Malia McDowell, O.D., a 2026 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, is the first recipient of the Rural Optometry Scholarship from the Alabama Board of Optometric Scholarship and Loan Awards. She has received $134,000 to practice in an underserved rural community in Alabama.
McDowell will be moving to Valley, Alabama, to establish a practice as an independent optometrist at a Walmart Supercenter. The area has more than 34,000 residents and is considered critically underserved, with only a part-time optometrist currently providing care.
Service-oriented from the start…