sion LAND College oe Optometry vi^^i Cataloc; 2001 -2002 'Tl^ ft K. iniHEi 1:^^ ForcAvord This catalog is designed for the limited purpose ofproviding information to the students of The New England College ofOptometry during their course ofstudy. The College makes every effort to be certain that the catalog is substantively true and correct in content and policy as ofthe date ofpublication. It should not, however, be construed as the basis ofan offer or contract between the College and any present or prospective student. While to the College's know^ledge, the catalog contains no erroneous, deceptive, or misleading statements or omissions, the College retains the right to amend, add or delete any information in the catalog, including any course ofstudy, program or regulation, subsequent to publication thereof. Announcement ofsuch changes are made on a routine basis within the College. Equal Opportunity Policy The New England College ofOptometryprohibits discrimination on the basis ofrace, sex, rehgion, color, creed, marital or parental status, sexual preference, or national origin in the recruitment and admission ofstudents, the recruitment and employment offaculty and staff, and the operation ofits programs and activities, as specified by federal and state law^s and regulations. Volume Number 102 Aug. 2001 The Ne^v England College of Optometry Catalog 2001 2002 - The New England College of Optometry 424 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02115 617.266.2030 or 1.800.824.5526 or www.ne-optometry.edu Dcdlgn: Dara E. Pannebaker / Designs MA Printed by: Summit Press Chelsea, This Is apublication of The Ne-w England College ofOptometry All rights reserved 2000 Message from the President 1 The Profession and the College 2 Mission Statement 3 Vision Statement 3 History ofthe College 3 The Campus 6 Teaching 7 Patient Care 9 Research 12 International Programs & The Global Classroom 13 Professional Curriculum (Doctor of Optometry degree) 15 The Goals of Optometric Eklucation 15 Educational Objectives 16 Curriculum 2010 17 Doctor of Optometry Degree Programs 18 Professional Curriculum 21 Clinical Exlucation: The Final Year 32 Exlucational Opportunities in Research 35 General Information on Special Academic Programs 56 The Faculty 39 Degree Requirements & Academic Policies 46 Admissions to the College 69 Admissions Process 71 Tuition and Fees and Financial Aid 74 Student Affairs and Activities 86 Board of Trustees, Administration 91 Message from the President This catalog outlines the courses, programs, and policies of The New England College of Optometry; what it does not adequately express is the heritage of over 100yeartf ofteaching excellence and commitment topatientcare that is equally a part ofthis venerable We institution. strive to educate practitioners ofthe highest professional and technical competence and to imbue in our graduates a commitment to service, personal and intellectual growth, and uncompromising ethical We behavior. choose our students with care because they -will be our lifelong colleagues and must share the ideals ofprofessionalism and caring that we value so highly. The College has three primary missions: education, patient care, and raearch. We make sure that our graduates have a strong academic foundation, an extensive and diverse patient care experience, and an appreciation for intellectual discovery. While at the College, our students have an outstanding opportunity to learn from, and with, some ofthe nation's finest faculty and to gain their clinical training in the most extensive network ofhealth care facilities ofany school of optometry. Our location in the historic Back Bay of Boston provides an opportunity to study inAmerica',^foremosteducationaland medicalcommunity. Although we are a small independent graduate/ professional school, we have both formal and informal local affiliations with some of finest universities, medical centers, and libraries in the w^orld. I invite you to visit our historic facilities and to learn more about this remarkable institution. I kno^vyou will be w^elcomed and pleased with w^hatyou find. Alan Laird Lewis, O.D., Ph.D. President Hie Profession and the College Optometry began as a legally recognized health profession in the United States at the turn ofthe century. By the end ofthe 1920s, all 48 states had passed optometry laws that recognized the profession, and a national optometric accrediting body -was formed to evaluate educatioruiLprogranu andjudge 4 the quality ofoptometric education. This movement •" ^ in optometric education closely paralleled similar developments in medical and dental education. The seventeen schools and colleges of optometry in the United States and Puerto Rico enroll approximately 1,400 first-year students each year. All institutions offer academic programs that fulfill the requirements for the Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree, a