First Year Curriculum

OPT 5411 Clinical Optometry I (4.5 credits)
Prerequisites - None

Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. Introduction to optometric examination technique, theory and application. Strategies of optometric procedure sequencing. Medical interviewing techniques, health history content, medical record documentation, introduction to diagnosis of the visual system. Emphasis on entrance testing skills to include case history, visual acuity, stereopsis, color vision, Amsler grid, extra-ocular motilities, accommodation, convergence, confrontation visual fields, and pupillary reflexes. Introduction to refraction sequence (retinoscopy, use of phoropter) as well as keratometry. Lectures will incorporate the theory of the procedures and proper sequencing. Laboratory will emphasize the performance of the procedures accurately and efficiently.

OPT 5412 Principles of Optics (4.0 Credits)
Prerequisites – None

Four hours of lecture per week . Fundamentals of geometric optics to include the properties of light, reflecting and refracting surfaces, thick and thin lens optics, the optics of mirrors and refractive systems, and the optics of thick and thin prisms. The study of apertures within optical systems. The optics of telescopes and microscopes. The use of catadioptric images to assess the axes, angles, and anatomical structures of the eye. Spherical astigmatic ametropia and the optical correction of spherical astigmatic ametropia. Incidence, distribution, etiology, development, and course of ametropia in humans. An introduction to clinical case analysis will be used to develop critical thinking skills. Case-based approach will be used when possible to integrate theoretical optics with clinical optical applications.

OPT 5413 Human Anatomy and Histology (4.0 Credits)
Prerequisites – None

Three hours of lecture and two hours of lab per week. Detailed study of general human anatomy and histology. Head, neck, thorax, abdomen and organ anatomy along with their microstructure will be emphasized. Identification of gross anatomical structures of the human body with emphasis on the head and neck region. Identification of anatomical structures based on radiographs such as x-ray, CT, and MRI. Clinical correlates will be included to illustrate how structure determines function. Laboratory will focus on histology of primary tissues and organ systems and clinical cases.

Laboratory will include dissection and identification along with microscopic anatomy of the ocular structures, orbit, adnexa, visual pathway, brain, cranial nerves, and spinal cord.

OPT 5315 Fundamentals of Vision Science (3.0 Credits)
Prerequisites – None

Three hours of lecture per week. Topics include:

1. Light Perception: spectral, spatial, temporal properties of absolute threshold; duplex retina; brightness-difference and chromatic thresholds; spatial and temporal summation; dark and light adaptation; radiometry and photometry; contrast specification.
2. Color Perception: specification (hue, saturation, brightness); mixture and appearance; contrast, constancy, adaptation; colorimetry; spectral sensitivity; inheritance and classification of hereditary color deficiency; acquired anomalies; color vision testing (pseudoisochromatic plates, arrangement tests, anomaloscope); vocational aspects of color vision.
3. Form Perception: visual acuity and contrast sensitivity specification, test properties and tasks; impact of defocus, intensity and contrast on spatial vision; simultaneous contrast, spatial interactions, illusions, constancies, and figure-ground relations.
4. Space Perception: absolute and relative depth discrimination, monocular and binocular cues; stereopsis; binocular summation.
5. Temporal Perception: critical flicker fusion frequency; subfusional flicker; masking; temporal contrast sensitivity function; stabilized imagery; saccadic suppression.
6. Motion Perception: real and apparent motion; displacement detection; motion after-effects; dynamic visual acuity, impact of target and observer motion.
7. Psychophysical Methods and Theory: measurement of threshold (limits, adjustment, constant stimuli, forced choice, yes/no); suprathreshold matching and scaling; signal detection theory.
8. Neurophysiology of Vision: single neuron, parallel pathways, and electrophysiological correlates of visual perception.

OPT 5313 Neuroanatomy (3.0 Credits)
Co-requisite - OPT 5413

Three hours of lecture per week. A detailed gross and microscopic study of the human central and peripheral nervous systems. Emphasis on the functional neuroanatomy of sensory and motor systems. An integrative approach to clinical patient care will be emphasized through the use of radiology studies of the neuroanatomy to include X-ray, CT, and MRI. Laboratory will emphasize the identification of the gross central and peripheral nervous systems and their respective microanatomy.

OPT 5219 Professional Optometric Practice I (2.0 Credits)
Prerequisites – None

Two hours of lecture per week. The course emphasizes general topics related to your development as an optometrist and future health care provider. A general overview of the history of health care and the profession of optometry will be discussed as well as current issues facing the profession. Professional and ethical issues in the practice of optometry are focused on. An overview of organized optometry will be presented. Additionally, a concentration of key concepts and topics related to personal and spiritual development for future healthcare providers will be emphasized by way of the Personal Development Pathway lecture series. Concepts of epidemiology in the practice of optometry will be discussed including morbidity, mortality, the distribution of eye disease and vision problems, and types of epidemiological studies. Emphasis will be on major epidemiological eye studies and evidence-based medicine.

