University of Alabama At Birmingham

Dive into the study of the eye and how it connects with the rest of the body—and learn how to provide quality eye care. You can simultaneously earn your OD while researching topics such as dry eye disease, vision therapy, biomedical optics, and more, which can lead to a career as a clinician scientist, researcher, eye care provider, and more.

These are two challenging degree programs, but we've designed the curriculum so you can earn each degree side-by-side in the four years it takes you to complete optometry school. Your optometric education will start with classroom work, where you'll study topics such as optics, gross anatomy, eye movements, public health optometry, pediatric eye care, and more. Then you'll spend lots of time in the clinic, learning by practicing on actual patients at UAB and off-site clinics. Meanwhile, we'll want you to sit down with a faculty mentor to discuss your goals for completing your MS. Our program focuses research on ocular biology, systems neuroscience, biomedical optics, and patient-based vision research. Before you graduate, you'll defend a thesis based on your research. In the end, we want you to be a true vision expert.

• Classes at the School of Optometry are small, with about 50 students per class, which allows participants to engage with the program's internationally recognized faculty.
• Collaborate with the departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, Psychology, and more.