What is an Optometrist?

Distinguished History

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy was founded in Boston in 1823 and is the forerunner of MCPHS University, which was established in 1979.  Expansion to the Worcester campus occurred in 2002 and recognizing the unmet need for eye care in central Massachusetts, the School of Optometry was founded in 2012.  The inaugural class of 59 students graduated in 2016.  Over this short period, the school has enjoyed strong growth of the academic and clinical programs.  Excellent clinical rotations have been established in external sites for third and fourth year professional students.  The school is part of a large health science university that promotes interprofessional education and service to the community.

Modern Facilities

Featuring advanced equipment and technologies in class, lab, and clinic, where students are educated to provide comprehensive eye and vision care to patients.

Clinical Experience

In addition to an on-site Eye and Vision Center, students have additional patient care opportunities in challenging and varied clinical facilities, including Veterans Administration centers, health departments, hospitals, and community health centers.

Low Faculty-to-Student Ratio

Students enjoy a small class size of just 64 students and a very low student-to-faculty ratio, enabling them to gain critical interaction with their professors and instructors.

Early Introduction

Students begin seeing patients independently during their second professional year and progressively increase their clinic time during each successive semester, including summers.

Prestigious Affiliations

The School of Optometry is affiliated with more than 60 clinical sites across the United States. In addition, students in the third year of the program rotate through additional community clinical facilities in the area. External sites are continually being developed and monitored to ensure excellent clinical experiences for students.

Residency Placement

Over the past two years, 30% of graduates have been placed in one-year clinical residency programs, an accomplishment that reflects the superior clinical preparation students receive during their time at MCPHS (2017).

Service-Based Training

Free clinics and other volunteer service opportunities locally and regionally enable students to serve others while receiving course credit. Students can also participate in international service volunteer trips.

Combined Baccalaureate/Doctoral Program

This unique educational opportunity allows select, highly motivated students to complete their optometry education in a combined, straight-through, seven-year program.

Dual Degree

Select students in the optometry program will have the opportunity to earn a dual degree with a Master of Public Health (MPH), enhancing their education and marketability.

Scholarship Opportunities 

Throughout the program, optometry students are encouraged to apply for scholarships from optometric associations and industry partners. The University keeps students up-to-date about new scholarship opportunities throughout the year. These scholarships recognize a variety of achievements, including clinical experiences, leadership, community service, and military optometry service, and can be applied to tuition or living expenses. 

Recognizing Excellence

The School of Optometry recognizes students who demonstrate academic achievements, clinical excellence, and leadership roles within the classroom and the community. Awards are presented during the “Eye Ball,” a formal dance held each spring, as well as during a formal award ceremony for fourth year students, held in the weeks before commencement. 

A field of growth

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for optometrists is expected to grow at a much faster rate than many other occupations, with a potential 18% increase in jobs needed by 2026. This growth is partly driven by an aging population, with vision problems tending to occur more frequently later in life.

Well-prepared

With innovative training and immersive clinical opportunities, our graduates are extremely well prepared to enter and advance in the field of optometry. Clinical education experiences are varied so that students are prepared as independent practitioners of contemporary optometry.

Well-paid

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for optometrists was $110,300 in May 2017, with the highest 10% earned more than $190,090.

Job satisfaction

Optometrists rank #20 in the U.S. News’ list of the 100 Best Health Care Jobs of 2019. Jobs are ranked according to their ability to offer an elusive mix of factors, including salary, the number of expected openings, advancement opportunities and career fulfillment.

Students gain hands-on experience working with real patients at our on-site clinic and retail location on our Worcester, MA campus.

At the Eye and Vision Center, students work alongside professional faculty to provide comprehensive eye and vision care to patients from the greater Worcester area in an accessible clinical facility that features twenty exam rooms.

We are committed to providing the highest levels of clinical education by rotating students through a variety of clinical programs, including primary care, cornea and contact lens, low vision, pediatrics/binocular vision, glaucoma, and developmental disability clinics.

