2026 Vision Grant Application

Application for the Vision Grant

This grant is to ensure the development of professionals in vision therapy and binocular vision with the award and grant presented annually to a 4th year student who is dedicated to taking the next step into their career in vision therapy. This grant will be presented each year at the OVDRA Annual Meeting during the awards lunch.

Since this grant has been funded to specifically assist in one's development in the field of Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy, we are requesting that the recipient return their funding to the grant if they ultimately decide not to pursue this specialty. Five years after the acceptance of the grant, it is expected that the recipient will file a report with the New Graduate Grant Committee outlining their involvement in OVDRA and in the areas of Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy. Any questions regarding this process or to submit additional materials contact newgradcmte@ovdramembers.org and info@ovdra.org with the subject line "Vision Grant Application"

Name

Full Name ( no abbreviations please ) of your school and graduation year

Home Address ( please do not include your school address )

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

City/State

Zip

Primary Email Address

example@example.com

Secondary Email Address

example@example.com

Phone number

Format: (000) 000-0000.

Are you a current member of OVDRA

Are you familiar with the Fellowship ( FOVDR ) program offered by OVDRA?

Do you intend to pursue the Fellowship ( FOVDR ) program offered by OVDRA once eligible?

In this next section, please describe your personal experience with vision therapy. Have you provided or experienced vision therapy as a patient? Perhaps you completed ( or are starting ) externships or rotations that provided vision therapy. Please use this space to describe your experience. If you need more, there is a file upload option below.

File Upload

Have you submitted an abstract to present a poster at the OVDRA annual meeting? If so, please summarize the content of your poster:

Have you submitted an abstract to any other meeting(s) related to binocular vision or vision therapy (Non OVDRA)? If so, please identify the meeting and summarize the content below:

Are you involved with OVDRA in any capacity other than membership and posters as noted above? Examples include: committee member, conference attendee, study group participant etc...

Have you attended other continuing education programs which focus on issues related to behavioral optometry, binocular vision and/or vision therapy? If yes, please specify:

How do you plan to use the funds of this grant?

Are you okay with us posting your plan for how to use the grant on social media if you win?

*Response to this question will not be employed either in favor of or against the individual during the recipient selection process

The next section details out additional documentation needed. The file upload at the bottom will allow for you to include additional files.

Please attach an essay of why you are interested in pursuing an optometric career with a special emphasis in the areas of Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy (minimum of 300 words, maximum 500 words).

Please attach a CV

We also request a few letters of recommendation. The first THREE are REQUIRED.

1). A faculty member at your institution who is involved in the realm of Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy

2). An optometrist, who is NOT affiliated at your institution, but is involved with the OVDRA organization

3). Another health care provided or professional who would support your application for this grant

4). OPTIONAL: additional reference from faculty.

File Upload

I attest to the content of this application being as accurate as possible at this time and understand the eligibility. In addition I attest to career interest and focus in the area of offering optometric care, specifically in Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy.

Date