University of Ulster to provide new course

The University of Ulster has become the first training provider to offer the College of Optometrists’ accredited Professional Certificate in Medical Retina.

The qualification was to be offered as a blended learning course starting in July 2014, meeting the increasing demand to provide community and hospital based optometrists with knowledge of common medical retina conditions, the College said.

Topics included screening, referral and treatment pathways, with an emphasis on optical coherence tomography (OCT) interpretation and diabetic retinopathy grading.

The course would take 10-26 weeks to complete depending on the individual learner, and was a combination of online learning and on campus tutorials, practicals and assessments.