Trussville optometry student selected for prestigious neuro-ophthalmic residency

By SATINA RICHARDSON, UAB MEDIA RELATIONS

Heidi Hernandez, a Trussville resident and fourth-year student at the UAB School of Optometry, has earned a highly competitive residency at The Eye Institute of Salus University (TEI).

The two-year neuro-ophthalmic disease residency accepts only one resident annually and is the only one of its kind in the nation. It is the first time a UAB optometry student has been chosen for this program.

“When I received the news that I had been selected, I was in complete shock,” Hernandez said. “Something just felt right; it felt almost too good to be true. I feel really privileged and grateful to have matched there.”

Neuro-ophthalmic disease encompasses vision-related problems and issues associated with the brain, nerves and muscles. Accordingly, the residency focuses on diagnosing and treating neuro-ophthalmic diseases and conditions.

“The residency in neuro-ophthalmic disease at The Eye Institute at Salus/PCO is the embodiment of everything I hope to be as a clinician,” Hernandez said.

“As a Pennsylvania College of Optometry graduate myself, I know how prestigious and competitive this particular residency is, and I am so proud of Heidi,” said Dr. Caroline Pate, director of residency programs at the UAB School of Optometry.

Hernandez has had a strong interest in neuroscience since her teen years. This led her to apply for an early graduation from high school to join the undergraduate neuroscience program at UAB. The selective program is designed for graduating high school seniors and college freshmen or sophomores with strong academic records and the motivation to pursue careers in biomedical science.

“Within the program, I took a course on sensory neuroscience, which is where my focus on the visual pathway and its processing began,” she said. “I started to shadow at UAB Eye Care and observed a sixth cranial nerve palsy very early on with the primary care resident. That was the moment that I knew I wanted to enter the specialty of neuro-ophthalmic disease.” She applied to the School of Optometry that same year and began coursework in August 2019.

Hernandez and her husband Hugo, also a class of 2023 optometry student, met at UAB as undergraduates and married during their third year of optometry school. The two will move to Philadelphia together for her residency, where Hugo plans to work at an optometry practice in the city. They hope to eventually return to Birmingham, Heidi said.

“I admire Heidi’s desire and drive to gain the advanced clinical training in a specialty area that will make her the best clinician she can be,” Pate said. “I am always so proud of all of our School of Optometry graduates who choose to seek out programs that will challenge them and set them up to become the next leaders of our profession in the future. I am so excited to see what the future holds for her, and I know she will go on to do amazing things.”