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After working as an ophthalmologist in China for 20 years, Dr. Kang Zhuang is now preparing to work in the United States through earning a Doctor of Optometry degree at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo.

Dustin Winter, RMU

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Dr. Kang Zhuang, who worked in China as an ophthalmologist for two decades, is now preparing for a career path in the U.S. through a Provo program.

Dustin Winter, RMU

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Though he grew up in China, Kang Zhuang fondly remembers his dad tuning in to American sports, including NBA Finals games between Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz, and watching Hollywood movies like “Rambo” and “The Terminator.”

Like father, like son, Zhuang inherited his dad’s love for Americana.

“The Western culture influenced me when I was a child,” Zhuang said. “There was a seed planted in my heart.”

Decades later, Zhuang is grateful to finally pursue his American dream in the U.S.

After working as an ophthalmologist in China for 20 years, the 46-year-old Zhuang is now reinventing himself on the other side of the world. He now lives in Orem and attends the College of Optometric Medicine at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) in Provo.

When he wraps up his second stint in graduate school — this time in the U.S. — Zhuang will have a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree to pair with the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree he earned as a 20-something in China.

As a member of RMU’s third optometry cohort, his goal is to pass required United States Medical Licensing Examinations in both optometry and ophthalmology so he’ll be able to treat patients’ eyes in the States in the second part of his medical career.

Zhuang’s parents both worked in a Chinese hospital and encouraged him to follow their footsteps into the healthcare field. Watching his grandfather deal with eye issues — after hypertension led to retinal bleeding and vision loss — also influenced the decision he made as a teenager to attend medical school in China.

That vision became a reality. For two decades, Zhuang performed thousands of cataract surgeries on patients in Qingdao, which is located between Beijing and Shanghai in the Shandong Province. The large Chinese city — about 6,200 miles away from Utah County as the crow flies — is nestled on the shore of the Yellow Sea across from South Korea.

Zhuang’s desire to help people improve their eye health and experience the U.S. lifestyle grew over the years.

In 2018, Zhuang made his first visit to the U.S. to be with his wife in Illinois and Indiana while she did medical research at the University of Illinois-Chicago as a visiting scholar from China. She was then accepted into the Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences (Ph.D.) program at Indiana University.

After spending a year in the U.S., Zhuang returned to China to continue his ophthalmology career while his wife remained in the Hoosier State to work on her doctorate. Their son was born in 2019 in Indiana but relocated to China four months later to be temporarily taken care of by his grandmother and Zhuang.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the family remained separated on different continents for nearly five years. Reuniting his family was among the reasons why Zhuang decided to relocate back to the U.S. and pursue the Doctor of Optometry path. Though he enjoyed his life — performing surgeries and focusing on his own personal health through diet and exercise — Zhuang craved more personally and professionally.

“When I was in China, the life is really comfortable for me,” he said. “But I wanted a change. I wanted to change. I like a challenge … no cheating myself. I wanted to see the outside world. There was a seed planted in my heart, but we don’t know when the seed will become a tree. In 2017, the seed started to grow.”

As part of the process, Zhuang passed a required English examination and applied to multiple optometry programs. In January 2025, he interviewed at RMU. He was drawn to the only optometry school in the Intermountain West because of its extensive medical emphasis. He was impressed by the RMU’s optometry team, including Dr. Adam Hickenbotham, the founding dean, and Dr. Court Wilkins, the school’s assistant dean of clinical affairs.

“They give me a deep impression,” he said.

Zhuang has made his own positive impression at RMU. Two semesters into the 11-semester program, he’s earned a 4.0 GPA while overcoming a difficult language barrier. It’s one thing to become fluent in another language for conversation purposes; it’s a much different thing thing to learn everything to do with eyecare in another language, including an exhaustive amount of medical terminology and details about procedures and anatomy. Though he has the benefit of having successfully practiced ophthalmology in his native Mandarin for years, the translation transition has been a daunting task.

“That’s a lot,” Zhuang admitted. “It’s a challenge for me.”

It’s a good thing he embraces challenges.

To become even more fluent in English and all things optometry, Zhuang studies for 12 hours a day. He considers being a diligent, hard-working student to be his full-time job and takes it seriously. With his wife being in the final stages of wrapping up her doctoral dissertation, Zhuang also has their son with him in Utah until the family can get back together. Being a full-time student and father doesn’t leave much time for anything else, but he’s certain the sacrifice will be worth it.

“Every day, I will get up at 5 a.m.,” he said. “Every day for me is Monday. There’s no weekend.”

He only gave himself two days to rest during the fall semester. Not only does he want to get his money’s worth while paying grad school tuition and learn everything necessary to pass the extensive licensing exams in two disciplines, but he also wants RMU’s College of Optometric Medicine leadership to feel like they made a good choice in accepting him into their program.

“I need to try to do my best,” he said. “One day when I don’t want to study, I will ask myself why I spend my time and money here. The time goes really, really fast so I should study hard so I can pass the national exams and become an optometrist or ophthalmologist in the future in the United States. That’s what my goal is, so I use all my time to study.”

Zhuang has loved his experience in the U.S. and Utah. He enjoys the classes, his classmates and professors at RMU. He appreciates the kindness of Americans and marvels at simple gestures, like how strangers exchange smiles and hold elevators for each other.

“I like the American culture,” he said. “I like the relationships between the people.”

In his limited leisure time, Zhuang has taken up shooting. His favorite gun is a 338 Lapua Magnum bolt-action rifle. He even hit a target from 1,500 feet away while taking lessons from an expert in Las Vegas over the holidays. After growing up in a country that only allows military and law enforcement officials to carry firearms, he appreciates that common people can buy and shoot guns lawfully in the U.S.

Zhuang enjoys American-style food, like McDonald’s and soft drinks, but he stays lean by strictly adhering to a clean, healthy diet mostly comprised of chicken and raw vegetables.

“I like candy and to drink Coca-Cola, but I need to keep my body healthy, so I will reject it,” he said. “My mouth wants to eat (junk food), but my brain tells me, ‘If you want to be a doctor in the future in the United States, if you want to help more patients in the future, you shouldn’t eat them. You should make your body health first.'”

That way of thinking helps explain why the extremely disciplined LeBron James is his favorite NBA player. He’s impressed that a professional athlete in his 40’s remains so devoted to maintaining and improving his physical health, strength and basketball acuity, which allows him to continue performing at an elite level far longer than others.

Watching King James play the Bulls in Chicago was one of the highlights of his American experience. Though his basketball talent obviously isn’t at the same level as LeBron’s, Zhuang’s dedication to his studies is right up there with the best of them.

“He’s very disciplined,” he said of the NBA superstar.

The King and Kang certainly share that trait. Another thing they have in common?

The name of Zhuang’s son, not coincidentally, is James.

Jody Genessy is the senior content writer at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.