Trends in Optometric Education and Clinical Training
Interview commissioned by the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and conducted by James Hooley.
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In 1996, I accepted the position of president, Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) and brought with me nearly thirty years of experience in collaborative relationships between optometry and ophthalmology. My conviction of the importance of cooperation between the two professions began at the New England College of Optometry in Boston’s community health centers, was carried forward at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry with the affiliation with Hahnemann University’s Department of Ophthalmology. It was tempered by my federal government experience as the director of optometry service at the VA and was fully realized with the signing of a comprehensive patient care, education and research affiliation between ICO and the University of Chicago (UofC).
Thus, October 16, 1997 was my best day in optometric education and reinforced my conviction that cooperation between the two disciplines presents numerous opportunities for enhancing patient care and clinical training for students and residents, and for fostering a better understanding and respect between the two professions, while reinforcing their natural synergism. The affiliation continues to this day, as a vibrant patient care and clinical education collaboration.
Although I remain convinced that affiliation with academic medicine will significantly enhance both clinical education and patient care for both optometry and ophthalmology, there are other challenges that also need to be addressed before optometric clinical education can reach its full potential. Some schools and colleges of optometry have addressed several of these challenges, but much still needs to be done. With continued support from the American Optometric Association (AOA) and the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO), many of these objectives can be achieved within the next five years.
Dr. Mullen was president of the Illinois College of Optometry from 1996 to 2002. He is currently on the Board of Trustees at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and on the Board of Directors of the New England Eye Institute.
Journal of Optometric Education, 2006
On October 16, 1997, the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) and the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Chicago held a ceremonial signing of an affiliation agreement that brings together the educational and patient care resources of both teams of eye care providers.
The agreement, only the second of its kind in the United States, brings together faculty from separate, often competing, professions.
This affiliation emphasizes the complementary roles of each profession. It is intended to increase mutual awareness, improve and expand the training of both types of providers, and coordinate and enhance patient care.
“This far-reaching and quite unusual cooperative agreement brings together the disciplines of optometry and ophthalmology in a productive and rational way,” said Charles F. Mullen, OD, president of ICO. “Optometry students and residents, medical students, and ophthalmology residents will train side by side, learning a new respect and appreciation for each other’s disciplines.”
“The best eye care requires cooperation between doctors providing that care at multiple levels,” said Terry Ernest, MD, PhD, chairman of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Chicago. “As technology advances and financial pressures multiply, the optimal system for providing the broad range of eye care has grown beyond the scope of any single provider.”
Under this cooperative agreement, which has been in practice since September 1, 1997, University of Chicago faculty will teach and faculty physicians and residents will see patients who may require specialty care at the Illinois Eye Institute, the College of Optometry’s clinical facility.
The affiliation will expand training and clinical experience for students in each program. Students from ICO will come to the University for scientific and clinical training.
The two institutions will also create a joint OD/ PhD program, which will prepare optometrists to combine their clinical practice with eye care research.
Optometrists spend four years in optometry school, after college, studying the diagnosis and treatment of common eye diseases. Ophthalmologists spend four years in medical school, followed by another four to six years of specialized training as residents. Students in the OD/PhD program will combine four years of optometry training with three or more years of study of the basic science of vision and complete a substantial research project in their specialty area.
The only similar agreement was arranged between the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) and Hahnemann University in Philadelphia in 1988. At that time Dr. Mullen was executive director of PCO’s Eye Institute.
By combining the strengths of each profession, the Illinois affiliation pulls together a range of providers that is ideally suited for the emerging competitive environment of managed care. Primary eye care will be provided by the ICO’s network of optometrists. More complex cases, such as corneal or retinal surgery, will be treated by sub-specialists at the University.
“This arrangement provides the patients of the Illinois Eye Institute and the University of Chicago Hospitals with a closed loop for all eye care needs,” added Dr. Mullen, “from routine exams to the most complicated surgical problems.”
The combined programs now handle nearly 70,000 patient visits per year, more than 45,000 at ICO and another 20,000, including the most complex cases, at the University.
Both institutions are not-for profit. Each will retain autonomy over its operations and finances.
The University of Chicago Medical Center
Office of Medical Center Communications
850 E. 58th Street, Room 106, MC6063
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone (773) 702-6241 Fax (773) 702-3171
Thank you all for being present today. We are here to recognize, and celebrate, a truly auspicious day for the Illinois College of Optometry, for the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Chicago, for the professions of optometry and ophthalmology, for our students, residents and alumni, but perhaps most of all, for our patients.
The decision to enter into an arrangement with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Chicago – a decision in which, I might add, Dr. Ernest played a major and always productive role – was finalized in July. In essence, therefore, today we are taking time to acknowledge that which has already occurred.
It is altogether fitting that we should do so, for this is truly a significant moment in our history as a college and in our careers as ophthalmic practitioners. The ceremonial documents to which we will soon be affixing our signatures are reflective of a legal agreement that delineates perimeters for coordinating clinical, medical, educational and research programs between our two institutions. Among the benefits of our collaboration will be the creation of an O.D./Ph.D. Program, increased opportunities for collaborative research, shared lecturers and an expanded clinical base.
However, today’s celebration does not blur the distinctions between our institutions or our disciplines. We each have our respective roles and importance. Today’s celebration reaffirms the natural synergism between optometry and ophthalmology.
The true significance of the affiliation we celebrate today will be found in its impact upon those we serve. Through this agreement we will create an educational system that fosters a better understanding of the disciplines of optometry and ophthalmology by those who will treat tomorrow’s patients. It will help further narrow the gap between our knowledge and the needs of our patients. Our affiliation will produce better optometrists and better ophthalmologists, and it is the patients who will benefit.
That is the true significance of what we celebrate today.
Dr. Charles F. Mullen
Affiliation Ceremony Speech
October 11, 1997