This article is best viewed in a PDF Format.
|
|
The university's modern purpose-built vision sciences building offers the UK's highest ranked optometry programme, according to the Guardian League tables 2007, and the percentage of graduates to find employment six months after graduation is 'consistently well above average'. In 2004, all gained graduate employment.
Entry requirements
The BSc three-year optometry degree course currently receives around 800 applications each year for 120 available places and students are required to achieve A level grades AAB, two of which must be science subjects and preferably biology, maths or physics. Mature students typically make up about 15 per cent of all undergraduates and Wolffsohn says they are encouraged to apply.
'We are happy to consider non-A level qualifications such as other biological health-related degrees and qualified dispensers with a contact lens certificate,' he says.
The male to female ratio of students is around 60/40 and the staff base of 18 comprises seven optometrists, two clinical ophthalmologists, two dispensing opticians, three receptionists and four technicians.
Wolffsohn comments: 'Although optometry places have risen dramatically over the past decade, they have now stabilised. Starting salaries for optometrists have decreased, but are still very generous and jobs are still reasonably plentiful. As the training of optometrists involves a year out in practice, courses can be larger in the UK than in other countries where this intensive clinical element is provided within the university.'
The Aston Academy of Life Sciences includes two operating theatres for ophthalmic surgery and clinical examination suites. Wolffsohn says a comprehensive range of equipment includes video slit lamps, topographers, aberrometers, optical coherence tomography, electronic test charts, drug databases and tonometers.
Course focus
Aston's optometry course has a strong focus on clinical professional training involving both ophthalmology and optometry working together to give the best environment for teaching and research. In year one students develop their knowledge of basic scientific principles and these skills are developed in year two, leading to a full eye examination.
'Students will start to see patients in the first year as we integrate didactic teaching and the development of clinical skills throughout the course as is now common in other healthcare subjects such as medicine,' says Wolffsohn.
Year two also includes the development of further skills in contact lens fitting, optical instrumentation and research methods. Independent clinical and scientific skills are developed in the final year where students will examine each other in an open clinic and will be able to pursue an area of interest in more depth alongside clinical scientists in the ophthalmic research group.
'We are currently developing an independent prescribing therapeutic course although it is not yet integrated at undergraduate level. Opportunities for funded research summer placements are also available at the end of the second year of the course,' says Wolffsohn.
Students take part in a week's worth of placements at local hospitals, including the multi-disciplinary low-vision clinic Birmingham Focus, The Birmingham Children's hospital and the Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre.
Innovations
The department specialises in providing extra services to the general public such as binocular vision, visual rehabilitation, colour vision assessment, specialist contact lens fitting, dry eye management and ocular allergy assessment, which are provided from the Aston Academy of Life Sciences.
'We are also developing specialist clinical teachers and providing the latest innovation in teaching,' says Wolffsohn. We are moving to the American model of having our own staff concentrating on clinical teaching to build a strong clinical team.
'We are very much at the forefront of improving how we can teach and give students the best and most modern environment that technology can provide.'
Wolffsohn shows students videos of accident and emergency eye conditions and then introduces interactive questions where they can comment on what diagnosis and treatment they would choose. 'They then see a consultant talking to patients about the correct diagnosis and treatment so that they can learn. This is a really good way of building up their confidence in how to best deal with these conditions.
'We are also developing other innovations such as ear pieces so we can talk to the students directly when they are seeing patients.
Wolffsohn is keen to promote Aston as a fun and welcoming place to study with an active social programme to keep students entertained.
'We have an optics society that provides an active social programme and students have their own common room. We involve students in lots of sporting activities and get very good feedback.'