Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Director, Optometric Service, John C. Townsend, OD, FAAO, will speak at a Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) virtual session via Zoom September 28 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

BVA members, their families, VA employees, and other stakeholders in the field of blind rehabilitation are invited to attend Dr. Townsend’s briefing. During the hour-long session, he will address the status of VA eye care and the vital role optometrists play in general eye care clinics and in outpatient low-vision clinics. He will also touch on vision research and the role of optometric care within the 13 VA Blind Rehabilitation Centers (BRCs) nationwide.

Supporting and sponsoring the session are Tracfone, ORCAM, EnVision America, BOSMA Enterprises, The Independence Fund, GEICO MILITARY, Vispero, LS&S, SAIC, and EXCELITAS TECHNOLOGIES.

The interactive format of the session will follow that of the presentations BVA hosted in August, highlighted by a question and answer period following Dr. Townsend’s remarks.

In VA’s Office of Specialty Care Services, Dr. Townsend has been a major contributor to VA’s mission to improve access to and the quality of optometric primary eye care. He has also focused on low vision and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) vision rehabilitation service for the Nation’s veterans. He is responsible for leading VA’s national optometry programs, contributing in that role to VA strategic planning and policy development.

Prior to becoming Director, Optometric Service, Dr. Townsend had a distinguished career as a clinical educator and scholar within the West Los Angeles and Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care Systems, where he taught optometry residents and student externs. He was a tenured professor at the Southern California College of Optometry and has published a textbook on visual fields, several chapters in textbooks, and more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He co-developed the Optometric Grand Rounds Clinical Conference and was a requested lecturer at local, regional, national, and international conferences. He served as Chief of the Ambulatory Care Center in Santa Barbara, California.

Dr. Townsend graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science at the University of Florida in 1975. He became a Doctor of Optometry in 1979, graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Houston College of Optometry. He was a Resident in hospital-based optometry and the Kansas City VA Medical Center. He has served on the Editorial Boards of prestigious professional journals that include VA’s Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, the American Academy of Optometry’s Optometry and Vision Science, and the American Optometric Association’s Optometry.

Please use the following link and information to join the BVA educational session with Dr. John C. Townsend on September 28.

https://zoom.us/j/93885003313

Meeting ID: 938 8500 3313

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Meeting ID: 938 8500 3313

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