(PRESS RELEASE) RANCHO CORDOVA, CA — VSP Ventures, in collaboration with Brookside Optometry, announced Alin Torosian as the recipient of the $2,500 Dr. Craig Hisaka Memorial scholarship.
Each year, recipients of this scholarship are selected from participants in UC Berkeley Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science’s Business Management Immersion Program (BMIP). To be selected, aspiring recipients must apply for the award by submitting an essay describing their experience and learnings from the BMIP. Torosian, class of 2026, was selected as the 2024 winner based on her unique perspective of the experience.
“Thank you for the continued sponsorship of the Business Management Immersion Program,” said recipient Alin Torosian. “I am immensely grateful to this program for allowing me to find a new mentor, just as my mentor found his in the late Dr. Hisaka. I am honored to have been selected as the winner of the Dr. Craig Hisaka Memorial Scholarship and look forward to using the funds to aid me on the journey of becoming an optometrist.”
In 2016, VSP Vision began sponsoring the BMIP, which takes approximately 24 second and third year optometry students and places them in network practices participating in VSP Premier Edge to shadow the practice owner for 2-3 days. The goal of the program is for students to learn all the business aspects of private practice ownership.
“Elevating private practice optometry and supporting its current and next generation is a core focus for us,” said president of VSP Ventures, Kathleen Steele. “We are proud to sponsor the Dr. Craig Hisaka Memorial Scholarship and we want to congratulate Alin Torosian for being this year’s recipient of the scholarship following the Business Management Immersion Program this year.”
Brookside Optometry, founded by Dr. Craig Hisaka, was the first practice to be a part of the BMIP. Dr. Hisaka founded Brookside Optometry in Stockton, California in 1998, and sold the practice to VSP Ventures before his passing in 2019. Dr. Hisaka was also an adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley School of Optometry, and was an avid proponent of private practice.
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Within the last 10 years, VSP Vision has provided more than $3.5 million in scholarship support to optometry students. To learn more, visit here.
