01 April 2015
Boots Opticians has been announced as a partner for the University of Hertfordshire’s new Masters optometry course.
The four-year MOptom programme, which encompasses the College of Optometrists’ scheme for registration, will place emphasis on early exposure to practice and will see students complete a variety of practice-based placements throughout the course.
Boots Opticians has said that the partnership demonstrates its commitment to supporting the development of undergraduate training to ensure that optometrists of the future are fully equipped with the skill set and confidence to meet the ever-changing needs of the profession. The multiple added that the collaboration will enable a structured, supported programme of clinical experience with the objective of raising the standards in optometry education.
Scheduled to enroll its first cohort of 50 students in September, undergraduates will visit practices and hospital settings to develop their GOC core competencies, ahead of beginning the scheme for registration in years three and four.
The university has invested heavily in a dedicated practical training area which boasts 14 optometry practice cubicles which feature equipment from Keeler and Nidek. Towards the end of this academic year, it will also develop a four room treatment area.
Speaking to OT exclusively in December after the programme was officially approved by the GOC, Dr Joy Myint, principal lecturer and programme lead for optometry at the university, said that that the course would enable students to be ‘practice-ready at the point of registration’. “We want to put students into practice early so that they are ready for the real optometric world,” she told OT at the time.
The four-year MOptom programme, which encompasses the College of Optometrists’ scheme for registration, will place emphasis on early exposure to practice and will see students complete a variety of practice-based placements throughout the course.
Boots Opticians has said that the partnership demonstrates its commitment to supporting the development of undergraduate training to ensure that optometrists of the future are fully equipped with the skill set and confidence to meet the ever-changing needs of the profession. The multiple added that the collaboration will enable a structured, supported programme of clinical experience with the objective of raising the standards in optometry education.
Scheduled to enroll its first cohort of 50 students in September, undergraduates will visit practices and hospital settings to develop their GOC core competencies, ahead of beginning the scheme for registration in years three and four.
The university has invested heavily in a dedicated practical training area which boasts 14 optometry practice cubicles which feature equipment from Keeler and Nidek. Towards the end of this academic year, it will also develop a four room treatment area.
Speaking to OT exclusively in December after the programme was officially approved by the GOC, Dr Joy Myint, principal lecturer and programme lead for optometry at the university, said that that the course would enable students to be ‘practice-ready at the point of registration’. “We want to put students into practice early so that they are ready for the real optometric world,” she told OT at the time.
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