Community Optometry Outreach

At the end of OPT 521 (Community Optometry Outreach) course, student should be able to: 1. apply the knowledge and skills needed to generate the socio-demographic characteristics of a given community; 2. describe the basic skills in community penetration as a health worker; 3. determine the relationship between the life pattern of inhabitants of a community and the ocular health status of the community; 4. conduct basic visual health examination on the inhabitants of a community under supervision of a qualified clinician; 5. demonstrate skills in effective clinician-patient communication in a community setting under the supervision of a qualified clinician; 6. demonstrate skills in efficient patients’ case analysis and patient management plan in a community setting under the supervision of a certified clinician; 7. determine the common eye problems in a community and their possible causes through analysis of data collected from the community; and 8. conduct out eye-health education/promotion in a community under supervision.

Health education, environmental health, occupational health, public health administration/health care. Epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Social medicine. National and international regulations relating to health. Student exposure and participation in practical applications of all procedures on real patients in the community (at both rural and urban health centres, geriatric homes and many others), with appropriate case analysis and clarifications with supervising clinicians. Clinician-patient communication is assessed. Each student is evaluated on the subjective, objective, plan and management aspects of community patient care, such as referral. The community Optometry outreach course follows the Community Based Experience and Service (COBES) approach. Emphasis is on rural communities to deliver eye care services and carry out survey of endemic eye and vision problems under WHO (The Right to Sight) Programme. Participation in vision screening programmes for schools, industries. and institutions for the less privileged.