Tuition Fee
Start Date
Medium of studying
Duration
48 months
Program Facts
Program Details
Degree
Masters
Major
Optometry
Area of study
Health
Course Language
English
About Program
Program Overview
The Optometry MOptom degree is a four-year program that equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary for a career in optometry. The program is subject to approval by the General Optical Council and is fully aligned with the new outcomes for optometry. The program includes a variety of assessment methods, including coursework, in-class tests, examinations, presentations, portfolio (logbook), project, and practical skills assessments. The program utilizes a range of teaching methods, including lectures, practicals, and seminars.
Program Outline
Optometry MOptom Degree Extraction:
Degree Overview:
The Optometry MOptom degree is a four-year full-time program designed to equip students with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to launch a career in optometry. The program is subject to approval by the General Optical Council and is fully aligned with the new outcomes for optometry.
Objectives:
The program aims to:
- Provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the science of the eye and the principles of optometry and vision sciences.
- Develop students' clinical skills in a modern, fully equipped optometry laboratory and through real-world experience in a state-of-the-art eye clinic on campus.
- Prepare students for a variety of optometry careers, including working in corporate or hospital optometry, establishing a private practice, working in the optical industry, or conducting research in optometry and vision sciences.
Outline:
The Optometry MOptom program is structured over four years, with a final year placement in a modern optometry practice.
Year 1:
- Core Modules:
- Human Body Systems: Covers major organs of the body, focusing on homeostasis and the integration of processes involved in maintaining health.
- Clinical Skills 1: Introduces fundamental clinical techniques for eye examination, including measuring vision, refraction, ocular health assessment, and history taking. Also covers ethical principles of optometry and professional development.
- Ocular Anatomy and Physiology: Covers the fundamental anatomy and physiology of the eye, building a theoretical grounding for other modules. Focuses on ocular structures and adnexa, considering age-related changes and ocular pathologies.
- Ophthalmic Lenses and Dispensing: Introduces the principles of ophthalmic lenses and frames, interpreting refraction and dispensing appropriate spectacles.
- Science of Visual Perception: Builds on knowledge from Ocular Anatomy and Physiology and Human Body Systems to develop an understanding of how ocular and neural structures contribute to visual perception. Studies mechanisms of spatial, temporal, and color vision.
- Visual Optics: Considers the physics of light, moving from basic light properties to wave optics and diffraction, interference, and polarization.
Year 2:
- Core Modules:
- Clinical Skills 2: Builds on Year 1 knowledge and skills, enhancing understanding of optometric primary clinical practice. Enhances fundamental clinical techniques and integrates them into a basic ophthalmic assessment routine. Covers normal and anomalous development, tests for investigation, and management strategies.
- Contact Lenses in Practice: Evaluates patient needs and expectations, determines optimal corrective strategies, selects and fits contact lenses, and advises patients on usage and care routines. Covers legal guidelines and responsibilities for contact lens dispensing and compliance.
- Investigative Techniques: Develops knowledge and understanding of important investigative techniques involved in optometric primary practice. Covers a wide range of clinical techniques used in practice.
- Primary Ocular Health and Pharmacology: Builds on Year 1 knowledge, introducing diseases and abnormalities of the eye and their investigation. Covers clinical presentation, optometric and medical management, and major classes of drugs used in optometric practice.
Year 3:
- Core Modules:
- Clinical Practice: Refines clinical skills on patients attending the eye clinic, covering a spectrum of cases to fulfill General Optical Council requirements. Enhances portfolios with recording and reflective analysis of patient contacts.
- Advanced Ocular Health: Explores a wider range of abnormal ocular conditions, learning to detect abnormality, discuss salient features, formulate provisional diagnoses, and develop optometric management strategies.
- Professional Practice: Refines patient management skills, covering more complex cases seen in primary or secondary optometric practice.
- Optometric Practice across the Human Lifespan: Considers the changing requirements for optometric practice across the age range, including development phases of vision, management of low vision, cataracts, hereditary ocular abnormalities, and consequences of ocular degeneration associated with aging and systemic diseases.
- Community Optometry: Highlights concepts and their application in three areas:
- Research Methods: Provides insight into research methodologies and statistical procedures relevant to optometry and vision sciences.
- Public Health: Provides knowledge in public health and epidemiology relevant to optometry and ocular health conditions.
- Practice Management: Covers principles of practice management, including strategic planning, practice marketing, and managed care.
Final Year:
- Work-based placement year: 30 hours per week for 44 weeks, providing real-world experience in a modern optometry practice.
- Core Modules:
- Advanced Optometric Practice 1 - Ocular Therapeutics: Builds on previous material, focusing on ocular therapeutics, including patient examination, ocular and related conditions, drug knowledge, prescribing practice, and professional standards.
- Advanced Optometric Practice 2: Builds on previous material, focusing on retinal pathologies and glaucomas, including identification, options, disease classification, and management.
- Clinical Learning in Practice (CLiP) Part 1: Incorporates online learning content, asynchronous interactive learning, synchronous content, and regular contact with placement supervisors. Develops a mix of student-selected and unseen case studies with assessors.
- Clinical Learning in Practice (CLiP) Part 2: Further develops clinical testing and management skills under supervision in a clinical placement setting, ensuring effective and efficient work in the clinical environment, including addressing Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) issues.
Assessment:
The program utilizes a variety of assessment methods, including:
- Coursework
- In-class tests
- Examinations
- Presentations
- Portfolio (logbook)
- Project
- Practical skills assessments Feedback is typically provided within three term time weeks for coursework submissions. Feedback on exam performance and final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.
Teaching:
The program employs a range of teaching methods, including:
- Lectures
- Practicals
- Seminars The University of Huddersfield has a strong teaching reputation, with staff ranking in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, higher degrees, and teaching qualifications. The University has also won numerous awards for teaching excellence, including the first Global Teaching Excellence Award.
Careers:
Graduates of the Optometry MOptom program are prepared for a variety of careers in optometry, including:
- Corporate Optometry: Working for large optical chains like Specsavers, Boots Opticians, and Vision Express.
- Private Independent Practice: Establishing their own practice.
- Hospital Optometry: Working with other ophthalmic colleagues in hospital settings.
- Consultancy: Providing expert advice on optometry-related matters.
- Professional Affairs Roles: Training optometrists in new equipment, medical devices, medications, or supplements.
- Research and Teaching: Conducting research or teaching in optometry and vision sciences.
Other:
- The program is subject to approval by the General Optical Council and is fully aligned with the new outcomes for optometry.
- Students are required to obtain and maintain registration with the General Optical Council (GOC) throughout their studies.
- The program includes a Global Professional Award (GPA) component, which provides students with valuable qualities and experiences that can help them get the career they want.
- The University of Huddersfield is rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023.
- The University is first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK's best lecturers in Higher Education.
- The University won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognizing its commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers.
The full-time undergraduate tuition fee for 2024/25 entry will be £9250.
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