Blaustein Award Winners Named at Annual Residents Day

About 15 years ago, Kayla Eshbaugh, OD, Resident ‘26, was visiting her grandfather when he shared with her half of his vision was black in one eye. He scheduled an appointment with an optometrist who diagnosed him with a retinal detachment.

“Following that diagnosis, my grandfather had laser surgery to repair the detachment,” said Dr. Eshbaugh. “That moment spurred my interest in optometry.”

A moment that paid off recently when Dr. Eshbaugh, along with Dhruvi Patel, OD, Resident ‘26, were both presented with the 2026 Bernard Blaustein Resident of the Year Award during Residents Day at the Elkins Park campus of Drexel University. Dr. Patel was selected as the on-campus residency winner from The Eye Institute (TEI), where she is completing her second year in the Neuro-Ophthalmic Disease residency at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry’s (PCO) clinical site. Dr. Eshbaugh was named the off-campus affiliated programs residency winner.

“This award means a lot. It means that all the hard work and extra hours of clinical care were recognized,” said Dr. Eshbaugh, from Little Meadows, Pennsylvania, who completed her undergraduate work at Penn State with a degree in biology and received her Doctor of Optometry degree from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in Columbus, Ohio.

A resident specializing in primary eye care/ocular disease at the Erie VA Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dr. Eshbaugh added she wouldn’t be the clinician she is without the support of the Erie VA optometry department and the mentorship of David Domachowski, OD ‘15, the residency coordinator at the center.

“I've been working with residents for a couple of years now in my role as residency coordinator, and I was very, very blessed to have such a wonderful individual as Kayla,” said Dr. Domachowski, during the award presentation. “She came in and had a really strong didactic and clinical skills prowess, and as the year went on, she just made me very proud. You can tell how much she cares about our patients and the veterans.”

The Blaustein Award is named after Bernard Blaustein, OD ‘67, FAAO, PCO professor emeritus, who retired in 2019 after more than 40 years of service to the College. The award is presented annually to a distinguished resident from each residency class of PCO at Drexel who has shown exceptional clinical promise and aptitude during their residency year. 

It's hard for me to believe that you're recent graduates,” said Dr. Blaustein at the presentation. “The level of sophistication for diagnosis and management was outstanding, and I attribute it to your residency. Look what the residency has given you. It's really put you on a track that's going to serve you well for the rest of your life.” 

Dr. Patel said residency can be challenging at times, and so much of the work happens behind the scenes through patient care, studying, teaching, and collaborating with colleagues. 

“I was surprised and incredibly honored to receive this award,” said Dr. Patel, who earned her Doctor of Optometry degree from Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry. “To be recognized by the faculty and program in this way was both humbling and rewarding. It made me reflect on how much I’ve grown over the past two years and how fortunate I’ve been to learn from such supportive mentors.” 

Dr. Patel said she was drawn to optometry because it offers the opportunity to build meaningful, long-term relationships with patients while diagnosing and managing conditions that can have a significant impact on their quality of life. She added the profession provides a strong work-life balance while allowing her to help patients preserve and improve their vision. 

“I chose PCO because of its strong reputation for clinical excellence (specifically at The Eye Institute), diverse patient population, and commitment to resident education,” she said. “I was particularly drawn to the opportunity to work alongside faculty who are leaders in neuro-ophthalmic diseases in the optometry world while gaining experience managing complex cases. During my interviews and interactions with the program, it was clear PCO fostered a supportive learning environment that would challenge me to grow both clinically and professionally. Looking back, it has exceeded my expectations and has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”

Kelly Malloy, OD ‘96, Resident ‘97, FAAO, chief of the Neuro-Ophthalmic Disease Service at TEI, congratulated Dr. Patel and said she has been a pleasure to work with the past two years.

“She just jumped right in and started going and was always really working hard every day to stay up to date on the latest in the field and keep bettering herself, said Dr. Malloy. “And thankfully, the good part is I don't have to say goodbye because she's staying on at The Eye Institute.”

According to Shital Mani, OD ‘03, FAAO, director of the off-campus affiliated residency programs, residents decades ago used to give Friday afternoon grand rounds, primarily to fourth-year Doctor of Optometry students at PCO and  select faculty. She said after she became the off-campus director, the feedback she received from residents was, “Hey, this is great, but wouldn’t it be nice if all of the residents attended a day especially for them?”

