MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

semester of the first year when, as part of Integrative Seminar , students observe patient care in the UEC and participate in vision screenings. Courses that cover the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients are taught in the Departments of Vision and Clinical Sciences. Basic examination techniques are covered in the four-semester course Optometric Theory & Procedures that constitutes the clinical examination track. This course, which spans the first two years of the curriculum, includes both lectures and weekly clinical 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 complete examinations on patients in the UEC under faculty supervision with a student to doctor ratio of 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. All courses have learning objectives. Sequencing and descriptions of courses are given in Appendices B- 9a and B-9b. Syllabi can be found on Moodle. Following up on their initial experiences of examining patients in the spring semester of the second year (as part of Optometric Theory & Procedures ), students are required to participate in a 6-week summer clinical rotation in the Primary Care clinic of UEC. This summer clinic requirement was inaugurated in 2005. Students are assigned to 20 patient-care sessions (at least 3 hours per session) over the 6-week period. In addition, students participate in one session of grand rounds per week in which they focus on various commonly encountered patient populations that they may have heretofore had relatively little exposure to, but will be encountered in clinic (e.g., geriatric, pediatric, and diabetic patients) and one session of clinical decision making in which they discuss their cases with supervisors in small groups. The student to doctor ratio for third-year students in Primary Care is about 3 to 1. Based on feedback from students and faculty members indicating that the patient care experiences in the 6-week sessions are too condensed, the summer session following the second year will be increased to 10-weeks starting in 2011. Clinic sessions will be extended to full days and will have an associated clinical Integrative Seminar. During the fall and spring semesters of the third year, students are assigned to two sessions per week in Primary Care. Third-year students are also assigned to seven eight-week rotations (one session per week) in the Vision Therapy, Pediatric, Ocular Disease, Specialty Contact Lenses, and Eyewear services. Each student must complete one rotation through each of these services with additional rotations through two of them (for a total of seven rotations). Recent changes in the structure of third-year clinic are discussed on page 34. Clinical assignments are in addition to coursework. Third-year Integrative Seminar, which meets weekly, provides students with the opportunity to discuss their patients with their supervising clinical instructors. Consistent with Goal 1.3 of the strategic plan, evidenced-based patient care is emphasized.

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