"I started working for a local optometrist part-time while I was an undergraduate, and he happened to be a part-time faculty member here at UAB. That kind of helped me figure out what I wanted to do, and once I finished at Samford, I came straight on over here.
"I was trying to figure out which health-care path I wanted to take—that’s why I decided to volunteer with his practice. And I just fell in love with it. I’ve enjoyed working in eye care ever since then.”
Paul Batson wasted little time in entering the world of private practice after graduating from the UAB School of Optometry (UABSO) in 1998. He joined the Birmingham branch of VisionAmerica, a multi-specialty optometry/ophthalmology practice that operates 10 centers in Alabama and Tennessee, and now heads the Birmingham location.
On leading a large eye-care practice:
“In our practice in Homewood, we’ve got six ophthalmologists and two optometrists. My focus is on the medical and surgical side of things, though another one of my big responsibilities is helping to run the practice from the administrative side. I see a wide variety of patients—glaucoma, retina, pre- and post-surgical patients. One of the most interesting aspects of this job is getting to watch the two professions, optometry and ophthalmology, work together for the good of the patient.”
As busy as he is with his practice, Batson hasn’t forgotten about UAB. For more than five years, he’s spent a half-day each week at UAB Eye Care, overseeing the interns as they treat patients, answering questions, and offering a practicing optometrist’s perspective on a wide variety of topics that UABSO students frequently face as they prepare to graduate and embark on practices of their own.
On working with UAB students at the School of Optometry:
“Most of the students I’m working with now are seeing patients who are just coming in for routine eye exams; for a lot of these patients, this is just their annual visit. But some of them haven’t had their eyes checked in a while, and that makes the job of primary care much more important. So I’m overseeing the students as they deal with those patients.
“I have a great time whenever I come back here—I really enjoy meeting and talking with the current students, not just about clinical treatment, but also about the other aspects of life as an optometrist, particularly the business side of things. I tell them, ‘You can be the best clinician in the world, but if you can’t run a business, you’re setting yourself up to fail—you have to be able to wear both hats.’”
In just a decade since graduation, Batson has already been able to fill his career with successes, in terms of both his private practice and the recognition he’s received from his peers: A few months ago he finished up a term as president of the Alabama Optometric Association (ALOA). It was a prestigious position, but also one that made Batson even more acutely aware of the issues facing both optometrists and their patients.
On his term as ALOA president:
“It was a huge honor, and it was a lot of fun working with the profession and trying to move it forward. It was also a big responsibility—optometry’s grown a lot over the past few years, and the association as a whole is responsible for advocating for the future of the profession. The reduction in Medicare reimbursements to physicians, for instance, is a big challenge, and we need to be advocating for the patients who are affected by that. We also have to keep abreast of where technology is going and make sure we’re positioned to take advantage of it so that we can continue to grow and take better care of our patients.
“The association and the School of Optometry work very closely together, and I think it’s critical for both of them to continue that relationship. The school is producing outstanding optometrists, and the association is there to make sure we’re providing the care that the public needs. There are definitely areas in the state of Alabama where access to good eye care is still deficient, and that’s going to be an ongoing responsibility of ours, bringing new people into the field and ensuring that quality optometric care is available to everyone.”