ACOE_Self-Study

demonstrate continued strong student satisfaction with the externship program, and the number of student-patient encounters at these sites remained high.

2.5 If instruction in the optometric program is shared with another program or institution, the optometric program must demonstrate primary administrative responsibility for the creation, supervision and implementation of its curriculum. As a free-standing campus of State University of New York, the College has full authority and responsibility for all educational programs and does not share instruction with any other program. 2.6 Basic science instruction provides a foundation of knowledge in physical, biomedical and behavioral sciences essential for clinical optometric care. Basic science instruction in the physical, biomedical and behavioral sciences is provided by the Department of Biological and Vision Sciences [pages 10 – 25 of the Course Catalog ( Appendix II- 2 or https://www.sunyopt.edu/pdfs/academics/course_catalog.pdf]. Courses covering this material are taught by content experts who hold at least an OD, PhD or both. Course syllabi are posted on Moodle and will be made available on campus. As discussed under Standard 1-3, our students consistently perform above the national average on Part I (Applied Basic Science) of the NBEO examinations. Use of these and other data for curriculum improvement are detailed under Standard 2.4, with specific examples provided. 2.7 Clinical instruction and practice consist of didactic, laboratory, and supervised clinical experience in the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients. From the onset of the curriculum, students are directed to integrate what is being learned in the basic sciences classroom with what is seen in the clinic and to develop critical thinking and life- long learning skills. Clinical experiences begin in the fall semester of the first year when, as part of Integrative Seminar and Clinical Optometry , students observe patient care in the UEC, provide hands- on data gathering on UEC patients (“pre - testing”) and participate in vision screenings. Clinical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients are taught in pre-clinical courses in both the Departments of Biological and Vision Sciences (BVS) and Clinical Education (CE). Course descriptions may be found in the Course Catalog ( Appendix II-2 ). Basic patient care and clinical procedures are covered in the four-semester course Clinical Optometry , which spans the first two years of the curriculum. This sequence includes both lectures and weekly laboratories (student to doctor ratio of 4:1 to 6:1) and culminates in the second half of the second-year spring semester with students performing comprehensive examinations on patients in the UEC under faculty supervision with a student to doctor ratio of about 2:1. During the second and third years, students take additional courses that develop diagnostic, treatment, and management skills in the areas of ocular and systemic disease, contact lenses, visual rehabilitation, vision therapy, pediatrics and pharmacology. Course syllabi are posted on Moodle and will be made available on campus.

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