MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

years. The attrition rate (defined as not completing the MS degree 8 years after enrollment) of 24.5% is not unexpected give the high academic demands of the OD program. The Office of the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies catalogs the scholarly activity of students while they are enrolled at the College, including publications and participation and presentation at national/international conferences. A list of graduate student publications and conference presentations for the 2009-2010 academic year is given in Appendix B-37. For this period, 5 OD/MS and 3 PhD students were authors on peer-reviewed manuscripts and 13 OD/MS and 10 PhD students were authors on conference presentations. (About 28 students were enrolled in the OD/MS program and 11 in the PhD program.) Every 3-5 years, the Office of the Associate Dean conducts a survey of alumni to determine the nature of current appointments; time devoted to research and scholarly activity and teaching; scholarly productivity; and research funding. The results of the survey conducted in 2008 are given in Appendix B-38. Most PhD graduates who responded to the survey hold academic and/or research positions. The scholarly output (5 of the 8 responders published in the past 3 years) and record of external funding (none were a PI on an active grant) was less than expected. These outcomes formed the basis for the revision of the PhD curriculum that was discussed previously (see Educational Offerings: Graduate Program). Specifically, the newly configured PhD program requires laboratory rotations, places greater emphasis on oral presentations and writing skills and requires dissertation proposals to be written in the form of a grant proposal. The success of these innovations will be assessed by future surveys. The survey results for the OD/MS program (Appendix B-38) show that about 39% of respondents have an academic appointment, which is considerably higher than would be expected for optometry graduates who have not received a MS. Of those OD/MS graduates participating in the survey, 67% saw the MS as relevant to their current position. Residency Program As previously mentioned all SUNY College of Optometry Residency programs are accredited by the ACOE. Among the standards that must be met is the following: The residency must specify in the curriculum the specific knowledge, skills and behaviors needed to attain core competencies and must require the resident to attain core competencies specific to the program’s mission. The meeting of learning objectives established by the program is assessed in multiple ways for each resident. Among these are:  Tracking of patient encounters (with Meditrek)  Regular evaluation of resident’s performance by residency site supervisor

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