Meet one of our newest members, Dr Bao Nguyen.

Dr Bao Nguyen is an optometrist, lecturer and research fellow at The University of Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Optometry (2008), PhD (2014) and Graduate Certificate in Adolescent Health and Wellbeing (2021). Her research expertise is in the human eye and the brain, spanning healthy development and ageing, neurodegeneration and neurological disorders. Dr Nguyen is a passionate advocate for optometry education for entry-to-practice students and for continuing professional development, previously serving on the Education Committee and as an Education Consultant for Optometry Australia, the peak national professional organisation for optometrists in Australia. She has undertaken Interprofessional Education Facilitator Training for optometry educators through the Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education in the UK (2020).

Bao's work has advanced the scope of optometry by prompting rapid behaviour change (within 6 weeks of intervention) through educating optometrists regarding neurological screening in the primary eyecare setting (high Altmetrics attention score of 86th percentile compared to outputs of the same age). Other recent advances in education for eyecare professionals include a novel online feedback and evaluation program for improving interpersonal skills for optometry students, and an online "dementia-friendly eyecare" for optometrists. She is the first optometrist to be awarded the BioMedVic Early Career Clinician Researcher Award (2017) and contributes to the international scientific community by peer reviewing for  17 journals, including  FoHPE .

"I joined ANZAHPE after having FOMO seeing my colleagues in optometry at the ANZAHPE conference; it looks like such a friendly and inclusive community. As an ANZAHPE member, I want to contribute to health professional scholarship to ensure that diversity, inclusion, the "patient voice" and patient-centred care are at the heart of what we do. I have undertaken many volunteer community engagement activities especially to promote diversity and inclusion, including acting as a community spokesperson for Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA), “ChatFest” facilitator for supporting English language skills in health science students, tutor for Vietnamese speaking children and adolescents at Western Region Outreach Service, consumer consultant for the Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network and the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, consumer advisory group member for the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, and community representative for people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds."