Career Opportunities for ODs in Academia Teaching & Research Needs

Need More Optometry Faculty Teaching Needs  Profession is growing  More schools  Expansion of Scope requires greater range of expertise  Fewer instructors with ODs are teaching basic science in optometry schools

Need More Optometry Faculty Research Needs  Current production of OD, PhDs or OD, MS is just a trickle  There are many topics in “Traditional” Optometry that need research  Biomedical topics, i.e. within the expanded scope, have only a handful of OD researchers

Why Bother with Science?  Every instrument, every procedure, every treatment you use in clinic has a background in science  Smart clinicians ask why?  Leads to basic, translational & clinical studies that improve patient care  Optometry’s authenticity & legitimacy is enhanced because ODs do research  Optometry must not simply be a consumer of knowledge, it must contribute as well.

Academic Entry Points  Traditional: MS and PhD programs  Residency: Many provide teaching responsibilities; often needed for faculty positions  NEW: K12 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program– Training in Clinical/Translational research--Is not necessarily a degree program

K12 NEI Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program (NEI website lists six programs)  UC Berkeley Optometry  Wilmer  Univ. of Penn  Duke  Harvard-Mass Eye & Ear  Univ. of Illinois

K12  Three to five years of training  Purpose: support career development of clinical scientists  Translate basic science advances to clinic  Berkeley program offers your current faculty salary  Possible to get release & return to current institution

Graduate Programs at Schools and Colleges of Optometry  Indiana University: MS, PhD  MCPS OD/MPH  NECO: MS, PhD with Boston Univ.  Nova Southeastern: MS  Ohio State University: MS, PhD  Pacific University: MS, MEd  PCO at Salus: MS, PhD  SCCO: MS  SUNY: MS, PhD  UAB: MS, PhD  UCB: MS, PhD  University of Houston: MS, PhD education/graduate-programs/

Major Sources of Financial Support  Fee remissions, stipends, teaching & research assistantships, & training grants from the institutional graduate program  NIH- Loan Repayment Program, up to $70,000  AOF Ezell Fellowships  Individual NIH K23 (clinician scientist) or KO8 (research training) grants

Summary  Little or no tuition/fees: $0 out  Receive a modest stipend for living expenses: some $ in  Potential to increase salary through KO8 or K23 (e.g.$60-80K/year) grants: a lot of $ in  Potential to have a substantial portion of Optometry school loans repaid: reduce debt  Very competitive for teaching or research jobs

How to get started?  If you like to ask why, enjoy the discovery process, or want to advance the state of patient care, then a post-OD degree may be for you  Talk to the research director at your school  To see if research is appealing, some optometry schools have NEI supported summer research programs that will pay you a stipend, including: IU, NECO, OSU, UCB, UH