“We have one of the largest residency programs nationally, and to have all of our residents on site along with their program supervisors and all the faculty for one day is how Residents Day came into being in 2015," said Dr. Mani. “It's a culmination of hard work for the last 10 months or so that they've been at their respective sites to be able to now present a case that's valuable, but then also just be part of the whole residency class is just an invaluable experience as well.”

Others nominated for the Blaustein Award included:

• Natalie Fick, OD – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – Vision Institute, Pittsburgh – Ocular Disease
• Lakshpreet Jeor, OD – Mid-Atlantic Cornea Consultants, York, Pennsylvania – Cornea/Specialty Contact Lenses
• Kristen Blake, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26– Mid-Atlantic Cornea Consultants, York, Pennsylvania – Cornea/Specialty Contact Lenses 
• Aidan Go, OD – The Eye Institute– Ocular Disease/Primary Eye Care

In addition to those already mentioned, the 2025-2026 On- and Off-Campus residency class includes:

On-Campus:

• Elle Cornman, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 – The Eye Institute – Low Vision Rehabilitation
• Amma Dwomoh, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 – The Eye Institute– Neuro-ophthalmic Disease (1^styear) 
• Reetu Julakanti, OD – The Eye Institute – Pediatrics/Vision Therapy
• Alexander Kirn, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 – The Eye Institute, Philadelphia – Ocular Disease/Primary Eye Care
• Jon Kuznia, OD – The Eye Institute– Cornea/Specialty Contact Lenses
• Julliette Mensah, OD – The Eye Institute– Ocular Disease Primary Eye Care

Off-Campus:

• McKenna Albers, OD - Baltimore VAMC, Baltimore – Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Denise Bernal, OD – James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa, Florida - Primary Care Optometry/Brain Injury Vision Rehabilitation
• Jerry Chaudhry, OD – Seidenberg and Protzko Eye Associates, Havre de Grace, Maryland - Ocular Disease/Primary Eye Care
• Madison Chisom, OD – Vistarr Eye Center, Roanoke, Virginia - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• Malak Daou, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 – Seidenberg and Protzko Eye Associates, Havre de Grace, Maryland - Ocular Disease/Primary Eye Care
• Evans Darko, OD, MS ‘15, Resident ‘26 - OMNI Eye Services of New Jersey, Iselin, New Jersey - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• Kendra Engebretsen, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 - Baltimore VAMC, Baltimore – Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Amanda Eslinger, OD – Virginia Eye Consultants, Norfolk, Virginia - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• James Han, OD - Baltimore VAMC, Baltimore – Ocular Disease/ with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Maya Hinton, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 – Wilmington VAMC, Wilmington, Delaware - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Julianne Hui, OD - Baltimore VAMC, Baltimore – Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Leslie Ibarra, OD – Seidenberg and Protzko Eye Associates, Havre de Grace, Maryland - Ocular Disease/Primary Eye Care
• Mariam Labib, OD – Newsom Eye, Tampa, Florida - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• Elizabeth Lyter, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 - Wilmington VAMC, Wilmington, Delaware - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Sameer Majumdar, OD – Rochester Regional Health, Rochester, New York – Ocular Disease
• Rita Nguyen, OD – Virginia Eye Consultants, Norfolk, Virginia - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• Dominique Rivers, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 - Wilmington VAMC, Wilmington, Delaware - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Nadine Saker, OD - OMNI Eye Services of New Jersey, Iselin, New Jersey - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• Timothy Said, OD ‘25, Resident ‘26 - Baltimore VAMC, Baltimore – Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Hena Tahir, OD - OMNI Eye Services of New Jersey, Iselin, New Jersey - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery
• Kaila Taitano, OD - Wilmington VAMC, Wilmington, Delaware - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Retina/Glaucoma
• Emily Weber, OD – Rochester Regional Health, Rochester, New York – Ocular Disease
• Binbin Xie, OD ‘24, Resident ‘26 – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – Vision Institute, Pittsburgh – Low Vision Rehabilitation
• Jessica Yeh, OD – Newsom Eye, Tampa, Florida - Ocular Disease with emphasis in Ocular and Refractive Surgery