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On campus living is currently optional, but quarantine seems to have made this year鈥檚 freshman class less ready for off campus living. We want to make sure that they have a support system in place, which they will have in the dorms.

A student who satisfactorily completes all four years of the professional curriculum will be eligible to receive the Doctor of Optometry degree. The training and clinical experience optometry students receive at UMSL qualifies graduates to practice optometry in any state in the nation.

Center for Eye Care

The Center for Eye Care provides a patient care environment for upper level optometry students and postdoctoral residents. The Center for Eye Care includes three locations: the University Eye Center on the UMSL South Campus, the Lindell Eye Center in the Central West End of the city of St. Louis, and the East St. Louis Eye Center on the campus of East St. Louis Community College Center.

The Centers provide a full range of optometric services including adult primary eye care, contact lens, pediatrics, binocular vision, low vision, and eye health management. Specialized testing of color vision and electrophysiology are also available.

The curriculum leading to the doctor of optometry degree is a four-year, full-time program of study. The first year of the professional curriculum emphasizes basic and biomedical sciences and introduces students to optics of the visual system. The second year pertains to vision science and instruction in clinical examination techniques. The third year emphasizes patient care and introduces the student to specialty areas within optometry, such as contact lenses, pediatrics and geriatric vision care, binocular vision and vision therapy, and low vision rehabilitation. The second and third years also include course work and clinical instruction in ocular disease and pharmacology. The fourth year includes six rotations through the externship program, giving the student added experience in the management of eye diseases, as well as valuable experience in other optometric clinical specialties.

Curricular Outcomes

Doctors of Optometry must have an established knowledge of the basic and clinical sciences in order to provide quality eye and vision care to their patients. The academic foundation must be broad and include the biological, medical, vision and optical sciences, as well as a basic understanding of the health care delivery system. A doctor of Optometry must recognize the dynamic nature of knowledge and possess the commitment and skills needed to responsibly assess and apply new information and treatment strategies throughout their career.

Career Outlook

According to the American Optometric Association, Doctors of Optometry (OD's) are the independent primary health care professionals for the eye. Optometrists examine, diagnose, treat, and manage diseases, injuries, and disorders of the visual system, the eye, and associated structures as well as identify related systemic conditions affecting the eye.

• Doctors of Optometry prescribe medications, low vision rehabilitation, vision therapy, spectacle lenses, contact lenses, and perform certain surgical procedures.
• An optometrist has completed pre-professional undergraduate education in a college or university and four years of professional education at a college of optometry, leading to the doctor of optometry (O.D.) degree. Some optometrist's complete an optional residency in a specific area of practice.