Independent Prescribing

Our independent prescribing course is an essential component on your route to becoming an independent optometry prescriber.

At City, we believe it’s important to have face-to-face teaching time, as well as online learning. That’s why you have two full days with us after you’ve completed the online reading.

Leading clinical experts in the field teach on this course, including practicing independent optometry prescribers. You can learn from their experiences during the interactive sessions. You’ll also get plenty of support from the module leads.

With the full qualification, you’ll be able to prescribe any relevant eye drug that you’ve been trained in.

Who is it for?

This course is for UK-qualified optometrists who want to become an independent optometry prescriber. This independent prescribing course must be completed along with two other modules: Principles of Therapeautics and Principles of Prescribing, as well as a 12-day clinical placement.

Timetable

Module will go live on Moodle from Monday 1 May 2023

Online synchronous teaching dates:

• May: Wednesday 10 May 2023 (2-4pm)
• July: Wednesday 5 July 2023 (all day)
• Sep: Wednesday 13 September 2023 (all day)

• Assessment: September 2023

Benefits

By becoming an independent optometry prescriber, you’re changing your scope of practice to take you to the highest level for an optometrist. This opens up new career options, such as working in a hospital environment or alongside a local GP.

This short course module is designed to be flexible in allowing you to study and reach your goals at your own pace. Our health CPD courses are credit-bearing modules that contribute to a University degree or award.

Transfer course credits towards postgraduate taught degree

As a health care professional, once you've completed this course you could offset 15 credits as part of a postgraduate programme, continuing your study with further modules to make up a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) 60 credits, Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) 120 credits or Master of Science (MSc) 180 credits qualification (all credits must be awarded within five years of study commencing).

This independent prescribing course is an essential part of your training to become an independent optometry prescriber. The learning outcomes of this module fit hand in hand with the Principles of Therapeautics/Principles of Prescribing modules.

The course content includes:

• Pharmacology of systemic drugs
• Evaluation and management of prescribing risks
• Adverse drug reactions and interactions/comparison of drug resources
• Information systems and clinical decision making support tools
• Prescribing in at-risk groups/medicines management
• How to develop clinical management plans in relation to prescribing in the medical management of glaucoma
• Differential diagnosis of anterior segment eye disease/treatment of anterior segment eye disease – including clinical management guidelines for prescribing optometrists.

By the end of this course, you’ll:

• Show effective advanced clinical decision making in primary care and glaucoma
• Have the necessary training in the theory and practice of independent prescribing
• Have the ability to develop and consolidate skills in the assessment, diagnosis and management of common opthalmic conditions
• Have the ability to recognise and appropriately manage sight-threatening eye disease.

Teaching

You’ll be taught by leading clinical experts and practicing independent optometry prescribers.

This module is a mix of blended learning and two days of face-to-face teaching. You’ll receive all the online reading and course materials approximately four weeks before your two days at the University. The two teaching days are run back-to-back.

Once you’ve completed your two days of face-to-face tuition, your assessment will take place approximately eight weeks later.

Assessment

There are four computer-based assessments at the end of this course combined into two components. The first component covers key feature problems to test your clinical decision making, and patient management case scenarios. The second component is comprised of multiple choice and short-answer questions.

The pass mark for both assessments is 50%. The key feature problems and patient management case scenarios account for 60% of your overall mark, while the multiple choice and short-answer questions account for 40% of your overall mark.

Award

This is a professional and an academic qualification. On successful completion of this course you’ll receive 15 postgraduate credits, which count towards an MSc in Clinical Optometry. This module also counts towards you CET points.

After passing this module, you’ll need to complete a 12-day clinical placement within a hospital eye service.

Once you have completed all parts of the prescribing programme, you will be put onto the specialist register of the General Optical Council (GOC) as an independent prescriber.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

You need to be a UK-qualified optometrist who is registered with the GOC to apply for this course. You also need to have completed, or be in the process of completing, the Principles of Therapeautics module (OVM050).

You will need two years of experience before you are able to take the common final assessment to become an independent optometry prescriber.

• You should normally be a UK-registered optometrist satisfying all legal requirements to be eligible to practise in the UK
• You should also be registered with the General Optical Council
• Overseas optometrists will be accepted on an ad-hoc basis providing your undergraduate syllabus and clinical responsibilities are similar to those of a UK optometrist.
• You must have completed Module 1: OVM050 – Principles of Therapeutics and Module 2: OVM058 – Principles of Prescribing before you are able to start for this module

English requirements

If your first language is not English, one of the following is required:

• A first degree from a UK university
• A first degree from an overseas institution recognised by City, University of London as providing adequate evidence of proficiency in the English language, for example, from institutions from Australia, Canada or the United States of America.
• International English Language Test Service (IELTS) a score of 7.0 is required with no subtest below 7.0
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) score 72 required
• TOEFL 100 overall with 24 in Writing, 20 in Listening, 19 Reading and 20 Speaking
• Other evidence of proficiency in the English language, which satisfies the board of studies concerned, including registration with your professional regulator.