Dr. Kent Daum – Dean of the school;
formerly with the Illinois College of Optometry, graciously
gave me a walkthrough of the facility and all I can say is,
“Wow”.
Dr. Daum (quoted in an interview
recently), said:
“The new school of optometry is to be
located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Other doctoral programs
exist on the same campus (pharmacy, physical therapy, as
well as a program in physician assistant studies). We find
it exciting to have an optometry program where students in
the optometry program work side by side with students in the
other health professions, sharing labs, lectures and other
professional endeavors, which will help build future working
relationships with other practitioners. We are committed to
a student-centered program that emphasizes clinical
experience and competency.”
From the high security front desk, to the
state of the art dispensary (managed by old friend Gerry
Hastings) the physical plant is beautiful. Simple, tasteful,
and very modern, classroom spaces use electronic white
boards and a variety of the latest audio/visual equipment,
comfortable seating, and lots of spread out space for the
lucky 80 students who will be attending the first classes
this month.
The exam rooms were what really blew me
away. Half of their space is occupied with state of the art
Marco electronically integrated refraction stations, while
the other half is beautifully but more traditionally
equipped. (I think I heard a figure of $3 to $4 million
dollars worth of refracting gear)
Kent showed me his personal refracting
room, in which the process is totally done by computer. A
patient’s current eyewear is analyzed automatically and
stored on a card (the built-in Intelligent Card (IC) Reader
allows seamless integration) which is swiped on the
phoropter stand to show the patient a before and after view
of their new Rx. This is then transmitted to the dispensing
office and from there to the lab via Vision Web for
preparation after frame data has been entered or remotely
traced.
Lest you think these folks will be slaves
to technology, fear not – they will be learning all the
traditional refracting methods so when they volunteer for a
VOSH trip to Guatemala they will be useful.
Dr. Daum and his team are preparing
students for a world with an aging population and rising
rate of diabetes that will lean heavily on more quality eye
care and eye care practitioners who can use these remarkable
new tools to great advantage.
