MSCHE Self Study April 2021

The first two years of the Residency/PhD program can be completed during residency training and then continued in subsequent years as a full time graduate student. The first student in this program enrolled in fall, 2020. Funding Structure Graduate students in our PhD program receive teaching stipends and full tuition remission. The stipends are supported by the College through funds allocated from the State University of New York. The doctoral student stipend is currently $35,676. Doctoral students are represented by the Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU). The GSEU negotiates stipend levels and annual raises directly with SUNY. Recent annual increases in stipends have averaged 2%. Other Research Opportunities for OD Students The College holds a T35 training grant from the NIH, which funds 6 students per year to carry out research over a 10 ‐ week summer program. The T35 grant was recently renewed for 5 years (2020 ‐ 2025). The purpose of the program is to introduce optometry students to basic, translational, and clinical optometric and vision science research by participating in a research project mentored by one of the fifteen members of the research faculty. In addition to research, trainees attend research colloquia, graduate seminars, journal clubs, and a course in scientific ethics and the responsible conduct of research. This experience is expected to provide trainees with both technical and problem ‐ solving skills that will inspire them to include vision research as one important component of their future career as optometrists. In the most favorable scenario, highly motivated trainees will choose to continue their research by entering the combined OD/MS or OD/PhD graduate programs in vision science and thereby obtain both a clinical and a research degree. Historically, over 50% of the students in the T35 training program have decided to continue their research projects by entering the OD/MS combined degree program. There have been about 40 students in the T ‐ 35 program over the past 5 years ( T ‐ 35 Project Presentations ). They have carried out research within a wide range of optometric and vision science areas including myopia, glaucoma, traumatic brain injury, accommodative problems, visual neuroscience, color vision, eye movements, and diabetic retinopathy. In addition to the programs listed above, the College offers laboratory assistantships to optometry students for non ‐ degree research projects in active research labs. Funding is provided from college work ‐ study funds and research grants. Residency Program The residency program supports the College’s mission to advance visual health and patient care through its extensive array of post ‐ graduate programs that provide optometrists with intensive clinical training ( Residency Manual ). Each SUNY residency is accredited (or in the process of being accredited) by the Accreditation Council of Optometric Education (ACOE). Program objectives are given under Standard V.

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