VA Wilmington provides care to veterans in the Delaware Valley and surrounding area at the main facility in Wilmington, Delaware and in five community based outpatient clinics.  The collaboration of primary preventative care and interventional specialty care allow the students to observe and participate as an integral member of a patient’s health care team.  The optometry and ophthalmology sections work in tandem to provide seamless secondary and tertiary eye care in the clinic in a state of the art clinic which opened in March 2015.   Students will be exposed to specialty testing modalities including anterior and posterior segment photography, OCT, HRT, Optos, GDx and FDT.  Wilmington VA maintains active academic affiliations with ICO, NECO, NOVA, PCO and SUNY schools of optometry.  Students will also be interacting with the 3 optometry residents at the main facility.

 
Students will provide supervised eye care at the main facility in Wilmington (and may visit our Vineland NJ CBOC). This rotation is specifically designed for the highly motivated student desiring intense exposure to medical optometry in a healthcare system.  There is an emphasis on student development as a clinician and not a “fact collecting technician”. Students are expected to formulate and discuss their individual therapeutic and management plans for each patient to allow for clinical growth with each patient encounter.  Students are expected to participate in all didactic activities in conjunction with the residents and should expect to present a case discussion during the rotation.  Students will work closely with optometric residents and optometric staff.

GOALS:
For optometry students to gain clinical experience in a health care system that promotes development of clinical skills necessary to become a proficient optometrist who is capable of practicing as an integral member of a multi-disciplinary health care team.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. To become an empathetic optometrist providing efficient and quality eyecare.

2. To gain experience in routine vision care and treatment of visual and ocular disorders.

3. To acquire and demonstrate clinical competency in the use of basic and advanced examination techniques including the integration of available technologies.

4. To become proficient in the diagnosis, treatment and management of routine ocular conditions of the aging population glaucoma, retinal vascular disease, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

5. To gain experience in the coordination of health care with various health care disciplines to provide eye care that is integrated with the patient’s individual health needs.

6. To acquire the ability to integrate the patient’s visual problems with their other systemic conditions.

7. To develop patient management skills in dealing with individuals who manifest a variety of physical and emotional disorders.

8. To experience the role of optometry in a hospital-based environment.