Untreated vision problems can compound over time, greatly impacting a person’s quality of life and day-to-day activities. However, lack of access to eyecare and financial limitations can pose barriers to receiving the care many people need.
To address some of these barriers to care, a group of dedicated UAB students, under the leadership of faculty advisor Dr. Sandra Wang-Harris, in the School of Optometry’s Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) are volunteering their time and skills to bring vision screenings, full eye exams and prescription lenses to those in need, here at home and abroad. Wang-Harris said the international opportunities are a major reason many of the members join. As students serve at local events and clinics, they earn points toward selection, and financial assistance, toward an international service opportunity.
The international opportunity is limited to 10 students each year. Travel costs to the international site and lodging are about $2,000 per student. SVOSH and its partners also must secure funds for equipment, supplies and transportation while there.
The cost of international travel can be a limiting factor for students who have a heart to serve but lack the funds. Wang-Harris is making it her personal mission to find ways for students to overcome these potential barriers.
“This type of opportunity should not be just limited to those who can afford it, but to those who have earned it, and have shown the volunteerism above and beyond service to humanity,” Wang-Harris said.
The 2026 trip is scheduled for August to Kuna Nega outside of Panama City, Panama. Plans are in the works to provide full eye exams and glasses in one of the more rural areas of the country. Funds raised by the SVOSH team and from philanthropic donors help with students’ travel expenses and living expenses on international trips as well as travel assistance for those in remote areas traveling to the vision care site.
Philanthropic donors and fundraising efforts help mitigate these barriers. Trips in the past few years have included St. Lucia and Panama. Highlights from past trips can be found on the school's website.
SVOSH is in a rebuilding season, but Wang-Harris is hoping a partnership with the Universidad Especializada de las Américas (UDELAS) Optometry program will develop to the point that optometry students and faculty can assist with teaching. Established 20 years ago, the school has faced scarcity of resources, including faculty members.
With an average of 40 members, the student-led SVOSH team is known in the community for its service and is often invited to do vision screenings at events. Wang-Harris said students participate in a clinic or vision screening event once a month.
“Most of the patients that came over to do our screening had significant refractive errors, so it was an opportunity for us to educate the parents … to inform them that they will need glasses because they can’t see very well,” said UAB SVOSH president Meg Coolbaugh, a third-year optometry student who provided services at a clinic in Montgomery.
The students also explained that the children would need to see an optometrist for a full eye exam. Coolbaugh said having feedback from the screening might “push them to getting an exam when they might not otherwise think about it.”
The team also serves in Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinics in Tennessee and Montgomery.
“This takes a lot of collaboration, so they [RAM] have optical companies that donate glasses and lenses, and we do most of the service providing of it,” Wang-Harris said.
Coolbaugh participated in the RAM clinic in Montgomery last year, providing free eye exams and referrals to local doctors. Many of the patients at the event had vision complications from diabetes. Retinal tears and macular degeneration are other conditions often seen that needed referrals.
“It has given me a lot of insight into how I can use this profession to help others, and just seeing the need there is,” Coolbaugh said.
Many SVOSH students also choose to volunteer through UAB’s Equal Access Birmingham clinic or with other optometry student organizations on campus. Coolbaugh said the opportunities through SVOSH gave her the chance to see a wider variety of eye conditions. These opportunities also provide the chance to interact with other health professionals.
UAB School of Optometry’s SVOSH is part of UAB’s Giving Days, an annual two-day fundraising campaign to highlight the collective power of small gifts to unique initiatives and the transformational impact those gifts can have when united in support of UAB’s mission. Give today on the UAB School of Optometry’s Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity GiveCampus page!