faq

 

Rewards :

 

Optometry is a one of the leading income earning professions in the country. It has favourable working hours with minimum emergency calls.

 

Scope :

 

There are many career options available to graduates as a result of their academic and clinical experience. An optometrist can

• Practice independently
• Assist at opthalmologists in hospitals/clinics
• Practice at optical establishments
• have excellent jop opportunities overseas
• offer clinical services to multinationals dealing with the manufacturing and distribution of ophthalmic lenses, contact lenses and ophthalmic instruments.

For those interested in higher studies, post graduation in the form of fellowships as well as MS and PhD programmes are now available in the country.

 

 

Primary Eye care in India:

 

Ophthalmic technologists, ophthalmic assistants and ophthalmic nurses come under paramedics and are assisting Ophthalmologists in India. There are about 4,000 such Ophthalmic Assistants employed mostly in rural India. The training of Ophthalmic assistants was concieved as a part of the National Plan for Prevention of Blindness under the advice of the World Health organisation in the year 1975. District Hospitals, State Eye Hospitals and Medical Colleges were asked to train Ophthalmic assistants who could assist the Ophthalmologists and relieve them of the primary eye care. They were stationed at primary health centres and at hospitals to provide rural eye care. They were specifically trained in hospital procedures to be able to assist the Ophthalmologists. Their training was left to the Ophthalmologists and to the respective hospitals to prepare them according to their own requirement.
The cadre of two year trained Ophthalmic assistants join government employment at Primary Health Centres and Peripheral Hospitals. Some of them even settle as opticians. This defeats the purpose of their training.

 

Eye Care Professionals in India:

 

In India, the number of opticians is estimated as about 10,000. Optometrists (qualified) 2000, Ophthalmic surgeons 10,000 Ophthalmic Assistants 4,000.
India with a population of 1.3 billion, the ratio of qualified eye care professionals to patients with eye problems is very low. Today India needs atleast 20,000 qualified optometrists.
Presently , the optical establishments in the country employ whomsoever they find Ophthalmologists and Ophthalmic hospitals that require well-qualified optometrists to assist them in their routine clinical work can hardly find able personnel. The paying capability of the optical establishments as well as of the Ophthalmologists is substantial for a well trained optometrist.
With this background, it is strongly recommended that a four year degree course in optometry be established at University level all over India, so that a cadre of well -qualified optometrists becomes available in the country. Ophthalmic science and optometry are developing at a very fast pace, add to that opening of the Indian economy and increasing living standards of the Indian family. Qualified professional optometrists are in great demand from the Ophthalmic industry, especially the MNC|s and the optical trade.

 

Demand for an optometry course in Mumbai:

 

As mentioned before, Mumbai being the commercial capital of India, it is also looked upon for a high level of education. With such a need for professionalism in eye-care it is very much required to have a college of optometry in Mumbai. Courses at Chennai and Pune attract a large number of students for their entrance exams. If places such as Chennai and Pune can gather such a demand for a degree course, there is no doubt that such a course run in Mumbai is attracting a number of students looking for a bright future. In Mumbai, institutionally qualified optometrists are well remunerated not only by optical establishments, but also by Ophthalmologists and contact lens clinics. The demand for the course will increase still more as public awareness grows.
With the continuos efforts of a few people a four year University level degree course in optometry is being started at the Hirabai Haridas Khimji College of optometry in Mumbai.

 

Optometry as a Professional Career:

 

Students having passed their XII standard Science examination look out for the best Professional education and career. One of them is a professional course in optometry.
Optometry and ophthalmology work together, like physiotherapy and Orthopedics. Optometry is taken as a professional career in countries with a good optometric education. A qualified optometrist is institutionally educated and clinically trained to examine, diagnose and correct the refractive errors by prescribing spectacles, contact lenses, low vision aids and vision therapy eye exercises to patients complaining of visual symptoms. An optometrist can contribute to public health - by vision screening in schools an industry . He can also attend to vision defects, associated with driving and flying. An optometrist can take up counseling of patients with partial sight and hereditary vision defects. With many world class products now being available in India, the present day optical business is getting increasingly professional. Given the scarcity of qualified optometrists in our country and the rapidly growing Ophthalmic industry, there is a great demand for institutionally qualified optometrists. With such a background, professional courses in optometry have an excellent future. Advanced countries of the World have recognised the joint role of ophthalmology and optometry in eye care. In India, ophthalmology has a well established educational base linked to Universities and therefore its level of education is at the highest. However, there are hardly 10,000 Ophthalmologists in a vast country like ours and it is more important that the high level of their specialisation is not being directed to primary eye care. It can be better utilised for various modes of surgical and medical treatment to control the large population of blindness.