MSCHE Self Study April 2021

requirements include Introduction to Statistical Methods, Ethics in Research, and Journal Club courses and five specialty graduate seminars. Students take graduate courses and participate in research during the regular academic year and summers, permitting fulfillment of OD and MS degree requirements within the four years of study. Following successful completion of the research project, the students write a comprehensive thesis that is reviewed by the thesis committee. Students are also required to give a public presentation of their thesis research in the form of a 30 ‐ 40 minute talk. Most students present at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), American Academy of Optometry (AAO) or Vision Science Society (VSS). The College covers travel expenses for student presenters. Titles of recent OD/MS student Master’s theses include Intensity Response Function of Retinal and Cortical Neurons in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) (2020); Myopia ‐ related Changes in the Superficial Retinal Capillaries and Co ‐ localized Astrocytes of Juvenile Marmosets (2020); Digital Eye Strain and the Critical Fusion Frequency (2020); Retinal Sensitivity in Diabetics Without Clinical Signs of Retinopathy (2020; The Role of Spherical Aberration and ON ‐ Bipolar Function in Eye Growth (2019); Blue Blocking Filters and Digital Eye Strain (2019); Making a Mouse Model of Myopia (2019); Object Segmentation: A Method of Understanding the Evolutionary Significance of L ‐ and M ‐ Cones (2019); and Evaluation of Techniques to Detect a Known Change in Astigmatism (2018). Motivated OD/MS students are provided the opportunity to continue their studies in the PhD program, thereby allowing completion of the OD, MS and PhD degrees in about 6 years. Combined Residency/MS and Residency/PhD Graduate Programs in Vision Science In years of experience with the OD/MS program it became clear that a number of optometry students were interested in joining the graduate program and carrying out a research project towards an MS, but felt that the rigors of the OD program did not allow sufficient time. In response to this, the College launched a combined Residency/Graduate program in 2016 that offers ODs an opportunity to conduct translational research in an area with clinical application while developing and maintaining advanced clinical competencies. The graduate requirements of the combined Residency/Graduate programs are the same as those described above for the MS and PhD programs, along with the requirements of a residency program. The Residency/MS program is completed over a two ‐ year period (equivalent to a 12 month program), while concurrent graduate work occurs. The MS degree can be anticipated to be completed within the two years of the residency. Since the program’s inception in 2016 there have been 3 graduates. Titles of recently completed Master’s theses of Resident/MS students include The Effect of Low ‐ Dose Atropine on the Biometry of the Choroid and Other Ocular Structures in Healthy Adults (2019) and Dynamic Color and Brightness Adaption Abnormalities in Early Stages of Glaucoma (2018).

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