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Curriculum by Year (OD Program)
Related Topics
- Graduation with Honors: (see bottom of this page)
- Vision Science Graduate Courses: VS Curriculum
- All Optometry & Vision Science (Grad / Undergrad) Courses: UCB Catalog
First-Year Curriculum (35.5 units)
* Click course titles to see descriptions: click again to close.
FALL
Optometry 200A: Clinical Examination of the Visual System
Two hours of lecture and six hours of laboratory per week. Fundamentals of the optometric examination. Case history, visual acuities, objective and subjective methods of determining refractive status. Basic examination of anterior ocular structures and the ocular fundus, perimetry. (5 units)
Vision Science 205: Visual Perception and Sensitivity
Three and one-half hours of lecture and one 2-hour laboratory per week. Psychophysical basis for clinical tests in acuity, perimetry, and color vision. The visual stimulus and photometry. Visual receptors. Psychophysical method and visual threshold. Light sensitivity. Contrast sensitivity. Light and dark adaptation. Temporal and spatial properties of visual function. Color vision and abnormalities. Changes with age and disease. Visual illusion. Basis for advanced diagnostic procedures. (4.5 units)
Vision Science 206A: Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye
Four hours of lecture for seven and one-half weeks. This course focuses on the anatomy and physiology of the eyeball. Overview of the gross anatomy of the eye followed by eye-relevant cellular and molecular biology. Cellular and molecular details of structure and function of each of the various non-neural components. (2 units)
Vision Science 206D. Neuroanatomy/Neurophysiology of the Eye & Visual System
Four hours of lecture for seven and one-half weeks. Prerequisites: 206A (must be taken concurrently). Formerly half of 206A. Structure and function of the neurosensory retina, photoreceptors, RPE including blood supply. Current concepts of etiology and management of major retinal conditions. Overview of diagnostic techniques in retinal imaging, electrophysiologic testing and new genetic approaches. Structure and function of the early visual pathway including retinal ganglion cells, optic nerves, lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex. Pupillary responses. Specialization in the visual cortex. (2 units)
SPRING
Optometry 200B. Clinical Examination of the Visual System
Two hours of lecture and six hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: 200A. Classification and epidemiology of refractive errors, evaluation of accommodative and binocular status. Tonometry, advanced techniques of examining the posterior pole, evaluation of visual pathway function. (5 units)
Optometry 213: Evidence Based Optometry
One hour of lecture per week. Basic concepts in evidence based optometry including various clinical study designs, potential sources of bias in each design as well as development of a systematic approach to evaluate strength of evidence from published studies, to identify potential limitations and develop appreciation for the importance of evidence based practice as a practice philosophy. (1 unit)
Optometry 270A. Eyecare Business and Professional Management I
One hour of lecture per week. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites: 200B. Ethics in general, and in an optometric setting in particular, are presented and discussed. Debt management, goal setting, epidemiological trends and health care implications, and micro-economics as it affects the practice of optometry. (1 unit)
Vision Science 203B. Optical System and Physical Optics
Three hours of lecture, one 2-hour laboratory, and one 1-hour discussion per week. Prerequisite: Vision Science 203A. Principles of optical systems, principles and clinical applications of apertures and stops, aberrations and optical instruments. Optics of the eye. Selected topics in physical optics, diffraction, interference, polarization. (4 units)
Vision Science 206B. Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye and Visual System
Twenty-six hours of lecture and eight hours of laboratory for seven and one-half weeks. Prerequisites: 206A. Formerly 106B. Structure and function of the tissues of the eye, ocular appendages, and the central visual pathways. Basic concepts of physiological, neurological, embryological, and immunological processes as they relate to the eye and vision. Foster an appreciation of the pathophysiology of various disease processes. Convey the importance of anatomy and physiology in the medical approach to ocular disease processes. (2 units)
Vision Science 217. Oculomotor Functions and Neurology
One and one-half hours of lecture per week and five 2-hour laboratories. Prerequisites: Vision Science 203B. Neuro-anatomical pathways for the control of eye position and movement, gaze holding, image stabilization, and tracking eye movement systems, oculomotor signs of disorders of the central nervous system (palsies, nystagmus, ophthalmoplegia, cog-wheel pursuits, saccadic dysmetria), the near visual-motor response and the synergistic coupling of accommodation and convergence, binocular misalignment (heterophoria and fixation disparity), and presbyopia. (2 units)
Vision Science 219. Binocular Vision and Space Perception
