Associate Professor; Director, Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center Ophthalmology Service

Areas of Interest
comprehensive ophthalmology, cataract surgery, resident education, veterans affairs

Dr. Crain serves as the director of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center Ophthalmology Service. He manages the daily operations of this clinic, which sees about 11,500 patients annually. Dr. Crain also participates in the department’s resident training program. He is specifically interested in teaching cataract surgery. In most of the 450 cataract surgeries the Veterans Affairs Clinic performs annually, a third-year resident serves as the primary surgeon, with Dr. Crain or Andrew Everett, M.D., attending.

In order to advance training methods in cataract and other ophthalmic surgeries, Dr. Crain has embarked on a project to develop synthetic eye models. Dr. Crain believes these models can serve a purpose similar to that of flight simulators, but notes they will only be useful if the synthetic eyes are anatomically correct and behave as a human eye during surgical procedures. Currently, he is assembling a multidisciplinary team for this project.

Dr. Crain is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Education & Training

Medical School: 
University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Residency in Ophthalmology: 
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Contact Information

Location: 
UAB Callahan Eye - Veterans Affairs Eye Clinic

Office Phone: 
(205) 933-8101