Vibrant Vision: One family’s commitment to full-service, community care 

Growing up in Stillwater, OK, Dr. Allison Drummond never thought she’d be returning to her hometown as an ophthalmologist. Allison watched her father, Dr. Jonathan Drummond, care for the community she loved. He treated friends of the family, relatives, members of their church congregation and others through his work at Drummond Eye Clinic. 

Allison frequented her father’s office - playing hide-and-seek in the doctor’s lounge and observing countless post-op phone calls over the years. She never felt pressured to take on the family business, but she did feel certain of her desire to care for others. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor,” Allison said. “I just didn’t know what area of medicine I wanted to go into.” 

After graduating from Stillwater High School in 2011, she went on to complete her undergraduate degree in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. Two years into medical school at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, she shocked her father with some news. 

“I was as surprised as anyone when I got the call that she wanted to be an ophthalmologist,” Jonathan said. “Here I was, a year away from retiring, in my second year of seminary and that changed some things for us.” 

It wasn’t a decision Allison arrived at lightly. In fact, she had spent a great deal of time considering the type of care she wanted to provide. What she loved about ophthalmology was its ability to combine procedural and long-term care. 

“There are a few specialities and ophthalmology is one of them, where you have this balance. I get to have long-term relationships with patients I treat medically and also people I meet for a shorter time. I get to do this intervention to help them see better,” Allison said. “It’s really rewarding.” 

So Allison completed both her internal medicine internship and ophthalmology residency at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and joined Drummond Eye Clinic in August 2023. Working alongside her father, she is able to benefit from his years of experience and deep relationship with patients. Drummond Eye Clinic benefits from her knowledge of advanced technologies and new techniques, as well as additional capacity to accept new patients. 

“Specifically in ophthalmology, the technology is improving across the field and patients now have more choices when we’re talking about cataract surgery,” Allison said.  “With more choices comes more anxiety. It’s very important to us to spend time with the patient and understand their vision goals so we can help them make that decision without any pressure,” Allison said. 

Jonathan and Allison are a dynamic team who work in concert with the optometrists and front office staff at Drummond Eye Clinic and the nurses and technicians at the Stillwater Surgery Center to bring full-service eye care to our community. 

“Stillwater Medical Center has been great to work with because they’re committed to Stillwater having the best technology across the board,”Jonathan said. “We are lucky to have a community-owned hospital that is ground zero for medical care in North Central Oklahoma.”

Jonathan has modified his retirement plan and will continue working three-quarter time until the time is right to transition the practice. Allison will be the first to tell you the Stillwater of today is not the Stillwater she grew up in. The town is changing rapidly, much like the profession she has chosen to pursue. And those changes are evidence of the vibrancy that drew her home. 

“What I have really enjoyed about this community is that we are big enough that there’s excitement and activity, but it’s small enough that I’m not pressured to get people in and out. I get to build connections with people and help them navigate medical decisions,” Allison said.  

Drummond Eye Clinic offers complete comprehensive eye health exams, routine vision services, detection and monitoring of eye diseases, cataract surgery and custom fitting of contact lenses and glasses through Drummond Optical. Although it has changed hands and names over the years, it has served the community for 50 years, treating generations of families. Allison continues this tradition proudly and said she is beyond grateful to be home.