Katie Brown, O.D., Chosen Young Optometrist of the Year
| June 4, 2018 | Katie Brown, O.D., an optometric physician at the UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, is the Arkansas Optometric Association’s 2018 Young Optometrist of the Year award recipient.
The award is given to an optometrist who has practiced at least four years, shows promise and interest in Arkansas Optometric Association leadership, and volunteers their time. Brown was nominated and selected by an awards committee comprised of optometric physicians.
Brown has been at UAMS since 2013. She sees patients at the eye institute, performs comprehensive eye exams, diabetic eye exams, glaucoma screenings and contact lens fittings, and treats conditions such as corneal abrasions, pink eye, corneal ulcers, dry eye syndrome and glaucoma.
She works closely with cornea and retina specialists to provide prosthetic contact lens fittings for vision rehabilitation due to corneal dystrophies or after ocular trauma and corneal transplantation. Brown is also an assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and teaches ophthalmic medical technology students, medical students and ophthalmology residents.
Brown is involved with the association’s student membership, education and recruitment. She also volunteered this year with a UAMS medical student’s non-profit, ROOTS, which provided eye exams to children. She is the coordinator at the Shepherd’s Hope Neighborhood Health Center’s free eye clinic in Little Rock.
“I have a passion for optometry and providing high-quality eye care for Arkansans,” she said.
Brown graduated magna cum laude from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis. She completed internships at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and The Eye Center in Memphis. She received contact lens training at Alcon Academy for Eye Care Excellence in Fort Worth, Texas, and at Vistakon Vision Care Institute in Jacksonville, Florida.
Brown is certified by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry and the Arkansas State Board of Optometry. She is a member of the Arkansas Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###