Bvahcs optometry residency program | veterans affairs

AFFILIATION: The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry The Residency in Vision Rehabilitation with emphasis in Low Vision Rehabilitation and Ocular Disease at the

Birmingham VA Medical Center is a 52-week post-graduate clinical education program that currently offers two positions. The optometry clinic at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center

was established in 1971, becoming the first Department of Veterans Affairs academically affiliated optometry student program. The Residency Program at the Birmingham VA Medical Center

(BVAMC) was established in 1981. The first resident entered the program in 1982 and the program received its initial accreditation that year and has maintained accreditation to date. The

program was so successful that with the help of our affiliate, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry (UABSO), a second position was created in 1984. The Residency

Program was founded by Dr. Murray Fingeret, who served as clinic chief and Residency Supervisor until 1983, when Dr. Lyman Norden assumed oversight of the program as Optometry Section Chief.

Steady program growth led to the creation of an Optometry Residency Program Director position in 2001, filled by former resident and full-time staff optometrist, Dr. Patti Fuhr. Dr. Fuhr

served as the Residency Supervisor until May 2013. The position is currently filled by former resident and research fellow, Dr. Bethany Martinez.  Dr. Martinez is a full-time VA employee

with a faculty appointment of Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry. Her clinic and research specialty is Low Vision Rehabilitation. She

is the Director of Low Vision Optometry and the primary Optometrist for the Blind Rehabilitation Center. The optometry service’s annual patient encounters currently average approximately

14,000. This number of encounters affords each resident exposure to a variety of patients. The Optometry Low Vision Rehabilitation Clinic has grown from serving two patients per week to more

than 300 outpatients per year. Patients with low vision are consulted from Visual Impairment Services Team Coordinators and eye clinics throughout the Alabama. Residents provide extensive

low vision rehabilitation outpatient services to a wide variety of patients with visual impairments ranging from mild to profound. Resident rotations in the Southeastern Blind Rehabilitation

Center (SBRC) afford the resident opportunities to work with patients who suffer severe visual impairment. The SBRC is an exemplary multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary rehabilitation

setting. The resident is responsible for primary eye and vision care of inpatients in the 20-bed rehabilitation program of the BRC, under the guidance of the attending O.D. The resident

schedules each BRC patient appropriately for evaluations which include ocular health evaluation, low vision device evaluation, mid-term follow up evaluation, and discharge summary. When

family members are able to visit the program, residents also provide family counseling and education with the veteran’s significant others. The Department of Veterans Affairs has also

amended patient eligibility rules and its attitude toward delivering care which now emphasizes preventive health care. These changes have been very beneficial for the optometry clinic in

that they have provided opportunities for continued growth and have increased opportunities for residents to interact with diverse and quality patient encounters. Our Academic Affiliate is

the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry (UABSO). Please click here for a detailed program description: Birmingham VA Medical Center Optometry Residency