Corso di laurea in Ottica e Optometria

Knowledge and understanding

The candidate should demonstrate knowledge, understanding and skills, and be able to communicate, execute and manage the needs of patients using contact lenses or which must begin to do so. 

Applying knowledge and understanding

Clinical skills and practices should be: 
Ability to insert and remove contact lenses of any type and instruct the patient to do so  
Ability to apply soft contact lenses  
Ability to apply hard contact lenses  
Understanding and skills in the application of a hard corneal contact lenses in astigmatism  
Understanding of the techniques of application of contact lenses in complex case  
The ability to record, document and explain its clinical data in contact lens management   
The ethical management skills, responsible and legal activities in contact lens management

Frontal lessons, syncronous and asyncronous recording. Plear register at e-learning page

Laboratory work

Group work

individual study

Oral and written exam with preliminary laboratory evaluation.

The exam consists of  a written part, mandatory, and a oral part, optional, which can be attended only if the former gets a passing grade. The final grade takes into account the laboratory activities as well.

WRITTEN PART. Consists of questions on the programme presented at class and indicated in the suggested textbooks.

ORAL PART. The student attends the oral examination to improve the grade of the written examination.
During the examination the grade given to the written part is verified by, at least, one question and one problem equivalent to the ones discussed during that exam, but concerning different topics. The result can modify the final grade by at best +/-2 points in addition to the former result and is is anyway given in 27ths.

LABORATORY ACTIVITY. During the  execution of the practice exercises in the lab the students must prove to have learnt the utilisation procedures  for the slit lamp, the hygienical procedures and the ones to verify the contact lenses.
The overall lab assessment, given at the end of the practice exercises' cycle, adds form 0 to 3 points to the final grade given by the previous examinations.

The candidates should demonstrate knowledge, understanding and skills, and be able to discuss and undertake examinations and management of patients wanting to wear or who are already wearing contact lenses. Knowledge, understanding and testing skills should be demonstrated in the areas of :

(1) treatment and management of refractive/oculomotor/sensory integrative conditions using contact lenses,

(2) lens types and materials: hard lenses; haptics; lathecut, moulded, and spincast soft lenses,

(3) optics of contact lenses: curves, zones, widths and tear lens effects, sagittal depth; centre and edge thickness; flex, asphericity and toric designs and quadrantic specific designs, and oblong geometries with reverse curves,

(4) theories and methods of fitting: lens design, specifications of orders, lens verification and evaluation, insertion and removal techniques, design of wearing schedules, fluorescein evaluation and fitting criteria,

(5) patient selection based upon history, analysis of primary care data, correlations of data, facial physiognomy, and contraindications; and management based upon education and patient handling and control,

(6) the examination of a new prospective contact lens patient, the anterior segment examination and measurement,

(7) contact lens selection from presently available types and forms of lenses,

(8) care of lenses; handling; cleaning; preservatives available; disinfection methods and solutions,

(9) follow-up care; adaptation, physiologic and post-fitting complications, allergic responses, lens changes and mechanical problems,

(10) bifocal and astigmatic contact lenses; types, basis of selection and adaptation, techniques of fitting, and care for each,

(11) specially designed lenses and fitting procedures for keratoconus and irregular corneas, for keratoplastic and after refractive surgeries, sports vision, diseased and traumatic corneas, cosmetic (prosthetic) use, iris colour changes and colour vision deficiencies,

(12) Specially designed lenses and fitting procedures for Orthokeratologie.

Books:

• AJ Phillips, L Speedwell. Contact Lenses. Butterworth-Heinemann (Sixth Ed, 2019)
• William A. Douthwaite. Contact Lens Optics & Lens Design. Butterworth-Heinemann (2005)
• L Lupelli, R Fletcher, AL Rossi. Contattologia, Una Guida Clinica. Medical Books (1998)

Attendance at introductory lessons and and laboratory rounds is mandatory (75% of all course in laboratory for exam access)