The National Board of Examiners in Optometry recently released statistics on the Part I Basic Science exam, administered on ICO's campus March 19 and 20. The pass rate for ICO first-time test-takers was 96.6 percent, and ICO's overall pass rate was 95.3 percent. The national overall pass rate was 79 percent.

DATE:      Saturday, June 8
TIME:      8:15 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
PLACE:   Illinois College of Optometry, 3240 S. Indiana Ave.

Thank you for your interest in our annual Admissions Open House. Please register via our online form. We hope to see you there! 

The honorable U.S. Rep. L. Tammy Duckworth will serve as the keynote speaker for the 170^th ICO Commencement Ceremony to be held at 11:00 a.m., May 18, at Rockefeller Chapel. Duckworth will receive the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, during the ceremony.

“Not only is Rep. Duckworth a distinguished member of Congress, she is a national hero and an amazing role model for our doctoral candidates,” said ICO President Dr. Arol Augsburger.

Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. She was one of the first women to fly combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth lost her legs and partial use of her right arm when her helicopter was hit by an RPG on Nov. 12, 2004. She was wearing polycarbonate lenses under her visor that protected her eyesight and credits Dr. Michelle Jurkovic, an ICO alum, with saving her vision during the explosion. She was awarded a Purple Heart for her combat injuries.

Following her recovery, Duckworth became Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. In Illinois, she worked to create a tax credit for employers who hired veterans, established the first 24/7 crisis hotline for veterans in the nation, and developed innovative programs to improve veterans' access to housing and health care.

In 2009, President Obama appointed Duckworth to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. At the VA, Duckworth led an initiative to end homelessness among veterans. She was elected to Congress in 2012.