One and one-half hours of lecture per week and five 2-hour laboratories. Prerequisites: Vision Science 203A and Vision Science 203B. Perception of space, direction, and distance. Binocular retinal correspondence, horopters, differential magnification effects, and anomalies of binocular vision development. Sensory vision, local stereopsis, static and dynamic stereopsis, binocular depth cues. (2 units)
Second-Year Curriculum (34 units)
FALL
Optometry 200C. Clinical Examination of the Visual System
Two hours of lecture and four hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: 200B. Case analysis of refractive, accommodative, and binocular anomalies. Pediatric examination techniques. Advanced methods of examining the peripheral ocular fundus, anterior chamber angle evaluation. (4 units)
Optometry 222A. Optics of Ophthalmic Lenses
Three hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: Vision Science 203A and Vision Science 203B. Optical and physical characteristics of ophthalmic lenses, to include spheric and aspheric surface of single and multifocal lens designs, and ophthalmic prisms. Lens power measurement methods, lens thickness power relationships and considerations in designing prescription eyewear. Characteristics of absorptive lenses, ophthalmic coatings, lens materials, and their role in ocular protection. (4 units)
Optometry 226A. Systemic Pharmacology
Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: Vision Science 206D. Basic pharmacology, terminology, and concepts (both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic) and pharmacotheraphy of medical conditions commonly encountered in clinical optometric practice (including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, infection and inflammatory conditions, as well as central nervous system disorders). (2.5 units)
Optometry 236A. Systemic Disease and Its Ocular Manifestations
Two hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week. Prerequisites: 200D. The pathophysiology, pharmacotherapy, and clinical management of systemic and ocular diseases will be discussed through a combination of lecture and problem-based learning approaches. Disease processes will be emphasized and include cellular injury and repair, inflammation, infection, degeneration, and neoplasia. Neurologic, cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary, and congenital disease and their relative ocular manifestations will be presented. (3 units)
Optometry 270B. Eyecare Business and Professional Management II
One hour of lecture per week. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites: 270A. Patient scheduling, patient communication, systems design and office flow, accounting and finance in an optometric setting, fee computation techniques. (1 unit)
Vision Science 215. Infant Vision
Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Vision Science 206B. Development of the eye and the visual system. Normal development of the eye, retina, and central visual pathways. Effects of visual deprivation. Assessment of optical and visual function in human infants. Refraction and refractive error in infants and children. Development of visuomotor function, spatial vision, color vision, binocular vision, and depth perception. (2 units)
SPRING
Optometry 200D. Clinical Examination of the Visual System
Two hours of lecture and four hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisites: 200C. Modification of the exam sequence for specific patient needs. Evaluation and management of tear film disorders, analysis of vision with cataract. Patient management and professional communications, legal and ethical issues, managed care and optometry. (4 units)
Optometry 222B. Ophthalmic Optics and Environmental Vision
Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Optometry 222A. Ophthalmic lens aberrations and minimization. Ophthalmic lens design relating to anisometropia, aniseikonia, and high refractive errors. Optics of the eye, contact lens optics, and optical principles of low vision aids. Environmental vision and related ophthalmic standards. (2 units)
Optometry 226B. Ocular Pharmacology
Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: 226A. Basic pharmacology, terminology, and concepts (both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic) as applied to the eye and ophthalmic drugs, clinical prescribing issues including formulation, dosing and prescribing, and pharmacotherapy of anti-inflammatory, centrally acting, hormonal and other "specialist" systemic drugs. (2.5 units)
Optometry 236B. Systemic Disease and Its Ocular Manifestations
Two hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week. 236A is a prerequisite for 236B. Prerequisites: 200D. The pathophysiology, pharmacotherapy, and clinical management of systemic and ocular diseases will be discussed through a combination of lecture and problem-based learning approaches. Disease processes will be emphasized and include cellular injury and repair, inflammation, infection, degeneration, and neoplasia. Neurologic, cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary, and congenital disease and their relative ocular manifestations will be presented. (3 units)
Optometry 240. Diagnosis and Treatment of Sensory/Motor Anomalities
