Megan Corcoran has a large family– she knows the joy it can bring. So when it was time to choose a college major, genetic counseling called her name. But after a born-of-boredom conversation with friends about how eyes work, Corcoran—who wears glasses and contacts herself—found a passion for “the mechanisms of the eye. I remembered the great experiences that I had with my eye doctors—Matthew Honson, OD, and Angela Honson, OD. They made such an impact on my life.” She switched her major soon after and hasn’t looked back since.
FINDING YOUR PEOPLE
During her undergrad years at University of Missouri – Columbia, Corcoran found that the school had a preoptometry club. She quickly went from attending meetings to shadowing at a hometown clinic during the summer and became club secretary the following year. She also spent time working at a joint optometry/ophthalmology practice. “This is where I really fell in love,” she says. “I loved talking to patients and learning about their lives, but also helping care for them and better their vision.”
While looking into optometry schools, she found that University of Missouri – St. Louis “has a great, updated clinic that we get to work in.” She says she knew from her first interview with the school that “it was a place I wanted to be; there was a family feeling with the smaller school, and I felt I could get to know my professors.”
KEEP PUSHING THROUGH
Corcoran currently has an interest in ocular disease, low vision and geriatric vision care. She says its normal to feel overwhelmed. One of her biggest struggles has been underestimating herself, she says.
“You are a lot more capable than you think you are,” she says. “Keep persevering and push through the tough classes. Nothing is impossible.”
It’s all worth it when a patient connection is made or “pictures in textbooks are connecting to real-life patient cases,” she says. Her most satisfying experience has been “finally getting a good view of the peripheral retina through the bio or a perfect retinoscopy prescription.”
Right now, the second-year student is focused on her expected 2026 graduation. She’s staying busy by working at an optometry office on the weekends, “where I learn so much about my skills and applying them to the real world,” she says. She’s excited about the possibility of expanding her scope of care and hopes to one day open her own practice.
In her free time, Corcoran enjoys walking, hiking, working on puzzles and finding new music. She recently started playing pickleball and hopes to travel after graduation.
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