Students gain insight from professional faculty members who are board certified optometrists, many of whom are Fellows of the American Academy of Optometry and clinical researchers. These faculty members have published papers in professional journals, authored optometry textbooks, and are actively engaged in community organizations, making them invaluable as instructors and mentors.

At 10 Optical, student interns work alongside registered dispensing opticians in a retail setting. Students help patients choose the perfect pair of glasses for a great look, and educate them on the latest in lens technology for the most comfortable vision possible.

At MCPHS, you will discover a variety of Optometry-specific professional organizations and clubs, all designed to empower optometry students to gain hands-on experience, leadership skills, and networking opportunities.

American Optometric Student Association (AOSA)

The American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) represents more than 6,700 students attending the 24 school and colleges of optometry across the US and Canada. The MCPHS chapter supports AOSA’s mission to promote the profession of optometry, improve the visual welfare and health of the public, and enhance the education of optometry students. AOSA hosts a number of events each year, including “Mock Bowl,” a trivia night, a Welcome Night for first year students, “Eyeball,” an annual optometry formal dance.

College of Optometrists in Vision Development – Pediatric Optometric Club (COVD-POC)

A new organization on the Worcester, MA campus, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development Pediatric Optometry Club (COVDPOC) is focused on enriching the local pediatric community through vision screenings and community service events. The organization, which works closely with the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), focuses on specialized vision care services, with the goal of enhancing visual abilities and correcting vision issues in infants, children, and adults.

National Optometric Student Association (NOSA)

The National Optometric Student Association (NOSA) is focused on the advancement of minority optometric students, as well as empowering future optometrists to provide the best possible care to minority populations.

NOSA focuses on recruiting and retaining minority students and placing them into appropriate practice settings upon graduation through mentorship opportunities. The organization also educates students on how to enhance the care given to minority populations. As part of this mission, the organization hosts Spanish-language eye exam seminars.

Private Practice Club (PPC)

The Private Practice Club (PPC) at MCPHS works to educates optometry students on a variety of different optometry practices and business management skills, as well as on how other professions impact the optometric profession.

Award Winner: PPC was the first ever Optometry-focused organization to win the Organization of the Year award. They took home the top prize in 2016-2017.

Student American Academy of Optometry (SAAO)

The Student American Academy of Optometry (SAAO) is the MCPHS chapter of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO), a nationally recognized organization. The chapter promotes the art and science of vision by fostering lifelong learning.

Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH)

The Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) organization is focused on giving back, both in our local communities and on the international stage. SVOSH hosts community vision screenings in the city of Worcester, MA, as well as fundraisers and other volunteer opportunities. The organization also hosts an annual trip to Nicaragua, where students provide complete eye exams to underserved populations.

“It was honestly such a humbling experience to travel to Nicaragua and provide care for so many wonderful people. Not only is it relevant to what I will be practicing in the future as an optometrist, but it taught me a lot about patience, appreciating other cultures, and working towards an end goal. This trip has changed me as a future optometrist and as a person.
— Hyder Almosawy, Doctor of Optometry '19, SVOSH officer

Vision Statement:

Educating future Optometrists to be curious, compassionate and community-oriented.

Mission Statement:

To support the Optometric profession by educating future optometrists to the fullest extent of clinical scope within an interprofessional and community-oriented environment, while providing care to all members of society, especially those who are underserved.

MCPHS University School of Optometry Programmatic Goals:

Teaching Goal

Provide a comprehensive and broad curriculum that fully prepares students for contemporary entry-level practice and licensure upon graduation.

Teaching and Learning Objectives

• Implement and assess (through curricular mapping) the changes recommended by the comprehensive curriculum review process in 2016-17 to meet the needs of students and the profession.
• Recruit and retain students with diverse backgrounds to be educated as health professionals within a culturally sensitive and educationally stimulating environment.
• Expand electronic teaching modalities (e.g. Blackboard platform and Lecture Capture) to supplement current teaching modalities.
• Provide expanded opportunities for active student learning through online education, interactive seminars and case-based discussions.
• Enhance on-going support for those students needing tutoring, mentoring and counseling to help them successfully complete the professional program in four years.
• Develop and implement Interprofessional education opportunities.
• Recruit only those applicants with residency training or significant professional practice experience to serve as clinic faculty.
• Recruit the best-qualified faculty while seeking diversity to best compliment the profile of our students and patients.