OPT 5129 Professional Optometric Practice II (1.0 Credits)
Prerequisites - OPT 5129

One hour of lecture per week. Study and discussion of the various components and policies of the US health care system including cost, access, finance, and patient choice. Study the different forms of successful, high-quality health care systems in wealthy, developed nations around the world. Study the different aspects of health care compliance to include the Stark Law, the False Claims Act, the Anti-kickback Statute, HIPAA, and HITECH. Study the basic principles and concepts of patient safety, risk management, and quality assurance in health care settings. Discussion of patient concepts of leadership, responsibility, and accountability in health care settings and society as a whole. Study effective communication techniques used in patient care. Discussion of the different types of challenging patients encountered in health care settings and techniques to resolve conflict and achievement patient satisfaction with quality care.

OPT 5421 Clinical Optometry II (4.5 Credits)
Prerequisites – OPT 5411

Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. Introduction to optometric examination techniques to include the theoretical basis for detection, diagnosis and management of refractive error, binocular functions, and related conditions. Emphasis is placed on a consummate understanding of the etiology and functional basis of refractive error and visual anomalies as the basis for accurate and effective diagnosis and management. Monocular and binocular refractive techniques, retinoscopy, ophthalmoscopy, accommodation and vergence tests will be studied. A case-based approached to the integration of data will be used to develop critical thinking skills and a practical use of data in development of diagnoses and treatment plans.

OPT 5423 Clinical Ocular Anatomy and Physiology I (4.0 Credits)
Prerequisites – OPT 5413, Co-requisite – 5325

Three hours of lecture and two hours of lab per week. This is the first part of a 7-credit hour course that focuses on the normal structure, development, and function of the human visual system. The course includes a detailed study of the gross ocular anatomy, physiology and homeostasis of the human eye, orbit, and adnexa, and surrounding tissues supporting the structure and function of the visual system. Examples of clinical correlates include, tear flow dynamics and dry eye, corneal transparency, the process of wound healing, aqueous humor production, circulation and drainage, intraocular pressure control and mechanistic pathways for clinical intervention in the treatment of glaucoma. The fundamentals of ocular embryology will be studied within the context of both normal development of the ocular structures, congenital variations, and defects. There is an emphasis on the clinical anatomy and physiology to include the changes associated with aging.

OPT 5325 Clinical Physiology (3.0 Credits)
Prerequisites - None

Three hours of lecture per week. An introduction to general physiological and detailed cellular biological processes. Cellular organelles, active and passive membrane transport, and nerve and muscle function to include synaptic physiology. Integrated study of the physiological processes of the major organ systems to include the circulatory, respiratory, renal, digestive, nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems.

OPT 5522 Visual and Applied Optics (5.0 Credits)
Prerequisites - OPT 5412

Four hours of lecture and two hours of lab per week. The optics of the human eye will be studied in detail as it relates to human visual function. The eye as a refracting device will be investigated along with the clinical application of lenses to remediate refractive error. The application of prism and ocular deviation will be addressed along with the axes and angles of the eye. A general overview of photometry and physical optics including interference, diffraction, polarization, thin film optics, and lasers. Entopic phenomena and the Stiles-Crawford effect. Magnification and retinal image size with clinical applications of accommodation, presbyopia, aphakia, aniseikonia and pseudophakia. The clinical role of the pupil in depth of field, aberrations, and accommodation. Introduction to contact lenses in the treatment of ametropias. Introduction to Low Vision Optics including telescopes, simple and compound microscopes. Contemporary optics will be introduced to include description and quantification of higher-order aberrations, and the impact of remediation of higher order aberrations on visual function.

OPT 5223 Ocular Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics (2.0 Credits)
Prerequisite - OPT 5413, Co-requisite -OPT 5325

Two hours of lecture per week. Basic principles of biosynthesis and bioenergetics of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins with emphasis in ocular structures and pathological states. Review of the mechanisms governing gene expression and how those may be altered during disease. The most current advances in translational research; including the genetic tests, gene and stem cell-based novel therapies will be discussed with a focus on ocular disease.

OPT 5225 Clinical Immunology and Histopathology (2.0 Credits)
Prerequisite - OPT 5413, Co-requisite -OPT 5325

Two hours of lecture per week. A study of human immunology and its application to normal function and disease processes. Emphasis on ocular immunological processes to include inflammation, allergic disease, immunology, immuno-pathology, and cellular disease. Histopathology of cell and tissue injury. Reversible and irreversible cellular changes. Cell death, tissue apoptosis and necrosis.