EyeCare Partners

We're grateful for the opportunity to connect with optometrists, students and industry leaders at the North Carolina Optometric Society (NCOS) Spring Congress.
It was great to meet so many passionate professionals and have meaningful conversations about the future of optometry and eye care.

Whether you're a student, resident or practicing optometrist exploring new opportunities, we're always excited to share what it means to be part of a doctor-led organization focused on clinical excellence, collaboration and exceptional patient care.

A special thank you to everyone who stopped by to connect with our team, including David Weitz, O.D., with eyecarecenter, an EyeCare Partners practice in North Carolina, and Jamal Robinson, Regional Director, and Caitlin Covey, Physician Recruiting Director at EyeCare Partners. We enjoyed learning more about your career goals, sharing opportunities across our network and discussing what lies ahead for the profession. We enjoyed connecting with you and look forward to continuing the conversation.

Heading to Optometry's Meeting? Let's connect.

The EyeCare Partners team is headed to Optometry's Meeting in Phoenix. Whether you're a student, resident, early-career optometrist or experienced practitioner, we'd love to talk about what makes EyeCare Partners different. Stop by Booth 827 and discover where your career can go next.

Congratulations to Erin Sullivan, O.D., an optometrist with Ophthalmology Consultants, an EyeCare Partners practice, on being named Optometrist of the Year by the St. Louis Optometric Society.

Throughout her career, Dr. Sullivan has been a passionate advocate for the profession of optometry, serving in leadership roles at the local, state and national levels while helping advance patient care and legislative initiatives that strengthen access to eye care.

In addition to caring for patients for more than two decades, she has dedicated countless hours to professional leadership, clinical research, education and volunteer service, including mission work and programs that provide sight-restoring care to those in need.

This well-deserved recognition reflects Dr. Sullivan's commitment to her patients, her colleagues and the future of optometry.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sullivan on this outstanding achievement.

EyeCare Partners recently recognized the first graduating class of the Refractive Cataract Anterior Segment (RCAS) Fellowship Program, honoring Chandler S. Mitchell, M.D., and Sanah Aslam, M.D., for completing this advanced training experience.

Throughout the fellowship, Dr. Mitchell was mentored by John Sheppard, M.D., Fellowship Director and President at Virginia Eye Consultants , and Dr. Aslam was mentored by Tim Page, M.D., Fellowship Director at Oakland Ophthalmic Surgery , whose guidance and commitment helped shape the next generation of ophthalmic leaders.

Under the leadership of Robert Folberg, M.D., the RCAS Fellowship was designed to prepare surgeons for advanced refractive cataract care, combining surgical excellence, mentorship and hands-on experience to help physicians advance their skills and deliver exceptional patient care.

The graduation ceremony brought together fellows, mentors and program leaders to reflect on the journey, share personal experiences and celebrate the people who made this achievement possible.

We're especially excited that Dr. Aslam will continue her journey within EyeCare Partners, joining an ECP practice following graduation. Her transition from fellow to physician within our network reflects one of the program's key goals: developing talented ophthalmologists who are prepared to deliver eye care the ECP way while helping strengthen the future of our practices.

As we celebrate our inaugural graduates, we're also looking ahead. Beginning July 1, the RCAS Fellowship will expand to three training sites, including a new fellowship led by Ed Meier, M.D., at Cincinnati Eye Institute, creating even more opportunities to invest in the future of ophthalmology.

Congratulations to Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Aslam, and thank you to Dr. Folberg, Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Page and everyone who helped bring this vision to life.

Pictured (l to r): Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Folberg, Dr. Aslam, Dr. Page

Sama Alhalabi knew from an early age that she wanted a career in healthcare. It wasn't until she was a senior in high school, when she realized that she had never had an eye exam before, that she started considering optometry as a career path. Her calling became even more clear after she began working as an optician and doctor's assistant. Her motivation? "Everybody should have an eye exam," she says.

After education in different modalities, Alhalabi will graduate in May from the University of Missouri-St. Louis , and will be joining Quantum Vision Centers, an EyeCare Partners practice, as a medical optometrist, working alongside ophthalmologists to treat patients with glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts.

Read more about her journey to becoming an EyeCare Partners optometrist:

https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2026/04/30/sama-alhalabi/

For Inder Singal, M.D., of Bennett & Bloom Eye Centers, restoring vision has never been only about treatment. It’s about creating lasting access to care.

For more than 14 years, Dr. Singal has traveled to Belize to help treat patients with diabetic retinopathy, many of whom would otherwise go without vision-saving care. But this recent visit marked something different: the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Kiria Mayen, the first public-service ophthalmologist in Belize supported through a partnership between the Adarsh Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit Dr. Singal founded, and Belize Council for the Visually Impaired.

Together, over three days, they delivered more than 200,000 laser shots, a treatment for diabetic retinopathy, to patients in need.

But for Dr. Singal, the most meaningful part wasn’t the number of treatments delivered. It was watching patients receive care from a physician in their own community, in their own language, who will continue caring for them long after visiting physicians leave.

“This is the future of sustainable eye care: local doctors caring for local patients with skill, compassion and permanence," Dr. Singal said.

What’s one of the biggest compliments an ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon can receive?

When another world-class ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon chooses you for her own cataract surgery.

In this recent article, Neel R. Desai, M.D., a board-certified ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained corneal, cataract and refractive surgeon at Eye Institute of West Florida, an EyeCare Parters practice, shares the story behind caring for longtime colleague and friend P. Dee Stephenson, M.D., a powerful reflection of the trust, expertise and physician relationships that help drive excellence in patient care across ophthalmology.

https://www.ifoundmydoctor.com/articles/ophthalmology/the-envy-of-cataract-patients/

Research is rising at EyeCare Partners.

With physicians, research coordinators and clinical teams working across our national network, we are helping advance ophthalmology through clinical trials, innovation and collaboration.

Today, we’re spotlighting the people and programs powering research across ECP, along with the collective effort it takes to bring new possibilities to patients nationwide.

The impact of clinical research is measured in more than data points and discoveries. It’s measured in people.

These are the moments that stay with our physicians, coordinators and research teams. They’re a reminder that every study, every visit and every breakthrough has the potential to change someone’s daily life in a meaningful way.

That’s what continues to drive research forward across EyeCare Partners.

This week, as we spotlight our clinical trials teams, we want to honor the people at the heart of every breakthrough: patients.

Across EyeCare Partners, patients who participate in clinical research are helping shape the future of eye care by advancing new treatments, expanding possibilities and creating hope for future generations.

Today, we’re sharing stories that have motivated our team to do what they do. It is clear that behind every clinical trial is a person who chose to move research forward.