The Consortium for Optometry Summer Enrichment Programs is pleased to share the upcoming dates and deadlines for our individual programs. We encourage you to share this email among your preoptometry students and we look forward to hosting them on our campuses during the summer of 2012.
Do note that prospective students may apply to and attend multiple summer programs; we do not restrict or cap an individual’s participation between or among any of the programs described below:
Illinois College of Optometry, Focus on Your Future
July 9-13, 2012
The Illinois College of Optometry is pleased to announce our annual summer program for underrepresented minority undergraduate students. The program is a weeklong experience that will expose undergraduate students to the profession of optometry in a variety of settings. Participants will have the opportunity to meet and work with current optometry students, ICO Faculty & Staff, as well as practicing optometrists.
Students will be housed at no charge in our Residential Complex. There is no cost to participate in this program. Participants are responsible for their travel expenses and/or transportation cost to and from ICO.
For more information, please visit: http://www.ico.edu/optometry2011/index.php/events-for-prospective-students/s ummer-program
Program Contact: Teisha Johnson, 312.949.7407, tjohnson@ICO.EDU
The Ohio State University, I-DOC
July 16-18, 2012
The Improving Diversity in Optometric Careers program is an intensive three-day program for people from an underrepresented ethnicity (American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; African-American, not of Hispanic origin; or Hispanic) interested in finding out more about an optometric career. The program provides information about optometry through hands-on experiences, and it aims to increase the number of underrepresented ethnic minority optometrists. Thanks to underwriting by the Vision Service Plan (VSP), there is no cost to attend the program and includes all meals and activities. There are also a limited number of scholarships for airfare reimbursement (up to $500) and accommodations for out-of-state college applicants.
For more information about the program and information regarding the application process, please visit the I-DOC webpage: http://optometry.osu.edu/IDOC
Program Contact: Dr. Vondolee Delgado-Nixon, 614. 247.6038, vnixon@optometry.osu.edu
Pacific University, InSight
July 10-14, 2012
Pacific University College of Optometry is pleased to invite applicants for InSight 2012. Pacific University’s InSight 2012 is a program that introduces underrepresented minority students to the profession of optometry through a 3-day, in-residence experience on Pacific University’s Forest Grove campus. The three days are filled with hands-on workshops, information sessions, case conferences and social events that educate students on the profession of optometry, and prepare students to competitively finish up the pre-health undergraduate curriculum. Program materials, food, and accommodations will be provided by Pacific University.
For more information, or to complete an application, please visit: http://www.pacificu.edu/optometry/insight
Program Contact: Andrea Lybarger, 503.352.3145, optadmissions@pacificu.edu
University of California, Berkeley, Opto-Camp Session I, June 20-21 Session II, July 18-20
The goal of Berkeley Optometry’s Opto-Camp is to introduce underrepresented pre-health science majors to Optometry as a potential future career track and to prepare them to be successful applicants to optometry school. The objective of Berkeley Optometry’s Opto-Camp is to present a three-day in residence experience that will provide participants with opportunities to learn about the profession of optometry and the process of becoming an optometrist.
Program specifics and the application, available on February 15, 2012, are linked here: http://optometry.berkeley.edu/opt_txtpp/admissions/admitoptocamp.html
Cost: $125 program fee; limited amount of scholarships to waive program fee per session, as demonstrated by financial need.
Program Contact: Sharon Joyce, 510.642.9537, sharon_joyce@berkeley.edu,
University of Houston College of Optometry, TEXOCOP
May 15 – June 29
The Texas Optometry Career Opportunities Program (TEXOCOP) at the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) is designed to increase the numbers of academically disadvantaged and/or underrepresented college students (US citizens and permanent residents) interested in entering the profession of optometry. The program will accomplish this goal by identifying their academic experiences to enhance their competitiveness for entry into optometry school, and supporting their progression through the professional optometry curriculum.
TEXOCOP is designed to replicate the arduous demands that the professional program places on our students and runs for a six week period each summer. Validity of the program will be evaluated by student success on examinations provided by optometric faculty that teach first year optometry courses at UHCO and comparison to current professional optometry students’ test results. Promising students from disadvantaged backgrounds will be recruited each year for application into the program. Students will be exposed to courses in the health sciences, mathematics, optics, vision sciences, oral and written communications , and receive focused training to prepare for the Optometry Admission Test (O.A.T.). Non-curricular activities are also scheduled and include a Vision Screening at an area community center to give participants the opportunity to apply their newly learned skills in patient care and management. Students will also be provided with tutoring, advanced skills training, and counseling to ensure academic success with the optometry curriculum and financial aid information is available explaining a wide variety of opportunities to finance their undergraduate and professional education.
Interested students who apply to and are accepted into TEXOCOP will spend a rigorous six-week summer term engaged in intensive course work and training environment designed to simulate the first year curriculum of a professional optometric program. Participants will be provided follow-up counseling and guidance throughout their academic year. Once TEXOCOP students gain entry to the professional optometry program, they receive tutoring, advanced skills training, mentoring and curriculum.
Program specifics are linked here:
http://www.opt.uh.edu/students/undergrad/
Program Contact : Dr. Lanny Shulman, 713.743.2048, lshulman@uh.edu
*********************** A special thanks to the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) for providing seed funding for all of our programs and continued support as funding is available and requested. ASCO is currently in its seventh year of the Optometric Education Diversity Mini-Grants program. This program assists optometry schools in developing and implementing activities/programs that are designed to recruit and/or retain underrepresented minority students, financially disadvantaged, and/or first-generation college students pursuing the optometric profession.
