Professional Certificate in Low Vision

From time to time, every eye care practitioner will encounter patients who suffer from irreversible vision loss. With an increasing ageing population, these numbers are set to rise and many more eye care practitioners will need to enhance their knowledge and understanding of optometric and general issues relating to the needs of visually impaired people in order to serve the community effectively.

This course enhances your knowledge of low-vision assessment and management, including the latest assistive technologies relevant to visual impairment.

Who is it for?

This course is for qualified optometrists who want to specialise in visual impairment.

Timetable

Module dates for the new academic year will be confirmed by August 2021.

Benefits

By specialising in visual impairment, you will expand your current scope of practice to include working in a hospital setting.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

On this course you will learn about:

• definitions and epidemiology of visual impairment
• registration and certification process in the UK including benefits of registration
• assessing visual performance and refracting a patient with visual impairment
• different organisations involved in low-vision care in the UK including different service modules
• optics of low-vision devices
• prescription and dispensing of optical, non-optical and electronic aids
• rehabilitation techniques such as eccentric viewing and steady eye fixation strategy
• the use of contrast and lighting to maximise performance in visually impaired people
• children and visual impairment including the law relating to low-vision service provision in this population
• optometric management of visually impaired patients including children
• psychosocial effect of visual impairment and its management.

Teaching

This low-vision course is taught by experienced low-vision practitioners, and is a mix of blended learning and two days of face-to-face teaching. Participants will receive all the online reading and course materials approximately four weeks before the course. The two teaching days are run back-to-back.

Assessment

Assessment takes place approximately eight weeks later after the two-day course.

The assessment consists of a multiple-choice question paper, a practical skills assessment (OSCE) and a 2,000-word written assignment.

The pass mark for all assessments is 50%. The multiple-choice question paper accounts for 30% of your overall mark, the OSCE accounts for 50% of your overall mark and the written assignment accounts for 20% of your overall mark.

Award

This is a professional and an academic qualification. On successful completion of this course you will receive 15 postgraduate credits, which count towards an MSc in Clinical Optometry. You will also receive a College of Optometrists accredited professional certificate in low vision and CET points.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

• You should normally be a UK-registered optometrist satisfying all legal requirements to be eligible to practise in the UK
• 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.

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.

Suggested reading list will be available on Moodle.