Department of Optometry and Biology of Visual System
Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poland
Department of Optometry and Biology of Visual System
(DOBVS) was appointed in 1983 on the initiative of professor Bolesław
Kędzia – the pioneer of optometry education in Poland, the first chairman
(since 1999 professor Bogdan Miśkowiak has been head of this Department).
DOBVS conducts the following activities:
Teaching for medical, dental, public health and nursing
students (prevention and prophylaxis in visual organ, screening tests,contact
lenses).
Moreover DOBVS arranged a few workshops in problems of contact lenses for ophthalmologists
and optometrists with participation of outstanding lecturers from the USA,
Canada, Great Britain, France and Australia.
In the last 10 years DOBVS has conducted 5 series of 4-semester postgraduate
studies in optometry for opticians (over 100 students graduated – they became
the first optometrists educated in Poland). Also for the last 8 years DOBVS
has been collaborating with the Faculty of Physics of Adam Mickiewicz University
in Poznań in educating students in dispensing optics and in master program
in optometry.
Research on selected problems in optometry (physiological
optics, contact lenses, biology of visual system, screening tests of
visual organ in children and students). Effects of the work were published
in J Am Optom Assoc, Ophthalmic Physiol Opt, Med. News.
Organizational activity tied to introducing suitable
standards of education in optometry and introduction of optometric profession
in Poland. DOBVS is collaborating with Polish Association of Optometry
and Optics, KRIOO, ECOO and WCO (member of Refractive Study Error in
Children – Poland Working Group). In realization of these tasks the staff
of DOBVS participated in symposia and international conferences.
Postgraduate program in optometry at DOBVS – 2-year
program from optician to optometrist:
Curriculum - 600 hours of course is held on weekends
for two years.
The curriculum is presented in ten modules. The modules are:
- Biological courses – anatomy, histology, physiology, biochemistry
and general pathology (70 hours).
- Optics courses – nature of light/environmental vision, geometrical
and physical optics, and physiological optics (120 hours).
- Biology of visual system – ocular anatomy, histology, physiology,
pharmacology, microbiology and diagnostic biochemistry (120 hours).
- Visual perception – physiological visual perception, electrophysiology
and anomalies of vision perception (20 hours).
- Optometric exam procedures – didactic and practice of patient interactions
and optometric testing, refractions and medical ethics (110 hours).
- Binocular vision – normal binocular responses, anomalies of binocular
vision and treatment of binocular vision problems (30 hours).
- Ocular health – ophthalmoscopy, biomicroscopy, tonometry plus pathology
and diagnostic changes (40 hours).
- Optical dispensing – practical optics about lenses and frames, quality
assurance, new technology and materials (30 hours).
- Contact lenses – corneal physiology, lens design, fitting, care and
follow-up (35 hours).
- Clinical care is practiced in the laboratory room, at screenings
and in independent study (ca 100 hours).
A requirement for completion of the program is an independent
research project.
The chairman of the Postgraduate program in optometry
at DOBVS is Prof. Bogdan Miśkowiak
International activities of DOBVS:
- Cooperation with ECOO
- Cooperation with WCO in introducing the optometric profession in
Poland and in introducing suitable standards in optometric education.
- Participation in WCO Working Group “Refractive Study Error in Children
– Poland”,Poznań, 2003
- Participation in international conferences on optometric education,
Atlanta (2002), Barcelona (2003), Orlando (2004), (Brno 2004, 2006)
DOBVS has joined the global program initiated by World
Health Organization and World Council of Optometry “Vision 2020: The
Right to Sight” by:
- Including theses issues in lectures for medical, dental,public health
and nursing students
- Training over 100 nurses from Poznań in the technique of visual screenings
- Having the staff of DOBVS administer visual screenings to over 5,000
children 6-15 years of age (the results were published and made available
to the offices responsible for health policy – see the last publication
of DOBVS.
Optometric education in Poland:
The profession of optometry was introduced into Poland
by professor Bolesław Kędzia, former chair of the Department of Optometry
and Biology of Visual System at Poznań University of Medical Sciences.The
program was created after review of the European, British and American
optometric education systems.
At the present time there are two tracts by which one can became an optometrist
in Poland. The university based degree in physics with specialization
in optometry at Adam Mickiewicz University in cooperationwith Poznań
University of Medical Sciences and a postgraduate 2-year program in optometry
at Poznań University of Medical Sciences. In 2002 The National Educational
Board recommended to the Minister of Health to accept the postgraduate
educational program but not the newly created 5-year undergraduate program
in optometry.
Most of the candidates to 2-year postgraduate program in optometry are
university trained opticians.
Selected research publications of DOBVS:
- Kędzia B., Twardowski P. Control of the myopic shift in the modified
Badal optometer. Ophthalmic Physiol. Opt. 1998, 18,57-62.
- Mańczak H. Indications and contraindications in the use of rigid
contact lenses. Okulistyka 1998, 4, 53-57 .
- Kędzia B., Pieczyrak D., Tondel G., Maples W.C. Factors affecting
the clinical testing of accomodative facility. Ophthalmic Physiol.Opt.
1999, 19, 12-21.
- Kędzia B., Pieczyrak D., Tondel G., Maples W.C. Accomodative facility
test results and academic success in Polish second graders. J. Am.Optom.
Assoc. 1999, 70, 110-116.
- Pieczyrak D., Miśkowiak B. Visual screening in children starting
the school education in urban and village environments of Great Poland.1st
International Congress for Development of Visual Health, 6-8 Jun2003,
Barcelona, p. 68.
- Miśkowiak B. Visual screening test in children and university students.Fam.
Med. 2005, 7, 939-944
- Knapik J., Miśkowiak B. Visual screening in the students of the University
of Medical Sciences in Poznań. Med. News 2005, 74, 142-148.
- Miśkowiak B. Metody oceny procesu widzenia u dzieci i młodzieży.Zarys
Pediatrii – B. Pawlaczyk, PZWL 2005, p. 600-605
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