Two and one-half hours of lecture per week and eight two-hour laboratories per semester. Prerequisites: Vision Science 217 and 218. Diagnosis and treatment of heterophoria, accommodative, vergence and oculomotor anomalies including sensory anomalies and amblyopia. Rationale and methods for treatment with lenses, prism, occlusion, and vision training. Design and implementation of treatment programs. (3 units)
Optometry 260A. Contact Lenses: Examination of the Contact Lens Patient
Two hours of lecture and one 2-hour laboratory per week. Prerequisite: Optometry 200C. The physiological basis for fitting contact lenses. Effects of a contact lens on the tears, lids, and cornea. Examination procedures and instrumentation used in monitoring the ocular response to contact lenses. Contact lens inspection, care, and handling. (3 units)
Third-Year Curriculum (42.5 units)
SUMMER
Optometry 430A. Optometry Clinics
Minimum of 32 hours of clinic combined with 1 hour of lecture and four hours of seminar per week. Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis. Clinical practice in examination techniques and interpretation of clinical data. Primary care optometric exams. Prerequisite: Optometry 200D. (8 units)
FALL
Optometry 241. Advanced Management & Rehabilitation of Sensory/Motor Anomalies
Two and one-half hours of lecture and eight 2-hour laboratories per week. Prerequisite: Optometry 240. Advanced diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of strabismus, neurologic oculomotor disorders, amblyopia, and other associated sensory anomalies. Assessment and management of developmental and acquired visual perceptual disorders in relationship to learning disabilities. Design and implementation of treatment programs. (3 units)
Optometry 246. Diagnosis and Treatment of Anterior Segment Ocular Disease
Prerequisite: Optometry 236. Four hours of lecture per week. This course series consists of the pathophysiology, pharmacotherapy, and clinical management of systemic and ocular disease through a combination of lectures and problem-based learning approaches. Disease processes will be emphasized and include cellular injury and repair, inflammation, infection, degeneration, and neoplasia. Neurologic, cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary, and congenital disease and their relative ocular manifestations will be presented. The basic principles of pharmacology will be followed by overviews of drugs used to treat diseases of each system. The role of the optometrist in the health care system will be emphasized. (4 units)
Optometry 430B. Optometry Clinic
Two hours of seminar per week and a minimum of 18 hours of clinic per week. Prerequisites: 430A. Examination of patients in a primary care setting, prescribing of optometric therapy, management of emergency procedures, and vision screenings of children and adults. (9 units)
Optometry 435. Advanced Procedures in Ocular Disease Diagnosis
1 hour of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisite: Opt 200D. Instrumentation, techniques, and principles for examination, diagnosis, and treatment of ocular disease. Introduction to optometric informatics related to ocular disease. (2 units)
SPRING
Optometry 256. Diagnosis and Treatment of Posterior Segment Ocular Disease
Four hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Optometry 246. This course series consists of the pathophysiology, pharmacotherapy, and clinical management of systemic and ocular diseases through a combination of lecture and problem-based learning approaches. Disease processes will be emphasized and include cellular injury and repair, inflammation, infection, degeneration, and neoplasia. Neurologic, cardiovascular, endocrine, pulmonary, and congenital disease and their relative ocular manifestations will be presented. The basic principles of pharmacology will be followed by overviews of drugs used to treat diseases of each system. The role of the optometrist in the health care system will be emphasized. (4 units)
Optometry 430C. Optometry Clinic
Two hours of seminar per week and a minimum of 18 hours of clinic per week. Prerequisites: 430A. Examination of patients in a primary care setting, prescribing of optometric therapy, management of emergency procedures, and vision screenings of children and adults. (9 units)
Fourth-Year Curriculum (49 units)
SUMMER
FALL
Optometry 441B. Specialty Clinics
Minimum of 15 to 20 hours of clinic per week. Prerequisites: Optometry 440A and Optometry 441A. Examination, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and/or management of patients in specialty clinics; ocular disease, contact lenses, binocular vision, ophthalmic optics, and environmental and occupational vision. (7 units)
SPRING
Optometry 441C. Specialty Clinics
Minimum of 15 to 20 hours of clinic per week. Prerequisites: Optometry 440B and Optometry 441B. Examination, diagnosis, prognosis,treatment, and/or management of patients in specialty clinics, ocular disease, contact lenses, binocular vision, ophthalmic optics, and environmental and occupational vision. (7 units)
Graduation with Honors
Beginning in 2009, Berkeley Optometry introduced a new "Graduation with Honors" program. Students who choose to pursue the distinction "Graduation with Honors in Research" or "Graduation with Honors in Clinical Science" are required to meet high academic standards. Details can be found at Graduating with Honors.
