Course summary

Please note this replaces our BOptom (Hons) Optometry course from September 2023. Start your journey into the world of optometry by studying for our four-year integrated taught Masters degree in Cambridge. As an MOptom Optometry student at ARU, you’ll study in our specialist eye care facilities, learning a range of clinical skills including how to perform eye examinations, diagnose sight problems, improve people’s vision, dispense spectacles, fit contact lenses, and manage a range of eye conditions. You’ll learn about how visual perception works, and how research guides our knowledge of vision. Your time studying optometry will combine academic study of vision science, ophthalmic conditions and the principles of vision, with real world experience of providing eye care to local communities. With support from expert tutors, this is the perfect place to train as an optometrist and gain direct entry to the General Optical Council (GOC) register when you graduate. Qualified optometrists are hands-on, examining patients and managing their visual needs and eye health. And we know that it’s important for you to gain this kind of practical experience. In the lecture theatre, we’re often joined by visiting professors, orthoptists and optometrists working in hospitals and their own practices. They’ll share their professional insights – as will our expert lecturers and tutors, who are trained optometrists and dispensing opticians. In one module you'll also learn alongside other healthcare students, giving you insight into interdisciplinary teamwork. Much of your learning time in years 1, 2 and 3 is spent in clinical and laboratory sessions, practical demonstrations, and in our University Eye Clinic. In your summers after years 1 and 2, you’ll be encouraged to undertake short placements in a variety of settings to aid your employability in the future. These could be in independent or multiple practices, in a hospital or charity. You’ll spend much of Year 4 combining your academic study with real-world clinical learning in practice. This involves a period of supervised practice in the professional world over 44-48 weeks. You’ll be supported in applying for this by our expert team of careers advisors, and by our partnership with the College of Optometrists. Once you have met all the requirements of the course, as an MOptom Optometry graduate, you’ll be ready to register as a fully-qualified optometrist. What’s the difference between an optometrist, an ophthalmologist, an optician and an orthoptist? In the UK, an optometrist can examine the eyes and is trained to recognise abnormalities. They can prescribe glasses or contact lens, offer clinical advice and refer patients for further treatment relating to their eyes. An ophthalmologist is a doctor who has completed their seven years of basic and foundation medical training, then further training specialising in medical and surgical care of the eyes. An orthoptist specialises in diagnosing and non-surgically managing squints and eye movement disorders. A dispensing optician cannot examine the eyes, but can advise on and fit glasses and lenses. We offer a foundation degree to become a dispensing optician. Are optometrists doctors? No, in the UK an optometry degree does not make you a doctor - an ophthalmologist is a doctor who has undergone full medical training. For students who complete their first year of BOptom Optometry, there may be the opportunity to transfer to Year 1 of MBChB Medicine. Other countries call an optometrist a “Doctor of Optometry”, and there is a postgraduate qualification called that in the UK, but this title is not that of a medical doctor.