Professional Certificate in Medical Retina

This course provides you with the opportunity to expand your knowledge of common medical retina conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other vascular/retinal disorders.

The course addresses the diagnosis, referral and management of these conditions and uses a blended learning approach. There will be a series of online lectures available prior to you attending three full days with us at City, taught by leading clinical experts in the field. The three days at City are mandatory.

Who is it for?

This course is for optometrists wishing to develop their professional skills in diagnosis and management of retinal disease. It may also be suitable for other healthcare professionals that have advanced healthcare roles in hospital optometry.

Timetable

Module Dates: this module is now full.

MAY: Monday 3 May 2021 (from this date onwards you will have access to the online materials)
Please note; students will need to complete a series of distance learning lectures prior to the first teaching day (First teaching day is TBC).

JULY: TBC
SEPT: Wednesday 1 September (Online Written exam) and Friday 3 September (Online OSCE Exam)

Benefits

This course is accredited by the College of Optometrists, and upon successful completion, participants are awarded a Professional Certificate in Medical Retina.

Content outline

This course will provide you with knowledge of common medical retina conditions, enabling accurate and appropriate referral decisions.

On this course you will learn about:

the physiology and anatomy of the healthy retina

• communication with patients
• the pathophysiology, risk factors, and differential diagnosis of retinal and macular pathology
• current treatments of medical retina disorders
• OCT imaging and fundus photography in the healthy eye and in ocular pathology
• fluorescein angiography, ICG angiography and autofluorescence imaging in the healthy eye and in pathology
• national diabetic retinopathy screening programmes
• diabetes, its classification, risk factors, and associated ocular complications, with an emphasis on the relevance to retinopathy screening
• demonstrate an in-depth understanding of diabetes and its relevance to diabetic retinopathy screening
• demonstrate a critical awareness of current national referral guidelines and a detailed knowledge of local referral pathways.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology of the retina, with emphasis on the macula
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the risk factors and differential diagnosis of disorders of the retina and macular pathology
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of treatments of medical retina disorders, including the patient’s response to treatment
• Demonstrate a critical awareness of the use of fluorescein, ICG angiography, and autofluorescence
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the principles, processes and protocols of national diabetic retinopathy screening programmes
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of diabetes and its relevance to diabetic retinopathy screening · Demonstrate a critical awareness of current national referral guidelines and a detailed knowledge of local referral pathways
• Demonstrate a critical awareness of the rapidly evolving nature of medical retinal treatments, including pertinent treatment trials
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of current guidelines for management of MR disorders.

Skills:

• Show an ability to communicate effectively with patients
• Show an advanced ability to critically interpret OCT images and fundus photographs for AMD and diabetic retinopathy, with appropriate patient management
• Show an expert ability to detect and classify diabetic retinal disease
• Show a comprehensive ability to recognise acute retinal pathology, conduct appropriate tests and make appropriate referrals, clearly stating the level of urgency.

Teaching

This course uses a mix of blended learning and three full days of face-to-face teaching. You’ll receive access to all the online reading and lectures approximately four weeks before your three days at City.

The three teaching days are run back-to-back and consist of lectures, practical workshops and case discussions.

Assessment

The assessment takes place approximately 8 weeks after the face-to-face teaching days.

It consists of a written assessment (three hours) and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (one hour)

The written assessment consists of:

• MCQs
• Patient Management Case Scenarios
• Visual Recognition & Identification of Clinical Signs (VRICS)

The practical assessment consists of:

• 6 OSCE stations

Award

This course is worth 15 credits and can be taken as part of the MSc in Clinical Optometry/MSc in Advanced Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioner (Advanced Practice in Health and Social Care).

After passing the course optometrists will also receive a Professional Certificate in Medical Retina from the College of Optometrists.

Course requirements:

• You should be a UK GOC registered optometrist satisfying all legal requirements to be eligible to practise in the UK
• Overseas optometrists/medical practitioners will be accepted on an ad-hoc basis providing your undergraduate syllabus and clinical responsibilities are similar to those of a UK optometrist/medical practitioner.

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.

Recommended reading material will be suggested during the face-to-face teaching.