OD/MBA student Demetric Jones will be spending the next 13 months in service to the Birmingham-area Hispanic community through a prestigious Albert Schweitzer Fellowship opens a new website. Jones is part of UAB’s unique OD/MBA dual degree program, in which he’ll earn both a master of business administration and a doctorate of optometry concurrently.

“I’m honored to be selected,” he said. “As a student in a professional program, I thought it would be difficult to maintain good grades and dedicate time to an outreach project. I was more so interested when I found out I could have a partner. We can collaborate and make an impact.”

The Schweitzer Fellowship program is dedicated to developing a pipeline of emerging professionals who enter the workforce with the skills and commitment necessary to address unmet health needs. Alabama Schweitzer Fellows are competitively chosen from graduate and professional degree programs in universities throughout the state. They come from a variety of academic disciplines and work to address existing health disparities in their communities through special projects during their year as a fellow.

Jones and optometry student Samantha Chapman are partnering on their fellowship project to address eye care access among Hispanic patients in the Greater Birmingham area. Working with Cahaba Valley Health Care opens a new website, they aim to increase participation in free vision screenings and to make its social media presence more accessible to Spanish speakers.

Read the full article on the Collat School of Business site at the link below.