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Optometry Internship (OPTO90028)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 100On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Year Long
Assoc Prof Daryl Guest
daryl.guest@unimelb.edu.au
Prof Algis Vingrys
algis@unimelb.edu.au
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | Year Long |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
Note: This subject is only available to students enrolled in the Doctor of Optometry.
The main aim of the Doctor of Optometry internship year is to integrate the optometric knowledge gained by students during their first three years of study with clinical work in a variety of clinical settings, in a way that will consolidate what they have learned and help them develop and improve the clinical skills necessary to practice optometry and serve patients in a safe and satisfactory way. The variety of clinical settings may include clinical rotations based in the University of Melbourne teaching clinics, public and private metropolitan practices, and hospital clinics. Other possible rotations include overseas placement sites, rural settings and specialist practices. Students will have the opportunity to gain experience in the areas of contact lenses, paediatrics, ocular disease, clinical therapeutic management of disease, low vision and binocular vision clinical specialties during the year.
Intended learning outcomes
Optometric Knowledge and Skills: Students must demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving basic and clinical science, as well as the application of this knowledge to patient care. At the end of the internship year they should be able to:
- demonstrate clinical competence through the number of patients seen, techniques performed and feedback provided.
- select, justify, and interpret appropriate clinical tests and diagnostic procedures with attention to benefits, harm and cost.
- demonstrate knowledge of the ethical, moral and legal foundations of optometric care.
- recognise the social determinants of vision disorders and disease, and the influence of physical, social and cultural environments.
Patient Care: Students must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective. At the end of the internship year they should be able to:
- interpret data and use clinical reasoning skills to derive a differential diagnosis and develop a clinical management plan.
- perform a targeted, accurate and timely clinical examination based on the patient's condition.
- collaborate with other health professionals to ensure patient safety and to enhance the quality of care.
- recognise and work within the limits of their competence and scope of practice.
Life-Long Learning and Improvement: Students must be able to continuously improve patient care based on self-evaluation and life-long learning. At the end of the internship year they should be able to:
- demonstrate the ability to give and receive constructive, formative feedback.
- demonstrate an ability to identify strengths and weaknesses in knowledge and skills, and seek opportunities to address deficits.
- demonstrate an ability to plan and monitor self-directed learning, taking into account the relative merit of learning activities.
- critically appraise scientific evidence and translate research findings into practice.
Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Students must be able to demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective information exchange with patients, patients’ families, and professional associates. At the end of the internship year they should be able to:
- communicate effectively with patients and families across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
- communicate perceptively in difficult situations.
- demonstrate sensitivity in the care of patients by treating them as an individual.
- demonstrate the ability to communicate inter- and intra-professionally.
Professionalism: Students must demonstrate adherence to ethical principles, and a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities in the best interest of the patient and the community. At the end of the internship year they should be able to:
- demonstrate honesty, integrity, respect, reliability, responsibility, and confidentiality in all professional interactions.
- apply principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice, and work to resolve ethical dilemmas as they arise in clinical practice.
- demonstrate empathy, compassion and self-care.
- show commitment to the prevention of vision disorders, eye disease and eye injury, and the promotion of health and wellbeing within the community.
Generic skills
- have highly developed written and oral communication skills
- have enhanced time management skills
- be able to develop new concepts of how to solve problems based on new knowledge obtained
- be able to independently advance their expertise and knowledge
- be able to plan strategies for improving the management of information in the workplace
- be able to work with colleagues to produce the desired outcome
- have developed a sound ethical and social framework so as to contribute to the wider society and the profession
- have developed leadership skills
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
OPTO90026 | Clinical Optometry Practice | Year Long (On Campus - Parkville) |
100 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
A learning portfolio (see below) | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Hurdle requirement: 100% attendance at clinical placements. Satisfactory performance in OSCEs. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Assessment is in the form of a learning portfolio, which is reviewed throughout the year and submitted at the end of Semester 2. The learning portfolio must include:
A personal reflective essay that demonstrates evidence of clinical practice experience, and of clinical knowledge, skills and attitudes at a level appropriate to a newly graduated optometrist, as outlined in the intended learning outcomes (4,000 words)
- Evidence compiled throughout the year (expected to be based on over 1,000 hours of clinical practice, and to comprise over 10,000 words of documentation), such as:
- Clinical case reports
- Results from clinical assessments from local and external sites
- Results from clinical examinations (e.g. mini-clinical examinations)
- Results from objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs)
- Results from computer-assisted learning tasks
This subject is assessed as Pass/Fail.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- Year Long
Principal coordinator Daryl Guest Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 27 hours of clinical practice per week; 22 x 1-hr tutorial / debate sessions (organised across the year). Plus attendance at the Doctor of Optometry Student Conference Total time commitment 1,632 hours Teaching period 20 January 2020 to 5 December 2020 Last self-enrol date 31 January 2020 Census date 31 May 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 2 October 2020 Assessment period ends 22 December 2020 Year Long contact information
Assoc Prof Daryl Guest
daryl.guest@unimelb.edu.auProf Algis Vingrys
algis@unimelb.edu.au
Additional delivery details
This subject is delivered either partially or fully in-person in Second Half Year 2020. Please ensure you are able to attend any essential in-person requirements or speak to Stop 1 about alternative subject options.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Doctor of Optometry
Last updated: 3 November 2022