Optometry, OD

First Professional Year

Prerequisites: admission to the entering optometry class or approval from the course instructor and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs.

Second Professional Year

Prerequisites: advancement to the second year by the faculty or approval from the Academic and Professional Standards committee and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs.

Third Professional Year

Prerequisites: satisfactory completion of all course work of the first two years of the curriculum and advancement to the third year by the faculty. The Academic and Professional Standards committee and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs must approve exceptions to this policy; clinic courses also require the approval of the Associate Dean for Clinical Programs.

Students will rotate through each Specialty Patient Care ( OPT 770 - Third Year Peds/Binocular Vision Service , OPT 771 - Third Year Contact Lens Service , and  OPT 772 - Third Year ODST/Low Vision Service ) during the third year.

Electives

Students are required to complete a minimum of three elective credits, chosen from those offered by the College of Optometry. Alternatively, with prior authorization, it may be possible to substitute courses taken:

• as an independent study;
• at Pacific University outside of the College of Optometry; or,
• at other institutions with credits transferable to Pacific University (the costs of any courses taken at other institutions are the responsibility of individual students)

Fourth Professional Year

Students will provide supervised and direct patient care as Interns during the fourth year.   A specialty Track is attached to the Patient Care courses listed below.  Tracks 1-4 may apply toward graduation a maximum of one time each; Track 5 may be repeated multiple times.

Track 1: Medical Eye Care with emphasis in Contact Lens - Rotation in the Ocular Diseases and Special Testing and Contact Lens specialty clinics, including the clinical assessment and management of patients with ocular diseases, and management of cosmetic and therapeutic specialty contact lens prescribing.

Track 2: Medical Eye Care with emphasis in Low Vision - Rotation in the Ocular Diseases and Special Testing and Low Vision clinics, including the clinical assessment and management of patients with ocular diseases and management of patients with low vision rehabilitation needs. Rotation also includes a half day of contact lens service per week.

Track 3: Vision Therapy, Pediatrics, Neuro-Optometry - Rotation in the Binocular Vision/Vision Therapy and Pediatric clinics including supervised clinical management of patients requiring vision therapy. Weekly experience in the Occular Motility and Neuro-Optometry (OMNO) services with related exposure to co-management principles. Rotation also includes a half day of contact lens service per week.

Track 4: Vision Therapy and Pediatrics - Rotation in the Binocular Vision/Vision Therapy and Pediatric clinics including supervised clinical management of patients requiring vision therapy. Unique exposure in the Beaverton Performance Clinic.

Track 5: Supervised clinical practice in affiliated hospital settings, health care centers, and public or private eye and vision care centers. Primary care and/or specialized health care services unique to each site.

• OPT 806 - Patient Care VIII 11.0 credit(s)
• OPT 807 - Patient Care IX 11.0 credit(s) *
• OPT 808 - Patient Care X 11.0 credit(s)
• OPT 809 - Patient Care XI 11.0 credit(s) *
• OPT 827 - Web-Based Clinical Rounds 0.5 credit(s)

Bachelor’s Degree

Students must earn a bachelor’s degree prior to graduating with the Doctor of Optometry degree. In many cases, the bachelor’s degree is earned prior to applying for admission; in other cases, it is completed while the student is enrolled in the OD program, through the College of Optometry’s Bachelor of Science program (earning a major in Visual Science). All requirements for the bachelor’s degree must be completed by the beginning of the third professional year.

Some students attending institutions with pre-professional programs plan a program of study to include pre-optometry requirements plus the bachelor’s degree requirements for that institution. In the case where Pacific University’s professional courses in optometry are used to satisfy another institution’s graduation requirements, written notice of such an arrangement is required.

Externship Rotations

All students are required to participate in off-campus externships for a portion of their clinical training. Living and transportation costs incurred during these assignments are borne by the student. Every attempt is made to assign clinic schedules that are convenient for the student. However, there are times when individual student preferences cannot be accommodated.

Promotion

Students must receive a grade of “C” or better in all courses and be recommended for promotion by the faculty in order to move from the first to second year, and second to third year. All unsatisfactory grades require remediation in a timely manner, and remediation must occur according to specific written plans.

For promotion from the third to the fourth year, students must satisfactorily complete all courses in the first, second, and third years of the curriculum, have been awarded a bachelor’s degree, and be recommended for promotion by the faculty. The status of students failing to meet these requirements is determined by the College’s Academic and Professional Standards Committee (see Academic and Professional Standards).