and later during graduate school. Hazarding leaving important people off my list, Lisa Lex, Andrew Hartwick, Gregory Nixon, Aaron Zimmerman, Scott Anthony, and Karla Zadnik, in particular, had, and still have, outsized influences on my development.

DR. YUHAS' CAREER IN OPTOMETRY

Name of your employer(s) and title, including location.

I am currently an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State College of Optometry in Columbus, Ohio, but my title will soon change to Associate Professor. I am also an Associate Optometrist at Northwest EyeCare Professionals, an optometric private practice in Upper Arlington, Ohio.

Give us a glimpse of your typical day as an optometrist.

As a faculty member, no two days are alike. It’s the best part of my job! Overall, I spend about two-thirds of my time running a vision-science research laboratory, which focuses on ocular biomechanics, traumatic brain injury, and aqueous-humor dynamics. The rest of my time is spent teaching in the classroom and in the clinic and contributing to the day-to-day operations of several working committees here in the College. On Saturday mornings I am privileged to manage my own patient population at Northwest EyeCare Professionals.

Which optometric issues concern you the most?

The biggest threat to optometry is the creation of new optometry schools, despite a stable-sized applicant pool from which to draw students. This problem is magnified by an expanding scope of practice in many states, which will escalate the responsibilities of optometrists. We as a profession are ready for this challenge, especially here in Ohio, but we need to let only the most qualified individuals into our profession.

Why did you choose a career in optometry?

During an undergraduate physiology course I became fascinated by the eye. I planned to go to medical school and then to a residency in ophthalmology. I took the MCAT and prepared my applications, but I got cold feet when I shadowed a handful of ophthalmologists in Northwest Ohio. That experience made me realize that I did not want to be a surgeon, but that primary care was my passion. Shortly thereafter, I was sitting as patient in the office of our beloved family optometrist, Robert Engel, and we got to talking about optometry as a career. He invited me to shadow him for a day, and I was sold. Here was a man who was clearly happy with his life and who loved what he did, providing primary eye care to his community. I withdrew my medical school applications and pivoted to optometry, not fully realizing what a rewarding profession it would be. The rest is history.

Where do you hope to see your optometric career in five years?

Teaching, doing research, and seeing patients, just like I do now. Not many optometrists get to do all three on a weekly basis, so I am fortunate to have the job that I do.

What is one piece of advice you can give OPT-IV students as they prepare to graduate and begin their optometric careers?

I’ll give two pieces because I can. First, be a lifelong learner. You owe it to yourself and to your patients to maintain a high level of practice by engaging with high quality continuing education and with the literature. Second, there is no good time to make a big change in your professional life or in your family life. Resist the notion that your current situation will be your forever situation, and do not be afraid to move out of your comfort zone.

What do eye health, and eye care, mean for you?

In football, fans only think about offensive linemen when they make a mistake, like missing a block or committing a penalty. I posit that patients view optometrists in the same manner – they only think of us when their vision is poor or when their eyes are uncomfortable and/or malfunctioning. It’s our job to keep vision, comfort, and ocular health out of the minds of our patients to give them the freedom to meet the challenges of each day. We want to provide them with care that allows them to take their vision for granted, just like a good quarterback wants to take a clean pocket for granted.

DR. YUHAS' OHIO STATE EXPERIENCE

What were your most memorable moments at Ohio State?

From a clinical development standpoint, my most memorable and valuable moments were spent on my externship rotations at MetroHealth Hospital and at the Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center, both in Cleveland. These rotations were both baptisms by fire that taught me to think calmy and logically during challenging patient encounters. From a social standpoint, spending Friday and/or Saturday evenings at the Bier Stube with my buddies arguing about the superiority of Notre Dame football over Ohio State football and about which team was tops in the American League were indispensable for my sanity. Getting engaged to the love of my life during third year was pretty cool, too.

What do Ohio State and the College of Optometry mean to you and your family?

I have been at the College in some capacity since 2010, despite having the opportunity to leave on several occasions. That fact that I have chosen to stay here for the long haul is a testament to the people – faculty, staff, and students – who populate this place. Simply nowhere else is better. It’s my professional home, and as such it has provided a meaningful and comfortable life for me and my family, which includes a trophy wife, Emily, and five beautiful children, Mary, Thomas, Helen, John, and William.

How do you stay connected with the College of Optometry?

Working here every day helps! Outside of my professional responsibilities, I keep in regular touch with many of my classmates, including Shane Mulvihill, Chris Brendel, Michael-Vu Do, Gil Guedes, John Manard, Whitney Territo, and a gaggle of us who play fantasy football every autumn. Ann Morrison is on faculty here at the College, so I get to see her smiling face on a weekly basis. William Patton is another classmate who works at the College, and I love to run into him in the clinic so we can commiserate on the woeful state of Cleveland sports. Joseph Pasquinelli and his lovely family live five minutes from me, and our kids go to the same Catholic school. So he tolerates my company on a regular basis.

DR. YUHAS' FUN FACTS

What are your current hobbies, volunteer work and interests?

Outside of work, I enjoy reading, particularly about 19th century American history. For fiction, my favorite authors are William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. I pour considerable time and effort into keeping my lawn and yard in prime shape. I love to watch football, particularly the Fighting Irish and Browns, and recently served as the defensive coordinator for the second-grade flag football squad at St. Pius X School. My 8-year-old son has dragged me and my family into hockey over the last few years. Our family loves to hike around the terrific parks in Fairfield and Hocking counties and is engaged at our local parish, contributing to several of its social and liturgical programs.

What is your nickname?

My family calls me Phillip. Most of my friends and colleagues call me Phil, except for a small cohort that calls me Philly.

What’s the best eye pun you’ve ever heard?

What do you call a salmon with no eyes? Fishually impaired.

If not an optometrist, I would be …

Working as a nephrologist, as the kidneys were my second favorite topic in that physiology class at Notre Dame.