The American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) and VSP Global® announce the recipients of this year’s Practice Excellence Scholarships, including four Canadian recipients. Nearly $164,000 were distributed to several top-performing fourth-year optometry students in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.
The scholarships are funded by VSP Global and administered through the AAOF. In total, VSP has awarded more than $2.5 million in scholarships to optometry students.
The Practice Excellence Scholarship is a long-standing and prestigious award that represents the very best in what optometry has to offer in patient care, practice management and in the communities. Only two recipients from each of the 25 schools and colleges of Optometry were selected from nomination submitted by their individual institutions. Scholarship recipients were selected based on key criteria including the student’s commitment to enter the independent practice of optometry, and their clinical and academic performance.
Here are the 2020 Practice Excellence Scholarship recipients:
University of Montreal, School of Optometry — Anabel Cormier & Ariane Dupont
University of Waterloo, School of Optometry and Vision Science — Joanne Han Qiao & Christina Chen
Chicago College of Optometry at Midwestern University — Michael DeStefano & Rema Idriss
Illinois College of Optometry — Phoebe Chow & Randi-Jo Francis
Indiana University School of Optometry — Sydney Lehman & Nina Rettig
Inter American University of Puerto Rico, School of Optometry — Safinaz Gamini & Jessica Bertemati
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences — Carolyn Te & Cynthia Noorani
Michigan College of Optometry — Azra Fazil-Jamal & Amanda Kruse
Midwestern University Arizona College of Optometry — Bryan Grossman & Tyler Boyack
New England College of Optometry — Jonathan Elin-Calcador & Nathan Bates
Northeastern State University Oklahoma, College of Optometry — Kayla Cook & Kristina Flaig
NOVA Southeastern University College of Optometry — Erik Kelly & Austin Mason
Ohio State University College of Optometry — Kirsten Sullivan & Veronica Schuver
Pacific University College of Optometry — Christina Goodrich & Megan Schmauder
Pennsylvania College of Optometry — Gina Piorkowski & Tanya Vigdal
Rosenberg School of Optometry — Bilal Ismail & Michelle Nguyen
Southern California College of Optometry — Bradley Kovach & Lauren Zabaleta
Southern College of Optometry – Jonathan Eide & Alec Waters
State University of New York College of Optometry — Anthony Boyd & Emily Shtull
University of Alabama at Birmingham — Sarah Kate Day & Whitney Powell
University of California-Berkeley, School of Optometry —Joanna Toner & Jeffrey Kong
University of Houston, College of Optometry — Linus Klingler & Sarah Wilting
University of Missouri–St. Louis, College of Optometry — Katelyn Flood & Kyle Carnahan
University of Pikeville, Kentucky College of Optometry — Hannah Sigmon & Ambrosia Makini
Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry — Suparna Bajaj & Alexander Bennett
Click HERE for the full press release.
