Course overview

This distance-learning course combines the needs of employers and the ophthalmic dispensing profession to offer you a flexible route to becoming a dispensing optician.

The work-based format integrates work-based learning and academic learning to bring together academic achievement and the practical skills required in the workplace. Although the course is primarily delivered by distance learning, it is supported by seminars, lectures and practical workshops, which take place during residential placements in purpose-built facilities at Anglia Ruskin.

The course will equip you with the skills necessary for working in a modern optometric practice - you will study Professional Practice, Low Vision and Contact Lens Management, Visual Optics and Ocular Emergencies and Ophthalmic Lenses. The General Optical Council has given provisional approval for the Foundation Degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing to be a registrable qualification, which will enable you to practise without supervision and, if you wish, to continue your studies to become a contact lens optician.

On successful completion of this course you will be able to:

• Use well-established scientific, technical and business principles which underpin the area of study.
• Apply underlying principles in a vocational context and appreciate the main methods of enquiry in their subject area.
• Effectively and efficiently use resources and appreciate the limits of their knowledge and implications for ongoing personal development.

Your questions answered

Registration
All students are encouraged to maintain student registration with the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) as the professional body for Dispensing Opticians. It is hoped that associate membership may be available after registration. FdSc Ophthalmic Dispensing students do not need to sit ABDO examinations. The General Optical Council (GOC) requires evidence that a student is competent in a number of specific areas and these are taught and assessed in the Foundation Degree. No extra examinations are required. The registerable Foundation Degree differs from its earlier taught version in that it places more emphasis on work based learning. There are two additional modules teaching and assessing practical ophthalmic dispensing.

The differences between the Foundation Degree and Honours degree are: A Foundation Degree has much wider access points, is not governed by the UCAS entry system, is set at higher level education levels 1 and 2 and has a minimum credit volume of 240. An Honours Degree requires A level entry and includes level 3 work and a dissertation. The minimum credit level is 360. You cannot use the letters FBDO when you qualify, this is because the Foundation Degree is awarded by Anglia Ruskin University, not ABDO.

In order to make sure that Foundation Degree students have completed all the work necessary for GOC Registration every student has a Tracking Chart that shows where each competency has been successfully completed. A completed Tracking Chart will be evidence that a student is competent to be registered by the GOC as a Dispensing Optician.

Practical Exams
There are fewer practical exams in the FdSc because the evidence of competency that is required is best achieved by documenting work done under professional supervision over a period of time. Practical exams tend to test ability on one day only. There are some practical assessments at the end of the 1st and 2nd year. When you qualify you can still use the title 'Dispensing Optician'. This title is protected in law. 'Scheme provider' is defined where Sections (1) and (2) of the Opticians Act state that:

• (1) the Council may approve for the purposes of the Act any institution where the instruction given to persons training as opticians appears to the Council to be such as to secure to them adequate knowledge and skill for the practice of their profession; and
• (2) that the Council may approve for the purposes of the Act any qualification which appears to the Council to be granted to candidates who reach such a standard of proficiency at a qualifying examination as to secure to them adequate knowledge and skill for the practice of their profession.

The GOC has approved Anglia Ruskin University as a training institution and the Foundation Degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing as a suitable qualification for registration.

Case records and logs of work carried out under supervision in practice (PQP) are still required. This work forms part of two new dispensing modules, one running throughout both semesters of the 2nd year and one running throughout both semesters of the 3rd year. These modules have dedicated text written to support the completion of case records and additional teaching will take place during residential periods.

There will be practice visits. A representative of the university may visit a practice to ensure that all the equipment required for training is in place and that both the trainee and the supervisor are fully conversant with what is required of them during the extent of the course. One aim of the visit is to give additional support wherever possible to supervisors and to encourage liaison with academic staff at university.

Associated careers

The course will equip you with the skills necessary for working in a modern optometric practice - you will study Professional Practice, Low Vision and Contact Lens Management, Visual Optics and Ocular Emergencies and Ophthalmic Lenses.

Entry Requirements:

Required - 1 A level pass or, 2 years experience in an optical practice and an admissions portfolio. Applicants must be employed in an Optometric practice. Applicants must be supervised by registered optometrist or dispensing optician. This course is recruited by Anglia Distance Learning (ADL). To make an application, contact ADL on 01695 554209. GCSE(s) Required: 5 GCSEs at C grade or above including Maths and English

Entry requirements listed are for September 2013 entry. Entry requirements for other intakes may differ.

These courses are recruited for Anglia Ruskin University by Anglia Distance Learning (ADL) and all applicants must contact them directly to apply.

Please call 01695 554209 or email distlearnuk@hotmail.com