GOC to help pave way for entrants from outside EU

A detailed provisional course for optometrists is already well advanced, and if approved could go ahead in three months' time. The plan for a course for optometrists from outside the EEA (European Economic Area) has been proposed by Glasgow Caledonian University, and a system for non-EEA DOs by the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. The course for optometrists set out below could get the go-ahead from the GOC this week: - An 'intensive full-time course' open to 20-24 candidates over a three-week period (September 11-29 2000). - Two-day review of the College of Optometrists' relevant PQE syllabus and assessment of each participant's ability in each area. A total of 13 days and one evening of lectures/tutorials/ practical sessions, and a final day of 'mock examinations'. - Course content would include: anomalies of binocular vision; drugs in optometric practice; dispensing; routine examination; UK law and practice; ocular disease and abnormalities; and contact lenses. A final day would be aimed to give candidates the experience of the UK PQE examinations required for 'fitness to practice' in Britain. The GOC's education committee has also received a proposal for a route to registration for non-EEA DOs prepared by ABDO's academic committee. The proposed system suggested that a candidate would be required to prove that he or she was legally entitled to practise in their own country, and those who not have English as a first language should pass an English language test. As optician went to press, a full Council meeting was due to convene to decide whether to invite training institutions to submit proposals for courses under the scheme.