Save Your Vision Month: Why Representation in Optometry Is Part of Protecting Sight

Dr. Diana Canto-Sims, OD, Co-Founder, Latinos en Optometry

March is Save Your Vision Month, led by the American Optometric Association—an annual reminder of the importance of eye health, prevention, and routine care. It’s also an opportunity to reflect more broadly on what it takes to truly protect vision across all communities.

As optometrists, we know that preserving sight goes beyond clinical expertise alone. Access, awareness, communication, and trust all play a role in whether patients seek care, understand recommendations, and follow through with treatment. For Hispanic/Latino communities in particular, these factors are deeply intertwined with representation.

A Growing Community, a Persistent Gap

Hispanic/Latino individuals are one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population. The U.S. Census Bureau projects they will make up about 30% of the population by 2060.

At the same time, Latino communities experience higher rates of chronic conditions that threaten vision—such as diabetes and diabetic eye disease—along with lower utilization of routine eye exams and delayed care. Many delay seeking care until vision problems are more advanced, and Hispanic/Latino children are less likely to receive early vision screening during critical developmental years.

Despite these realities, Latinos remain underrepresented within the optometry workforce, accounting for only 5.2% of U.S. optometrists. This gap has real consequences: language barriers, cultural differences, and limited trust can influence whether patients seek care, understand recommendations, and follow through with treatment. As the U.S. Latino/Hispanic population continues to grow, strengthening representation within optometry is increasingly important to ensure the profession can effectively reflect, reach, and serve the communities it supports.

Building Awareness and Pathways into the Profession

Latinos en Optometry was founded to help address these gaps by focusing on early awareness, professional engagement across the career continuum - from students to practicing clinicians - and culturally responsive dialogue. Our work is designed to strengthen the profession by expanding who is exposed to optometry as a career and by supporting more inclusive pathways into the field.

At the pipeline level, Latinos en Optometry leads Eying the Future, a free educational program available to educators in public, private, and parochial schools across the United States  Designed to inspire middle- and high-school students in Latino communities to consider optometry as a health career, the program offers educator-friendly resources for school counselors, teachers, and community organizations. Since its inception in 2024, Eying the Future has seen strong and sustained engagement, reflecting its value as a trusted tool for introducing students to optometry and expanding early awareness of the profession.

Complementing this work, Latinos en Optometry also developed Eyes on the Future: Exploring Career Paths in Optometry, a comprehensive career resource highlighting the breadth of opportunities within the profession, informed by firsthand perspectives from practicing optometrists.

For current and future eye care professionals, Latinos en Optometry supports professional dialogue on cultural context, communication, and trust through panel discussions conducted at Vision Expo and our Cultural Responsiveness blog series. These efforts bring together leaders from optometry, industry, and academia to share insights that support effective engagement within an increasingly diverse workforce.

This work has also been strengthened by the support of industry partners who recognize the importance of early awareness, representation, and culturally responsive care. Their collaboration reflects a growing understanding that supporting the future of optometry means investing not only in innovation and education, but also in the people and communities the profession serves. That shared commitment has helped expand the reach and impact of our efforts while reinforcing that this work benefits optometry as a whole.

Save Your Vision Month—and the Road Ahead

Save Your Vision Month reminds us that protecting sight is not just about exams and diagnoses. It’s about prevention, education, and ensuring that eye care is delivered in ways that truly resonate with the people we serve.

As optometrists, we also have a responsibility to think long-term—about who will enter the profession, who will feel welcomed into it, and how well prepared we are to meet the needs of a changing population. Strengthening representation and early awareness is not only about equity; it’s about the future sustainability and relevance of optometry itself.

Latinos en Optometry was created with that future in mind. Our work is grounded in building pathways, fostering dialogue, and supporting efforts that help the profession better reflect the communities it serves—work that benefits optometry as a whole.

As we recognize Save Your Vision Month, I invite colleagues across the profession—regardless of background—to consider how you might support these efforts. Whether through membership, partnership, or engagement, your involvement helps ensure that optometry continues to grow in ways that are inclusive, responsive, and prepared for what lies ahead.