The UAB School of Optometry’s first Albert Schweitzer fellows completed their term and became lifetime fellows in 2024. The group of four students, all in the class of 2025, was divided into pairs to design and implement programs that impacted underserved populations in Alabama.
They were part of the Albert Schweitzer Foundation’s largest cohort which served 1,778 Alabamians and provided 4,042 hours of service.
“I’m honored to be one of the first four UAB optometry students to become an ASF Fellow, but it’s even more rewarding knowing that we will not be the last,” said Demetric Jones. “The next cohort has optometry representation, and I encourage future ASF cohorts to consider this opportunity to give back to underserved communities. Not only do you experience a sense of accomplishment, but you also have the chance to positively change someone’s life forever, which is priceless in itself.”
Jones and Samantha Chapman partnered with Cahaba Valley Healthcare to create Spanish-language vision care education that is readily available to patients through social media.
“We understood that knowledge about vision health has been shown to be lowest amongst Hispanics and this population is growing tremendously in the Birmingham area,” he said. “We developed our project plan around utilizing vision screening and social media outlets to expand vision health literacy for working-age Hispanic adults.”
Chapman, a Spanish speaker and experienced with language barriers, is committed to ensuring clear communication between patients and doctors.
“I believe that none of my patients should ever have to put on a fake smile and nod because they have no idea what I said but do not want to make me feel bad,” she added.
Alice Kim and Lydia Smith, partnering with UAB Optometry’s Community Eye Care (CEC) and the UAB School of Nursing, provided free eye exams and eyeglasses to the unhoused and individuals recovering from substance abuse.
had established the Community of Hope clinic with the Changed Lives Christian Center,” Kim said. The existing clinic allowed Kim and Smith to seamlessly bridge the gap in eyecare by activating CEC within the Community of Hope clinic.
Their journey to being Fellows began well before each became optometry students as they have had hearts for service for many years—motivated by personal experiences as well as a natural desire to help communities.
For instance, Kim participated in the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) as an undergraduate. She created a multifaceted health promotion to kickstart a social media mask campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith’s interest began because of conditions in her homeland. “My dedication to giving back to the community stems from being able to resonate with the quote, ‘Who feels it, knows it,’” Smith said. “As an immigrant from Jamaica, I have witnessed the firsthand experience of living in an underserved population. There, the optometrist to patient ratio is 1:180,000, indicating that there is a dire need for vision care services.”
Lessons during the year of service included time management, planning and organizing community service initiatives. The value of being able to pivot when things don’t go according to plan was Jones’ most important lesson.
“Things will not always go as planned, but in those moments, you grow the most by finding alternative ways to reach your goals,” he said.
“I have learned that for every person who won’t or can’t volunteer an afternoon at a vision screening, there is someone who will,” Chapman said. “For every person who could care less about the problems in their city, there is someone who cares so deeply that they made it their life’s work.”
Chapman, Jones, Kim and Smith all recommend the experience and appreciate the guidance provided by the ASF team.
“I was amazed by the overwhelming support provided by the service directors, academic and site mentors, and community advisory board members,” Smith said.
The soon-to-be optometrists plan to use their newfound skills to implement community outreach initiatives in the future.