Victoria Roan, OD

Friendly, optimistic and outgoing, Dr. Roan’s kind, even-keeled approach quickly puts people at ease. Born in San Jose, California, Dr. Roan grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley. She enjoys hiking, camping, nature, arts and crafts, photography, and travel. Dr. Roan and her veterinarian husband, Bobby, live in Kirkland, Washington, a suburb of Seattle.

Optometric physician based in our Bellevue, Washington office

​: You were born a little later?

​: Yes, I was born after my parents had been in San Jose for several years. Dad was part of the tech boom, and my mother was a stay-at-home mom for a while. When I was 2, my parents divorced, and mom began working in high-tech sales. She’d order electronics in bulk from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China and sell to bigger companies here in the U.S.

​: Was the English language a challenge in those early years?

​: My dad had learned relatively good English in school. But mom learned it more slowly in California as she met new friends and entered the workforce. My first language was Mandarin Chinese, and I started speaking English in kindergarten.

​: What are some of your earliest memories?

​: Family times—and my grandparents played a huge role. After the divorce, my mother decided not to go back to Taiwan. But being a single mom was a challenge, so my grandparents would come over from Taiwan and stay for several months, as long as their travel visa would allow. Then they’d go back for a few months before returning to the states for another stay. With them in the picture, there was always someone at home with me.

The influence of my grandparents tailored me to be where I am now, working primarily with an older population. I feel like our elders are to be cherished. They’re a wealth of life experiences with rich stories to share.

I loved Girl Scouts. Our troop was like family. When mom wasn’t able to pick me up, one of the troop leaders would take me back to their place, where I could hang out with my friends. Starting as a Brownie, the whole experience—camping, building fires, learning to tie knots, earning badges—was awesome. When selling cookies, I learned the power of words. It’s not, “Do you want some cookies?” but “How many Girl Scout cookies would you like today?”

During my scout days, I discovered I’m pretty allergic to bug bites. I get huge welts wherever I’m bitten. All the girls in my troop were looking for remedies—“What’s going to keep mosquitoes from biting Vickie?” They decided to crush eucalyptus leaves and rub them all over me. The smell was awful! But I was happy, and loved being outdoors with friends.

The whole experience expanded my world. Neither of my parents are outdoorsy or big campers. Girl Scouts was an opportunity for me to experience something new.

​: When did you begin to think of optometry as a career goal?

​: I originally thought I might work in a research lab, so I did an internship at a company in Taiwan that makes medical supplies. In the quality control lab, I translated their standard operating procedures from Taiwanese to English. One day I realized that although I liked the people I worked with, I couldn’t do translating, data crunching, pipetting and counting things over and over for the rest of my life. It just wasn’t for me.

I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field, but what? Nursing? Dentistry? Optometry? So, I did a lot of shadowing in those areas and found that I really enjoyed optometry. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner, because my whole family has various eye conditions.

My dad is red-green color blind, yet he drove a red sports car! That was the funniest thing to me. I couldn’t get over it. But he knew it was red, and that’s what mattered. Then, my sister had amblyopia, my grandmother had diabetic retinopathy, and my grandfather had macular degeneration. I grew up watching people putting drops in their eyes, taking medications, or having trouble seeing in certain areas. So, in my junior year, I decided maybe optometry was the right choice for me.

I chose to go to Missouri to study optometry. The classes there were smaller, and the professors were so helpful. I really liked the environment once I adjusted to the Midwest culture.

​: How did you end up at Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute?

​: I did my residency at the VA Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. Part of my residency included a day each week at the PCLI office in Kennewick, about an hour away. That was my introduction. I really liked the staff and their care and concern for people. It was so simple. It was so pure. If you boiled it down, the philosophy was just “to-do-good.” It was a great environment to work in, and the care provided was always top-notch.

When a position opened up at PCLI, I was excited to accept. It’s been great. I love my job so much!

​: Speaking of love…

​: Yes, I’m a newlywed! I met Bobby during our second year at University of California Davis. We’d been dating for 14 years—with 8 or 9 being long-distance as we each pursued our career paths. He’s a veterinarian. We finally got married last December! We live in Kirkland, Washington with our dogs, Misty and Coco.

​: What do you hope your patients remember about you?

​: I hope they remember that I saw them as individuals and tailored their care to their specific needs. Vision is so important. If it diminishes, it’s almost like a person’s personality diminishes with it.

It makes my day when patients tell me that our care has made it possible for them to do cross stitch, play pickleball or golf again. That’s what it’s all about—being able to do the activities you enjoy!