OPB656 Ocular Examination Skills 2

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2025, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit provides the theory and practical skills knowledge in the use of advanced clinical techniques used in eye examinations to assess ocular health (slit-lamp biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, tonometry, gonioscopy) and visual function (visual fields and colour vision) and the complete basic eye exam. It introduces the theory guiding these techniques, and develops the procedural and communication skills required to accurately, efficiently and safely perform these techniques. The unit develops your skills in the recording and interpretation of the clinical data obtained from these techniques to inform patient advice and management.  The ability to accurately, efficiently and safely perform these clinical techniques in eye examinations is a requirement for clinical practice, forming the basis for assessment and management of patients in optometry practice. 

This is a designated unit which is essential to your course progression. Designated units include professional experience units, units requiring the development of particular skills, and units requiring demonstration of certain personal qualities. If you fail to achieve a satisfactory level of performance in a designated unit, you may be excluded from enrolment or will be put on academic probation. If you fail a designated unit twice within your course, you may be excluded. Supplementary assessment is not available on designated units.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Explain the concepts and principles that underpin the clinical techniques for assessing visual function and ocular health;
2. Demonstrate the necessary procedural and communication skills to accurately, efficiently and safely perform the clinical techniques to assess visual function and ocular health on fellow students;
3. Record, interpret and integrate the clinical information obtained from the clinical techniques, to inform potential advice and management for patients with visual or ocular disorders.
4. Reflect on workplace shadowing of an optometrist using a professional development framework.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit is taught through online and live lectures, practical work, digital media demonstrations and case-based examples. You will learn how to perform techniques in practical sessions conducted in a clinical environment, acting as both optometrist and patient during the sessions. The practical work is conducted in small groups in clinical settings, and the techniques learnt in this unit will be put into practice with patients in the Master of Optometry course. Because optometry practice requires you to deal with people of all backgrounds, you will be required to practice your skills with classmates of different backgrounds  The unit's Canvas site includes study materials and activities to aid your learning.

The units further develops students towards achieving the Optometry Australia entry-level competency standards for Optometry (2022) in the competency units 2. Communication and patient history 3. Patient Examination, 4. Diagnosis and management and 5 Health Information Management and the appropriate competency performance criteria and indicators within the competency framework. Students will learn how to write reports to other professionals concerning the occupational  impact of colour vision assessment results. 

The unit requires students to demonstrate satisfactory performance of a range of clinical skills critical to the practice of optometry in order to progress through the course.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Formative Assessment

The unit requires students to be able to satisfactorily perform a range of clinical skills critical to the practice of optometry in order to complete the unit and progress through the course.Formative assessment will include feedback on the development of your clinical and communication skills in clinical procedures through the practical sessions, and through discussion of examples of problem solving for clinical case-based problems during lectures, tutorials and case reports. Practice examination questions and model answers are discussed in lectures. 

Assessment

Overview

There are 3 pieces of summative assessment in this unit.

Practical assessments will be authentic evaluation of the skills needed to be an optometrist in practice and their integration into a standard clinical exam. The timed assessments are designed to reflect the time pressures of real world optometry practice. As part of the preparation for skills assessment, students will be required to engage in a placement at QUT Health clinics, observing and reflecting on general optometric eye examinations, in a portfolio. 

The written examination will be authentic assessment of students understanding of clinical procedures and their findings. 

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Work placement introduction portfolio

You will be introduced to Optometry practice at QUT Health Clinics. As part of this process you will attend an induction briefing. You will assist in the screening of colour vision for the incoming Masters of Optometry student group. You will shadow 4 hours of patient examinations in QUTs health clinics.  You will document the induction and patient contacts in a portfolio form which mirrors the documentation that optometrists need to complete as part of their registration requirements for continuing professional development. As part of that documentation you will report and reflect on how having a colour vision anomaly could affect practice as an optometrist.

Assessment: Clinical Skills Assessments

These will assess the necessary procedural and communication skills to accurately, efficiently and safely perform a series of clinical techniques. During these practical sessions you will take on the role of an optometrist conducting part of the eye examination. These will consist of a series of station assessments which will take approximately 2hours 4 minutes in total. As part of their preparation for skills assessments, students will be required to undertake placement in QUT Health clinics to observe and reflect on optometric eye examinations. 

Threshold Assessment:

For professional accreditation, students must be able to plan and undertake a patient-centred examination of the eye and visual system, consistent with the Entry-Level Competency Standards for Optometry.  To pass this unit students must show satisfactory performance on each of these assessment items which is a mark =>50%. Students will be eligible for one reattempt at the minimum pass level, only when their achieved mark is 40-49% for this assessment item. Students are advised to seek feedback on their performance from the unit coordinator prior to the reattempt. Students will not be eligible for a reattempt if their overall grade in the unit is a failing grade. 

Assessment: Theory Examination

This will include a range of questions pertaining to the theory and application of clinical procedures, and the solving of clinically related problems using case-based examples.

Threshold Assessment:

For professional accreditation, students must be able to plan and undertake a patient-centred examination of the eye and visual system, consistent with the Entry-Level Competency Standards for Optometry.  To pass this unit students must show satisfactory performance on each of these assessment items which is a mark =>50%. Students will be eligible for one reattempt at the minimum pass level, only when their achieved mark is 40-49% for this assessment item. Students are advised to seek feedback on their performance from the unit coordinator prior to the reattempt. Students will not be eligible for a reattempt if their overall grade in the unit is a failing grade. 

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.

The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Recommended text(s)

Elliot, D.B. (2020). Clinical Procedures in Primary Eye Care.(5th.ed.) NY: Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann.

Risk Assessment Statement

This unit will involve practice of clinical techniques on fellow students. High standards of hygiene and safe practices will be required. You will be informed of relevant Standard Operating Procedures of the School of Clinical Sciences as they pertain to this unit.

Standards/Competencies

This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.

Entry-Level Competency Standards for Optometry 2014

1: Professional Responsibilities

1. 
   Relates to: Theory Examination

2: Communication and Patient History

1. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments
2. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments, Theory Examination

3: Patient Examination

1. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments
2. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments
3. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments, Theory Examination
4. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments, Theory Examination

4: Diagnosis and Management

1. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments
2. 
   Relates to: Theory Examination
3. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments, Theory Examination
4. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments, Theory Examination

5: Health Information Management

1. 
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments

Course Learning Outcomes

OP45 Bachelor of Vision Science

1. Apply scientific knowledge and core skills of vision science and optometry.
   Relates to: Theory Examination
2. Reflect and apply critical thinking, problem solving and analysis to generate optometric and vision science solutions in clinical and scientific settings.
   Relates to: Theory Examination
3. Conduct effective ethical, culturally safe, and evidence-based clinical and technical ocular assessments that include data collection and experimental protocols.
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments
4. Practice as an inclusive, collaborative and reflective professional with capacity to develop resilience, interprofessionalism, and commitment to sustainability goals.
   Relates to: Clinical Skills Assessments