Ablott	Charlotte	4th Year
Abraham	Ansu	3rd Year
Ahmed	Umema	1st Year
Ahn	Yeseul	4th Year
Ahrens	Daniel	3rd Year
Alam	Yasham	4th Year
Aleszczyk	Katarzyna	4th Year
Anderson	Elisabeth	1st Year
Andrews	Kristie	2nd Year
Andrews	Megan	4th Year
Au	David	3rd Year
Austin	Joseph	4th Year
Auyeung	Michelle	2nd Year
Azhar	Javeria	3rd Year
Badyal	Kevin	2nd Year
Bains	Poonam	3rd Year
Barker	Rachael	3rd Year
Bartolini	Alyssa	2nd Year
Batalo	Dillon	2nd Year
Beard	Matthew	3rd Year
Beck	Kelsey	3rd Year
Been	Travis	1st Year
Berends	Betsy	4th Year
Berkowitz	Rachel	2nd Year
Bhakta	Meeral	4th Year
Bhat	Shikha	2nd Year
Bittan	Liron	4th Year
Blasco	Nicholas	4th Year
Bloodwhite	Christi	2nd Year
Boettcher	Brittany	1st Year
Bohn	Briana	2nd Year
Bonk	Alex	4th Year
Bovy	Mitch	3rd Year
Boyle	Brad	1st Year
Bromann	Gretchen	2nd Year
Brown	Janelle	2nd Year
Buboltz	Mark	3rd Year
Campbell	Brenna	4th Year
Campbell	Catherine	2nd Year
Campbell	John	3rd Year
Cassin	Kevin	3rd Year
Castans	Kylie	1st Year
Cha	Rosaline	4th Year
Chan	Adrienne	1st Year
Chawla	Harshpreet	1st Year
Choi	Joann	2nd Year
Choi	Young	2nd Year
Choy	Alexander	2nd Year
Cleary	Rian	4th Year
Cordel	Taia	2nd Year
Cornish	Keaton	4th Year
Crampton	Nicole	1st Year
Cucuras	Maria	3rd Year
Cullen	Stephanie	1st Year
Cupuro	Katie	4th Year
Dave	Forum	2nd Year
Davis	Kate	3rd Year
Desai	Bijal	4th Year
Domes	Anna	4th Year
Edakkunnathu	Alwin	4th Year
Eleftherion	Caitlin	3rd Year
Encarnacao	Cayley	1st Year
Endres	Chase	2nd Year
Fairbanks	Jared	4th Year
Fairbanks	Jennifer	4th Year
Falk	Peter	4th Year
Fasano	Alyssa	4th Year
Favis	Tyrone	4th Year
Fickbohm	Macy	1st Year
Fiedler	Jacie	1st Year
Finch	Ashley	2nd Year
Fisher	Claire	1st Year
Flamich	Lucas	3rd Year
Fridman	Alla	1st Year
Frizzle	Kinzy	2nd Year
Froehlich	Hanna	3rd Year
Gabreski	Scott	1st Year
Gad	Nimisha	4th Year
Gagnon	Erica	1st Year
Gamboa	Faye	3rd Year
Gee	Jennifer	4th Year
Golden	Alexander	3rd Year
Gray	Fraser	1st Year
Guardiola	Bianca	1st Year
Haghani	Sara	1st Year
Hallum	Lauren	4th Year
Hammang	Laurel	1st Year
Hammond	Paul	2nd Year
Hanneman	Angela	1st Year
Hansen	Lauren	3rd Year
Hanske	Josh	3rd Year
Hatcher	Kensington	4th Year
Hays	Hannah	3rd Year
Heinecke	Joshua	4th Year
Hemsworth	Cherie	1st Year
Herrera	Brett-Ashley	2nd Year
Hickman	Alisa	3rd Year
Higa	Laine	3rd Year
Higbee	Genna	3rd Year
Hill	Stacy	3rd Year
Huisman	Nickolas	3rd Year
Hunt	Lauren	4th Year
Ichishita	John	4th Year
Jagani	Aliasghar	3rd Year
Jakob	Abby	3rd Year
Jass	Ryan	2nd Year
Jawdi	Ammar	1st Year
Jenness	Jonathan	3rd Year
Kampschneider	Jenna	2nd Year
Kassebaum	Courtney	3rd Year
Keding	Amy	1st Year
Khan	Majid	1st Year
Kitzmann	Eric	2nd Year
Kloepfer	Robert	4th Year
Klute	Kyle	4th Year
Koeck	Anna	3rd Year
Kostopoulos	Anastasia	3rd Year
Kozob	Ellen	4th Year
Kruthoff	Christopher	2nd Year
Kuang	Elaina	3rd Year
Kusek	William	1st Year
Labrum	Alan	4th Year
LaLiberte	Stephanie	1st Year
Lam	Hara	1st Year
Lamouchi	Manel	4th Year
Le	Vy	2nd Year
Lee	Joseph	4th Year
Lee	Rachel	3rd Year
Lemke	Jenna	1st Year
Lenz	Katherine	4th Year
Loo	Kristine	4th Year
Malik	Nida	4th Year
Marnul	Eric	4th Year
Matzdorf	Lauren	4th Year
McCaig	Stephanie	4th Year
McGill	Dustin	4th Year
McHugh	Caitlyn	1st Year
McIntosh	David	4th Year
McLaughlin	Mallory	1st Year
McMurren	Brittany	4th Year
McPhee	Liane	4th Year
Mendez	Daisy	3rd Year
Meram	Grace	4th Year
Meyer	Michael	4th Year
Miller	Krystle	4th Year
Min	Jessica	3rd Year
Minhas	Bhawanjot	4th Year
Minhas	Harpreet	2nd Year
Mohammadi	Sarah	4th Year
Morales	Allison	2nd Year
Mosellen	Erin	3rd Year
Murphy	Sasha	2nd Year
Najafi	Tina	4th Year
Nesbitt	Danielle	4th Year
Nguyen	Christine	3rd Year
Nguyen	Mylee	4th Year
Nguyen	Quang	4th Year
Niedergesaess	Evesarai	3rd Year
Nola	Alisa	3rd Year
Nordwall	RaeAnn	4th Year
O'Shaughnessey	Molly	4th Year
Ostrander	Mikeal	4th Year
Ovitsky	Erwin	2nd Year
Paek	Helen	1st Year
Palmer	Anne-Marie	4th Year
Partida	Cristina	4th Year
Partyka	Agnieszka	2nd Year
Patel	Charmi	4th Year
Patel	Gemma	4th Year
Patel	Janaki	4th Year
Patel	Nayan	4th Year
Patel	Ridhi	2nd Year
Patel	Vimal	4th Year
Patin	Sarah	2nd Year
Penny	Michael	1st Year
Permack	Laurie	4th Year
Peterson	Caroline	3rd Year
Petkov	Zory	1st Year
Petkus	Amy	4th Year
Pham	Diana	3rd Year
Pollard	Kendra	4th Year
Polster	Samantha	2nd Year
Pukhovich	Irina	1st Year
Puryear	Haley	3rd Year
Quan	Steven	1st Year
Rahman	Ambreen	2nd Year
Rak	Ashley	4th Year
Rao	Amoolya	4th Year
Rice	Samantha	2nd Year
Richards	Kimberly	2nd Year
Richter	Dana	3rd Year
Rindahl	Amy	3rd Year
Robinson	Joshua	4th Year
Rogers	Jenna	2nd Year
Roghair	Christopher	1st Year
Romeril	Andrew	4th Year
Rose	Carly	4th Year
Russell	Michael	2nd Year
Samborska	Aneta	3rd Year
Sanchez	Lauren	3rd Year
Sapoznik	Kaitlyn	4th Year
Sarabia	Lillian	3rd Year
Satchithanantham	Nirangive	2nd Year
Schneider	Lee	1st Year
Schnitzer	Lisa	3rd Year
Sherman	Krystyna	4th Year
Siblani	Leila	2nd Year
Simpson	David	4th Year
Singh	Ampreet	4th Year
Singh	Gaganpreet	1st Year
Singla	Anchita	4th Year
Sinkoff	Erin	3rd Year
Sipola	Matthew	4th Year
Sloan	Stephanie	3rd Year
Sobin	Adam	3rd Year
Soltanian	Niloufar	4th Year
Sorenson	Emily	2nd Year
Spalding	Melissa	2nd Year
Spoula	Melissa	2nd Year
Steinberg	Olivia	1st Year
Steinhauer	Andrew	4th Year
Steinhauer	Brian	1st Year
Streuber	Ashley	4th Year
Sullivan	Meghan	2nd Year
Swenson	Jami	2nd Year
Tai	Jennifer	2nd Year
Tam	Sally	1st Year
Tang	Joanne	2nd Year
Theisen	Kelli	3rd Year
Timmermann	Felicia	3rd Year
Tran	Harold	4th Year
Trivedi	Sonal	2nd Year
Uppal	Jasandeep	2nd Year
Vandaalen	Amanda	3rd Year
Varney	Kelly	1st Year
Vilderman	Jane	3rd Year
Vogelpohl	Derek	4th Year
Walsh	Elizabeth	2nd Year
Walsh	Meghan	2nd Year
Wan	Steven	4th Year
Weinheimer	Matt	3rd Year
Weir	Jillian	4th Year
White	Kristina	3rd Year
Wiebers	Lindsay	4th Year
Wilczek	Margaret	1st Year
Witt	Ryan	3rd Year
Wojcik	Lauren	4th Year
Wong	Lisa	2nd Year
Wozny	Natalie	1st Year
Yaffe	Ryan	4th Year
Yang	Phillip	3rd Year
Yang	Qian	1st Year
Yeung	Becky	4th Year
Yoo	Jieun	4th Year
Zainea	Jacob	4th Year
Zenk	Jenna	3rd Year
Zielinski	Patricia	2nd Year
Zintak	Lori	4th Year

