Woo University is a 501-c3 non-profit organization committed to providing high quality continuing education to eye care professionals around the world.

Dr. Stephanie Woo recounts where the inspiration for Woo U came from, how her passion for education sparked an idea, and how Woo U has grown and evolved since its launch in 2020.

What is Woo U?

Advancing Eye Care Through Accessible, High-Quality Education

Woo University (Woo U) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing eye care through high-quality, accessible continuing education.

What began in 2020 as a small educational initiative has grown into a global community of more than 28,000 eye care professionals. Today, Woo U brings together leading clinicians, educators, researchers, and industry partners to create meaningful educational experiences designed to make a real difference in clinical practice and patient care.

Our goal is simple: make exceptional education easier to access.

Through live virtual programs, in-person and hybrid events, multi-part educational series, workshops, and on-demand courses, Woo U provides eye care professionals with opportunities to learn from respected experts across virtually every area of eye care.

Why I Created Woo U

Education has always been an important part of who I am.

Long before becoming an optometrist, I studied Biology Science Education in college and completed a semester of student teaching. After optometry school, I completed a cornea and contact lens residency, where teaching students in the clinic and laboratory became part of my everyday life.

As my career progressed, so did my involvement in education. I began lecturing, leading workshops, writing articles, and teaching doctors across the country about specialty contact lenses and anterior segment disease.

I loved patient care, but I also realized how much I loved helping other clinicians learn.

Then came March 2020.

I had opened the Contact Lens Institute of Nevada only about a month before COVID-19 forced practices across the country (including mine) to temporarily close. Like so many people during that time, I suddenly had an opportunity to think about where I wanted my career to go and what kind of impact I wanted to make.

During conversations with my good friends Craig Norman and Ursula Lotzkat (true visionaries in the eye industry), I shared an idea for creating a new kind of educational platform for eye care professionals. Craig came up with the name Woo U, and what started as an idea quickly became something much bigger.

Making Continuing Education More Accessible

Woo U began with educational interviews and informal webinars featuring experts from throughout eye care.

The response was immediate.

Doctors began asking for continuing education courses, so our team became COPE administrators and began developing accredited educational programs.

But I wanted Woo U to solve another problem as well.

Continuing education is essential for clinicians, but historically, accessing high-quality CE has often required expensive registration fees, airfare, hotels, and significant time away from practice.

I experienced those barriers firsthand. For several years, I lived and practiced optometry in a remote area of Arizona. Attending an optometry conference meant canceling clinic days (and losing the associated practice revenue), driving three hours to the nearest major airport, flying to the conference, paying for a hotel and registration, and covering all of the other expenses that came with simply earning my required CE credits.

For doctors practicing in rural or underserved communities, those barriers can be even greater. And even for clinicians living near major cities, taking several days away from patients and family to attend a conference isn't always practical.

I kept thinking: there has to be a better way to make exceptional education accessible to clinicians, regardless of where they live, how much they can spend, or whether they can take several days away from their practice.

That experience ultimately became one of the principles at the heart of Woo U: high quality continuing education should be accessible, convenient, and affordable.

By offering live virtual education at little or no cost to attendees, Woo U allows clinicians to learn from leading experts without having to choose between continuing their education and taking time away from their patients, practices, and families.

From a Small Idea to a Global Educational Community

What happened next exceeded anything I imagined when Woo U began.

Today, the Woo U community includes more than 28,000 eye care professionals, including optometrists, ophthalmologists, residents, students, staff members, educators, and members of industry.

Our programs have reached eye care professionals in more than 20 countries.

Woo U has hosted over 350 events and delivered more than 250,000 continuing education certificates to eye care professionals around the world.

And those numbers continue to grow. Our goal is to host over 70 events per year!

But the accomplishment I am most proud of isn't simply how many programs we've produced. It's the community that has formed around them.

Education Designed for the Real World

Woo U education is designed to be clinically relevant, engaging, and useful.

Our programs span a wide range of topics, including:

• Ocular disease and glaucoma

• Dry eye and ocular surface disease

• Contact lenses and specialty contact lenses

• Myopia management

• Pharmacology and oral pharmaceuticals

• Neuro-optometry and functional vision

• Low vision

• Systemic disease

• Public health

• Practice management

• Emerging technologies and treatments

Woo U has also evolved beyond individual webinars. We now create comprehensive educational series, multi-part programs, hybrid meetings, workshops, enduring education, and other innovative learning experiences that allow clinicians to engage with a subject in greater depth.

What Comes Next

Woo U has grown far beyond what I imagined during those conversations in 2020, but I still feel like we're just getting started.

We will continue expanding our educational programs, developing new ways for clinicians to learn, collaborating with exceptional faculty, and creating opportunities for eye care professionals around the world to access education that is relevant, engaging, and practical.

At its core Woo U will remain focused on the same idea that started everything:

Great education should be accessible, and great education can ultimately lead to better patient care.

I'm incredibly grateful to the faculty, attendees, sponsors, colleagues, friends, and Woo U team who have helped turn a simple idea into this incredible community.

Thank you for being part of Woo U.

Dr. Stephanie Woo
Founder, Woo University

View some of our past events