OPN261 Therapeutic Management of Eye Disease

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2025, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

Optometric practice allows appropriately trained optometrists to provide therapeutic pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of a range of eye diseases. It is important for optometrists to have a comprehensive knowledge of prescription drugs used in the management of eye disease, be able to develop evidence-based treatment plans, and assess the outcomes of treatment. Also optometrists should understand the framework of legal and social and ethical governance within which therapeutic practice operates. This unit aims to integrate your knowledge of eye disease and ocular pharmaceutical agents to allow you to legally, safely and effectively develop treatment plans for your patients in optometric practice. The unit emphasizes an evidence-based and practical approach to therapeutic management of eye disease.

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. Apply a sound theoretical knowledge of optometric therapeutic approaches including medicines;
2. Formulate, evaluate and revise therapeutic treatment plans for the management of eye disease in accordance with the best evidence base;
3. Utiilize the legal social and financial framework for the management of therapeutic disease by Optometrists, including the prescription of medicines in the Australian health environment.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit will be taught through 2 hours of lectures per week focusing on the principles and practice of ocular therapeutics. Tutorials for 2 hours per week, will use a small group approach to the analysis of clinical cases and the development of treatment plans in case-based problem-solving approach. 

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Your progress in developing appropriate knowledge and skills in the therapeutic management of eye disease will be informed through participation in class discussion and debate as feedback on your and other students' case management proposals, and by review activities within lectures and tutorials.
In addition, a practice examination will be held in the second half of semester and the answers discussed with you. Written and criteria based feedback will be given on the research assignment

Assessment

Overview

Two items of assessment are included.

1.  Case assessment skills assessment. This will be similar to the problem solving cases provided in tutorials and a practice assessment, including feedback given in tutorials late in semester.  As part of this assignment you will need to write medicine prescriptions to legal and practice standards.
2. End of Semester multiple choice examination. This assessment will assess both your core knowledge of eye disease management, and your ability to apply it in specific cases. A practice assessment will be given late in semester.

Satisfactory performance in each of these assessment items is a condition for passing this unit.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Case Studies Assessment

You will be required to develop case management plans,  including the writing of medicines prescriptions, for a series of cases, presented as PowerPoint slides. It will be timed and under real-world time pressures. 

Threshold Assessment:

For professional accreditation, appropriate knowledge of ocular therapeutics and skills in writing medicine prescriptions to inform prescribing medicines safely and effectively, consistent with the Entry-Level Competency Standards for Optometry, is required. You will be eligible for one reattempt at the minimum pass level, only when your achieved mark is 40-49% for assessment item 1. You are advised to seek feedback on your performance from the unit coordinator prior to the reattempt. Satisfactory performance on item 1 is =>50%. 

Assessment: End of semester Examination

Exam on lecture knowledge and case management. Contains a multiple choice component and an extended answer component.

Threshold Assessment:

For professional accreditation, appropriate knowledge of ocular therapeutics and skills in writing medicine prescriptions to inform prescribing medicines safely and effectively, consistent with the Entry-Level Competency Standards for Optometry, is required. You will be eligible for one reattempt at the minimum pass level, only when your achieved mark is 40-50% for assessment item 2.  You are advised to seek feedback on your performance from the unit coordinator prior to the reattempt.  

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

Prescribed text(s)

Wills Eye Manual 8th Ed. Gervasio K et al, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Reference book(s)

Bruce, A. Loughnan, M.(2012) Anterior Eye Disease and Therapeutics (2nd. Ed.) London: Elsevier.

Print and electronic copies of optometry, ophthalmology and medical periodicals.

Roy, F.H., Fraunfelder, F.W. and Fraunfelder, F.T. (2008) Current Ocular Therapy (6th Ed) N.Y.: Saunders/ Elsevier.

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with 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: Case Studies Assessment, End of semester Examination
2. 
   Relates to: Case Studies Assessment, End of semester Examination
3. 
   Relates to: Case Studies Assessment
4. 
   Relates to: Case Studies Assessment, End of semester Examination
5. 
   Relates to: Case Studies Assessment, End of semester Examination
6. 
   Relates to: End of semester Examination

Course Learning Outcomes

OP85 Master of Optometry

1. Synthesise complex optometric knowledge, cognitive, clinical and technical skills and research methodology in vision science.
   Relates to: Case Studies Assessment, End of semester Examination
2. Reflect and apply critical thinking and researchable questions to generate solutions to complex conditions in clinical and research settings.
   Relates to: Case Studies Assessment, End of semester Examination