Dr. Valarie Conrad, the Illinois College of Optometry's vice president of compliance and community-based services, has been appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health by Gov. Pat Quinn. She is the first optometrist to be named to the advisory group.

The board's responsibilities include advising the department director on public health policy, emergencies, and control of health hazards; reviewing department rules and program proposals; and recommending solutions to public health issues.

"It's important for doctors of optometry all over the state to be represented in this very broad-based health board," says Dr. Conrad. "The board is instrumental in developing rules concerning the legislation of health matters and in the implementation of health laws. I look forward to serving the state of Illinois."

Dr. Conrad, who practiced optometry for 21 years, has worked at ICO since 1988 and has served as a vice president since 2003. Her department ensures that ICO's programs fulfill regulatory and ethical expectations and manages outside legal counsel and auditors. Originally from Clarksburg, WV, she now lives in La Grange, Ill. Her work with the 20-member board, which includes a registered nurse, veterinarian, chiropractor, dentist and medical doctors, officially began in March. Her term will run until February 15, 2016.

This letter was published in the Chicago Tribune on April 10.

To the Editor:

"Scrubbing Medicaid" (editorial, March 31) highlights an important and overdue state initiative to purge ineligible people from the Medicaid rolls. But the audit process has had an unintended consequence: Some of our most vulnerable citizens are suddenly without the health care insurance they deserve. That's because they are unaware that they must re-enroll in the program to receive their benefits.

This problem is playing out every day at the Illinois Eye Institute. With more than 100,000 patient visits annually, the IEI is one of the country's largest providers of vision and eye care services. For more than 30 years, we've been a safety net for Chicago-area residents. In addition to medical and surgical eye care, the IEI provides glasses to more than 16,000 Medicaid patients per year. Many of these individuals are children.

But since January, we have received many questions from patients who have been confused with the re-enrollment process or are bypassing necessary health services because they are not aware of the steps they need to take to continue to receive Medicaid services.

I encourage all Medicaid-eligible Illinois residents to follow up with their Medicaid case worker or the Department of Health and Family Services' Illinois Medicaid Redetermination Program Hotline (1-855-694-5458). These agencies can aid low-income individuals and families in making sure they have access to the life-sustaining services that the IEI and many other institutions across the state provide.

Dr. Leonard V. Messner
Executive Director
Illinois Eye Institute 
Chicago, IL