Research and Scholarship Goal

Provide support and development opportunities to enable faculty to successfully engage in scholarship and to actively participate in research.

Research and Scholarship Objectives

Recruit additional qualified faculty as an ongoing priority to strengthen the School’s academic and scholarship programs.

• Support faculty with high-quality technology resources including electronic, multi-media, scanning and printing services to enable them to teach effectively and engage in scholarship.
• Provide a formalized faculty mentoring program with selected University faculty members to guide newer faculty hires in areas of teaching, scholarship and leadership.
• Provide faculty with related workshops/programs (on-campus or off-campus) to enhance their scholarship abilities and opportunities.
• Actively encourage faculty to submit for internal faculty research grants, as well as federal, foundation, and corporate funding.
• Support selected faculty to participate in national faculty development programs including, ASCO SIGs, the bi-annual AOA/AAO Summer Research Institute, and the bi-annual Summer Institute for Faculty Development (SIFD).

Service Goal

Establish programs to provide eye and vision care services to the public through access and education.

Service Objectives

• Identify the community needs and funding sources.
• Develop mobile service capability to increase access to care and to provide vision care services outside of School-owned facilities.
• Identify and educate assisted living facilities on vision care services and technologies.
• Develop effective marketing and community promotion programs to expand the patient base at the Eye and Vision Center
• Develop collaborative relationships with local health care providers to advance education and patient care.
• Educate interns and doctors on communication with patients.
• Provide outside education to groups such as health care providers, social workers, nurses, and other educators and non-profits to enhance their understanding of the importance of eye health and vision in learning.
• Identify and contract with additional third-party programs and funding sources for medical and vision care coverage
• Expand vision rehabilitation services to support and emphasize geriatric rehabilitation (e.g. occupational therapy, orientation and mobility specialist, grief and trauma counselor, and support groups).
• Implement the Children’s Vision initiative to enable every child in the Worcester School District to be vision-ready to learn.

Patient Care Goal

Create a patient care environment that has the equipment, patient base, and experienced faculty to provide clinical education to students.

Patient Care Objectives

• Maintain current patient care facilities to ensure the good working order of all current equipment.
• Acquire additional equipment that allows for better patient care and student learning
• Expand clinical footprint and patient base beyond Massachusetts and establish vision centers in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
• Promote the Eye and Vision Center (EVC) locally via marketing efforts to improve community awareness and patients seeking care at the EVC.
• Continue to recruit Optometrists trained in specialty areas including low vision, vision therapy, and medical contact lenses to further attract patients and educate students.

Core Values:

The School of Optometry embraces the MCPHS University core values, which reflect commitment to preparing competent, caring, ethical professionals deliver quality health care.

Empowerment – Encourage people around you to be their best.
Refers to measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people. The goal is to enable others, independently or collectively, to have the authority to represent their interests in a responsible self-determined way.

Inspiration – Be a role model
To stimulate in others that each person has the ability to contribute their unique talents to advancing the organization.

Optimism – Carry a positive attitude
To convey to others an expectation for favorable outcomes based on a belief that good ultimately prevails over bad outcomes.

Selflessness – Do what is best for our community of students, faculty and patients
To be guided by actions that will benefit others without consideration or expectation of personal rewards or benefits.

Courageousness – Take risks and plant seeds that can bear fruit in future years
Having self-belief and the confidence to face adversity or challenges without fear

Perseverance – Focus on achieving the desired outcomes
The effort required to do something and keep doing it till the end, even if it is difficult

The Doctor of Optometry (OD) program on the Worcester campus has been granted the classification of Accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (243 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141; phone: 800.365.2219).