Optometry students carry out on-site screenings in local schools

Lecturer: Claire McDonnell

4th year BSc Optometry students in the final year worked with local primary schools to screen the vision of pupils on site under the supervision of qualified optometrists.

What do students get from it?

Students learn to conduct eye examinations in areas of specialist optometric practice (of which pediatric optometry is one), develop treatment and management plans for patients under their care and communicate effectively with other health care professionals. Managing all the children in the screenings included deciding if they need: no further testing, referral to the NOC or referral to an ophthalmologist. If, after the initial screening, a child was referred to the National Optometry Clinic in DIT Kevin Street then Students treated these with spectacles or eye patches as appropriate. As the students worked solely with children local designated disadvantaged schools they also developed an awareness of the socio-economic factors involved in access to and treatment of eye-care for these children.

What does the community get from it?

Currently national school students should have their vision screened in school by a public health nurse but some children miss these screenings (due to absence on the day) and because of HSE shortages these screenings are not always carried out at suitable time intervals. This means that some children are screened very late and treatable amblyopia (lazy eye) can remain untreated. When the children fail the screening they are referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist but it is common to have to wait up to two years for an appointment with a public ophthalmologist. They are rarely referred to an optometrist.

With this screening, many of the children who failed the screening were in a position to attend the National Optometry Centre (NOC) on site in DIT Kevin St, for a free full evaluation by a supervised student, without having to wait two years. Other children were referred directly to an ophthalmologist.

Apart from preventing amblyopia, children with vision problems tend to fall behind in school while they wait for their problem to be diagnosed and spectacles prescribed. Through this project, children requiring spectacles were identified at an earlier age and though not measured we would imagine this would contribute to preventing children falling behind in school due to vision problems.

Claire Mc Donnell has written an article on this project which can be accessed here.

Community Partners

  • Sancta Maria CBS Primary School
  • St. Enda’s National School
  • St. Audoen’s National School
  • Mater Dei Primary School
  • Scoil San Seamus CBS
  • St. Catherine’s West Primary School