Alumni Focus on Hannah Davidson (OD'19)

DR. DAVIDSON'S STORY

Hometown

Rio Grande, Ohio

Which institution did you attend for your undergraduate degree? What was your major?

The Ohio State University, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Extension Education

Which degree, related to optometry, did you earn at Ohio State?

OD'19

Who were your mentors at the College of Optometry? Who had a positive effect on your education?

The entire teaching and clinical staff had a huge impact on me throughout my years at Ohio State. Two of the biggest influences were Dr. Heidi Wagner and Dr. Joan Nerderman. Dr. Wagner was my SocialEyes leader and very early on made Ohio State Optometry feel like a family. And my time at Faith Mission with Dr. Nerderman really confirmed that I had an interested in serving underserved communities.

DR. DAVIDSON'S CAREER IN OPTOMETRY

Name of your employer and title, including location.

Holzer Clinic, Optometrist, Gallipolis and Jackson, Ohio

Give us a glimpse of your typical day as an optometrist.

I do full time clinical care at an outpatient clinic for a rural hospital clinic. I do comprehensive eye exams, medical care, and will often see patients from our urgent care and emergency room which are right downstairs. I see referrals from many other providers at the hospital including primary care providers, neurology, and from endocrinology.

Which optometric issues concern you the most?

I would say access to care for patients in underserved and rural locations is a huge concern for optometry. In my hometown the shortest wait for an eye exam is typically three months and many of our eye doctors have even longer waits. I would like to see more students from rural areas going to optometry school and then returning home to serve their communities.

Why did you choose a career in optometry?

I had a lot of trouble picking a major and sticking to it in college until my senior year when I went to have a LASIK consult with Dr. Katie Greiner. She was the first doctor I’d ever had that was close to my age and you could tell she genuinely cared about her career. Within a few weeks of that appointment and a lot of research I had joined the Pre-Optometry Club at Ohio State and changed my entire schedule to get in the rest of my prerequisites!

Where do you hope to see your optometric career in five years?

I hope that we will have expanded scope of practice here in Ohio and that that trend will continue across the rest of the country.

What is one piece of advice you can give OPT-IV students as they prepare to graduate and begin their optometric careers?

My best advice for fourth years as they start their first jobs is that there are so many different ways to practice and that you won’t always find the perfect fit right away. Something you thought was your dream job may end up not being right for you. It’s okay to explore different options and work in different settings in your early career to help you figure out what you like best.

What do eye health and eye care mean for you?

Sight is the most valued sense for most people, so eye care and eye health are vital to maintaining our most valuable sense.

DR. DAVIDSON'S OHIO STATE EXPERIENCE

What were your most memorable moments at Ohio State?

I have too many amazing memories to share them all, but some of the best nights of my life were spent in the lab with my friends making giant drawings related to what we were studying before tests.

What do Ohio State and the College of Optometry mean to you and your family?

The Ohio State University College of Optometry will always be where I spent four of the best years of my life. I have a community of friends and colleagues for life because of the connections I made there.

How do you stay connected with the College of Optometry?

I attend the East West conference every year and get to see many of my classmates there. I also attend the alumni receptions when I attend Optometry’s Meeting or Academy.

DR. DAVIDSON'S FUN FACTS

What are your current hobbies, volunteer work and interests?

I like to run and am currently training for a marathon. I ran my first marathon in 2022 thanks to two of my classmates from Ohio State who signed up with me! I also enjoy knitting, reading, roller skating, and last year I started learning to golf.

I also serve as the committee chair for the OOA Young OD committee and am a regular Realeyes presenter.

What is a fun fact about you?

I once ran a marathon on a 200m indoor track. (211 laps).

What’s the best eye pun you’ve ever heard?

In school we had a rock band of all students named “Band Keratopathy” and it's by far the best eye pun.

If not an optometrist, I would be …

A gym teacher or a camp director.