Berkeley Optometry student Amy Wen, class of 2020, has been awarded a Schweitzer Fellowship. The Schweitzer Fellowship was created in honor of Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), a German pastor, university professor, and author who, at the age of 30, decided to become a medical doctor and devote the rest of his life to serving the people of Africa. He and his wife opened a hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon, which developed into a well-respected hospital that is still serving patients to this day. There are multiple US chapters, and the San Francisco Bay Area chapter has 16 Fellows this year, chosen from various graduate programs throughout the Bay Area. Working in collaboration with a local community agency, each Fellow designs and carries out a service project of at least 200 hours that addresses an unmet health need for an underserved population in collaboration with a community organization.
For her project, Amy is collaborating with the Berkeley Free Clinic to connect patients to free and/or low-cost vision care and educate them on conditions that can degrade vision.
Congrats Amy!