In the Fall of 2009, the University of the Incarnate Word School of Optometry welcomed its inaugural class of 62 students. Conveniently located in the San Antonio Medical Center, the UIW School of Optometry is the nation’s first and only faith-based program. The school serves to educate and prepare future leaders in optometry through excellence in education, patient care, vision research and public service within a context of faith and personal development. In 2010, the school received a generous donation of $11.5 million from Sandra and Stanley Rosenberg for whom which the school was then named after. The generous gift is significant as it is one of the largest gifts in the country ever given by a Jewish family to a Catholic institution of higher learning. Additionally, the naming of the school made it the only named (after an individual) school of optometry in the US.
Since opening its doors, the program has been committed to fostering academic and clinical excellence, professional growth and community outreach. The curriculum emphasizes early hands-on clinical care integrated with didactic course work. The students regularly perform vision screenings and eye health exams for the economically disadvantaged and underserved citizens of San Antonio. Services are provided both on and off the campus, with each location offering a wide range of clinical optometric services, comprised of comprehensive eye and vision care including refraction and dispensing, detection, diagnosis, management and rehabilitation of the conditions of the visual system.
Located in the heart of San Antonio (the 7th largest city in the nation), the University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry promotes life-long learning and nurtures the development of the whole person. The University of the Incarnate Word is a Catholic institution that welcomes to its community persons of diverse backgrounds and spiritual faiths, in the belief that their respectful interaction advances the discovery of truth, mutual understanding, self-realization, and the common good.
Article by optometry student, Roya Attarhousseini Class of 2013
