Do you want to study optometry in Texas, but you don’t know which of the schools to apply to? Then this guide is meant for you. We will be looking at the best optometry schools in the state. Endeavor to read it to the end.
Overview
When people think of high-stress, life-or-death scenarios, medical professions like heart surgeon and brain surgeon leap to mind.
But every branch of medicine deals with our bodies and our health, making them all incredibly important. A mistake can have dire consequences for a patient’s quality of life. See Best Physician Assistant Schools & Programs in Texas.
For that reason, the best indication of a medical school’s quality might not be its faculty or its research endowment, but its ultimate pass rates.
By ultimate pass rate, we mean the percentage of students who pass the exams required by a discipline’s major governing body. These exams make sure that students have the knowledge and skills necessary to enter the profession.
With that in mind, Bekeking presents this list of the best optometry schools in the state of Texas, ranked according to “ultimate pass rates” reported by the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry.
Each of the two optometry schools in Texas, boasts excellent rates, either meeting or exceeding national averages.
All of that said, most people choosing a school do not care about mere numbers. They want their college experience to be rich and rewarding.
In addition to learning from excellent faculty, students want to work with committed students and gain exposure to cutting-edge equipment.
If that’s you, take a look at this list. We’ll not only show you how students at these schools pass the ASCO exam, but also the other benefits of attendance.
Here are the two best Optometry schools in Texas
1. University of Houston College of Optometry
As part of the third-largest institution of higher learning in the state of Texas, the University of Houston has unprecedented resources to support its College of Optometry and its mission.
The school exists to advance the field of optometry, vision science, and clinical care. In both its teaching and research, UH Optometry values unparalleled excellence, integrity, and compassion. All of these attributes embody the school’s slogan, “Enhancing Vision for Life.”
University of Houston Optometry offers a variety of degree paths, including a Doctor of Optometry, as well as MS and Ph.D.
The Doctor of Optometry runs for four years and trains students in examining, diagnosing, treating, and managing disorders of the visual systems.
Subjects include everything from vision testing to managing complex eye problems to diagnosing systemic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.
The program provides everything from theoretical learning in classrooms to hands-on experience in the school’s clinics. See Best Veterinary Schools in Texas.
A graduate degree from UH Optometry is an excellent choice for those who prefer research and teaching over practice.
The degree programs prepare students to explore avenues of research in academic, industrial, and professional settings.
Working alongside faculty mentors, students examine the latest in normal and abnormal visual processes, diseases and disorders of the eye, visual optics, and more.
All graduates of University of Houston Optometry and other accredited schools and colleges of optometry have access to residency programs.
The programs can be within the school or elsewhere, including Houston, Dallas and Ft Worth, TX, Phoenix, AZ, and Denver, CO.
With these programs, optometrists gain advanced training and knowledge, learning through direct patient care, scholarly and didactic activities also contribute to the development of the advanced clinical competencies.
No matter which degree program they are in, students benefit from the three research centers at University of Houston Optometry.
The Texas Eye Research and Technology Center (TERTC) investigates contact lens wear and other elements of ocular health and pathology, including studies on the effects of refractive surgery and the environment on ocular tissues.
At the Visual Optics Institute (VOI), scientists, clinicians, and optometry students advance their understanding of the optics of the eye, partially through research instrumentation used to diagnose and treat eye diseases.
The Ocular Surface Institute brings together clinical and basic scientists to advance the field of ocular surface health within its world-class translational research center.
These institutes support the school’s interdisciplinary research teams in their explorations of normal and abnormal visual processes, inherited and acquired diseases, and disorders of the eye and visual pathways.
These teams employ cellular, molecular, behavioral, and optical approaches to prevent or minimize vision loss.
Thanks to funding from the National Eye Institute, federal agencies, private interests, and individual donors.
With these institutes at its disposal, University of Houston Optometry pursues projects such as the Myopia Control Initiative (MCI).
With an environment conducive to collaborative research, the MCI seeks to disseminate myopia control strategies through optometric education and clinical services.
4th-year students in UH Optometry can take an elective course in comprehensive myopia through the MCI, gaining access to current, in-depth knowledge about optical and pharmaceutical treatments for myopia control.
2. University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry
With only two available options, one could be forgiven for thinking that Texas had no options for those who want to study optometry while strengthening their faith.
However, the University of the Incarnate Word’s Rosenberg School of Optometry trains future optometrists from a Christian worldview.
As a faith-based institution, Rosenberg emphasizes its students’ individual development to create compassionate doctors.
The school achieves these goals through its Health Professional Personal Development Pathway, which weaves through specific courses taken during students’ first two years of professional study.
In addition to workshops and lectures, these courses discuss issues such as mission, social justice, human dignity, self-care, and more.
These principles are disseminated through the school’s first-class faculty. Rosenberg boasts a full complement of distinguished, talented, and caring instructors, with years of industry experience.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 14:1, the school prides itself as an institution where students matter and earn recognition from their teachers. The faculty follows the example of their Dean, Dr. Timothy A. Wingert.
A Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a Diplomate in the Section on Public Health and Environmental Vision, Dr. Wingert is a founding member of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics and is the only optometrist to be named a traditional J. William Fulbright Scholar through the program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Dr. Wingert is just one of many faculty members who commit to teaching with an active research agenda. In recent years, Rosenberg faculty have contributed to articles published in some of the top publications in the field, including the Journal of Optometric Education, Clinical and Experimental Optometry, and PLoS ONE.
Moreover, faculty members have won awards such as the Korb-Exford Dry Eye Career Development Grant awarded from the American Academy of Optometry Foundation to Dr. Srihari Narayanan in 2017 and the Educator of the Year Award presented by the Texas Optometric Association to Dr. Jeffrey Rabin in 2015.
In addition to this excellent faculty, Rosenberg also has the University of Incarnate Word Eye Institute within the San Antonio Medical Center.
Doctors of optometry and clinical staff perform comprehensive eye exams for patients. Additionally, the institute features specialty clinics for contact lenses, low vision concerns, ocular disease, and vision therapy.
Conclusion
The guide was written on the best optometry schools in Texas. You can share your thought on this article with us via the comment section if you found it useful.
Last Updated on June 26, 2023 by Admin
