Optometry (Clinical) University of Latvia

Overview

The Optometry (Clinical) programme is offered at University of Latvia. The professional qualification of the graduates meets the professional standard Optometrist and is equivalent to that received in the UK, USA and Norway.

Students of the programme acquire both professional skills in primary vision care (optometry) and academic knowledge in vision science, which allows them to enrol in the doctoral programme.

The programme

• The syllabus consists of professional (clinical) and scientific (experimental) subjects related to the evaluation, research and understanding of the human visual system. The programme includes the following: practical training (33%), medicine and physiology of vision (35%) and courses in the natural sciences and psychology.
• The study programme (80 credit points) contains compulsory (part A), optional (part B), and practical courses. The practical training (internship) accounts for 26 credit points. Part A (66 credit points) includes specialisation courses: general medicine in optometry, eye diseases and pharmacotherapy, contact correction, visual perception models, as well as a state examination and Master's thesis. Part B (14 credit points) contains clinical and experimental courses in optometry. The state examination accounts for two credit points and consists of a theoretical knowledge test in optometry and a practical examination in the evaluation of the patient's visual function and vision correction. The elaboration and defence of the Master’s thesis is worth 20 credit points.