prerequisite for licensure in every state. Individual states may impose their own additional requirements for licensure, such as state board w^ritten examinations, the National Board examination, and practical examinations in clinical optometry. Most ofthe 35,000practicing optoinetrLtLt in the UnitedStata tterve in private orgrouppractice as primary eye care practitioners (diagnosing and treating visual problems, ocular disease, and ocular manifestations of systemic conditions, as -well as providing health counseling) OptometrLitttpractice in clinical<ietting<t or are involved . ingovernmenttiervice, industry, .ichoolcon.fulting, teaching, or research. The composition ofthe entering cUui,ied at colleger ofoptometry hatf changed dramatically during the past twentyyears. Greater diversity no^v exists in gender, ethnicity, citizenship, and age. Today, women comprise over half ofthe enrollment at The New England College of Optometry, and ethnic minorities and interna.tional litudentd representabouta thirdofthe enrollment. The once relatively homogenous group of enrolled students has become a diverse populatron more reflectrve ofthe general college graduate population. Mission Statement The mission of The New England College of Optometry is to derve the optotnetric needti ofthepublic by educating optontetruittt to the highest Level of proficiency, integrity, and professionalism. Vision Statement The Ne"w England College of Optometry seeks to be the preeminent college of Optometry. ""^ The Ne-w England College of Optometry educates the world leaders oftomorrowfor career,) in eye care delivery, research, and education. The College honors discovery and suppoii;s an academic community Avhich exceU at teaching and research. The College is ever mindful ofthe public interest and possesses the resolve to produce important and lasting improvement,^ in visualhealth and welfare throughout the world. History of the College The Ne-w England College of Optometry began in 1894 with Dr. AugustA. Klein',) mLi,)ion to create an irutitution that wouldderve the public byfornuilly educatingper,ionti toprescribe and ditperuie eyewear, a function that until then w^as performed largely byjew^elers A and spectacle peddlers. German-born ophthalmologist, Dr. Klein and three of his children devoted the next fiftyyears to nurturing "what began as the Klein School of Optics. The mission of The Ne^v England College of Optometry has aWays had two central themes: serving the needs ofthe public and educating highly competent practitioners. Guided by this philosophy, the College has made note-worthy contributions in its first one hundredyears. The New England College of Optometry is the only optometry college in New England and has educatedapproximately 70% of the regions optometrLftti The College recently completed an $8.5 . million renovation ofits century-old campus in Boston's Back Bay and has established its first substantial endoAvment, w^hich -will exceeded $12 million in 2000. The College ha<f aUo iiutituted the largest internationaloptometricprogram in the world by developing extension programs, the first oftheir kind, Avith China, Germany, Italy, Spain, and South Africa. During its first half-century, as optometry gained acceptance, the school evolved accordingly. The course of study was expanded from a few^ months to one year, then two in 1909, three in 1934, and four in 1939. It became the first optometry college in the country to require five years of post-secondary education for the Doctor of Optometry degree: two pre-professional years follow^ed by three years of professional study. Today, the requirement is eight years of post-secondary education. The name changed in 1901 to the Massachusetts School of Optometry, in 1950 to the Massachusetts College of Optometry, and in 1976 to TheNewEngland College of Optometry to reflect it^growing regionalcommitment. The College ^vas the first institution worldwide to incorporate the term optometry in its official name. In 1933, the College began its first external clinic with the Harry E. Burroughs Ne'wsboys Foundation. TheMa<ttiachiufett,f Optometric Clinic, opened in 1941 on Commonwealth Avenue, ^vas the forerunner oftoday's fully equipped New England Eye Institute, at 1255 Boylston Street. In 1942, the school began an externship with the Boston Evening Clinic, followed by similar programs in parochial schools, missions, neighborhood centers, and community centers. Early in the 1970s, the College established affiliations with Bodton-area neighborhood health centertf andgovernment-affiliated ho<tpitaU. The elder eye care outreach program, begun in 1986, provides on-site services at senior housing developments. Today, the College's clinicalprogram** extend to nearlyfifty hospitaLf, medical center.*, andprivatepractice^* throughout the United States and include three affiliations abroad.