BACKGROUND: Inherent features in virtual simulation could be utilised to deliver collaborative global education that is inclusive, accessible, and valued by students and facilitators. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the International Eyecare Community (IEC) platform\'s virtual simulated international placements (VSIP) in optometric education.
METHODS: An international, multi-center, cross-sectional mixed methods study with Deakin University, Australia, and the Elite School of Optometry, India, was used to evaluate the impact of VSIP in the IEC using pre-existing deidentified data collected from teaching and learning activities within the optometry course curriculum. Data on students and facilitators perceptions of the VSIP were collected through deidentified transcripts from focus group discussions. The data were interpreted using descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis using constant comparison for thematic analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 64 out of 167 student participants completed survey responses (39%) and 46 out of 167 (28%) completed self-reflective inventories. Focus groups with 6 student participants and 6 facilitator participants were recorded and analysed. Student participants reported the IEC was relevant (98% agreement) and motivated them to apply theoretical knowledge to a clinical context (97% agreement). The themes identified through qualitative analysis were: factors inherent to the virtual simulation that enabled learning through VSIP, the VSIP supported cognitive apprenticeship, VSIP enabled clinical learning for optometric education, VSIP\' role in cross-cultural professional identity development in optometry students.
CONCLUSIONS: The study found that the VSIP platform helped to motivate students to learn and improve their clinical skills. The VSIP was considered a potential supplement to physical clinical placements and could revolutionize global optometric education by offering co-learning across cultures.

There is a massive disruption of the global economy and education due to the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This has posed significant challenges and threats to the academic community, especially in health care where the learning and assessment are patient centered. Though blended learning had its emphasis in the pre-COVID-19 era, innovations are required to meet up to the increased demands on learning and assessment. This article uses an inductive approach and outlines the existing challenges, impact of COVID-19 era, the need for a mindset reframe, and the potential opportunities for innovations that underlie during these challenging times.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the repeatability of masked Goldmann tonometry performed by optometry students on patients with glaucoma.
Subjects were recruited from among patients scheduled to undergo selective laser trabeculoplasty at the Rosenberg School of Optometry clinic. Each subject had masked Goldmann tonometry performed by three examiners at each office visit: two fourth professional-year optometry interns and an attending optometrist. Each examiner performed three sequential masked tonometry measurements on each eye.
Twenty-eight interns and two optometrists performed masked Goldmann tonometry on 12 glaucoma patients. The co-efficient of variation was 9.1 per cent for the right eye and 12.1 per cent for the left eye for interns compared with 6.4 per cent right eye and 6.6 per cent left eye for optometrists. There was significant interaction between intern and patient on co-efficient of variation (two-factor analysis of variance, p = 0.005), indicating co-efficient of variation was influenced by both intern and patient factors. No such interaction was found for optometrist-performed measurements (p = 0.96). Mean interobserver difference for interns ranged between 0.9 and 3.1 mmHg, with 95 per cent limits of agreement that were proportional to mean intraocular pressure. Mean interobserver difference for optometrists ranged between 0.6 and 1.8 mmHg without proportionality bias. At higher pressure levels intern measurements became more variable and tended to overestimate optometrist measurements.
Both intraobserver and interobserver repeatability of masked tonometry was lower for interns than experienced optometrists. Intern performance differed from optometrists in that intern measurements became more variable at higher intraocular pressure levels and were significantly influenced by patient factors. The present results support the need for trainee exposure to patients with abnormally elevated intraocular pressure. Research into factors that influence trainee Goldmann tonometry repeatability is needed.

The enactment of the Opticians Act by the Victorian parliament on 17 December 1935 transformed the standard of optometric practice in Victoria and laid the foundations for future educational advance. Previously any person could practise optometry in Victoria regardless of their qualifications or training. The Act established an Opticians Registration Board the first task of which was to register optometrists deemed competent enough to practise on the basis of their prior experience or their optometric qualifications.
This article uses the working papers of the Registration Board at the time to construct a profile of the optometrists in practice in 1936 including the number of optometrists in practice at the time, their qualifications, the extent of their prior experience, their conjoined businesses and their geographic location.
There were 489 optometrists in practice who applied for registration in 1936 of whom 338 were subsequently registered, two-thirds on the basis of prior experience and one-third because they held an optometric qualification recognised under the Act. Eleven of them were women. Sixty-one per cent of them were solely engaged in the practice of optometry and 39 per cent practised in conjunction with another occupation, the most common of which were watchmaker, jeweller and pharmacist. Thirty-eight per cent practised in the central business district of Melbourne, 37 per cent in Melbourne suburbs and 25 per cent in regional Victoria. In 1937 the ratio of registered optometrists to population was 1:5,482.
The Opticians Act of 1935 immediately lifted the competence of optometrists in practice in 1936 by refusing to register 31 per cent of those in practice who were judged to lack the necessary competence, and laid the foundations for higher educational standards in the future.

BACKGROUND: Some universities are looking to provide a more diverse range of clinical learning experiences through extended clinical placement programs. This approach will potentially have a significant impact on practitioners. The aim of this study was to conduct a national survey of optometrists to ascertain their perspectives on participating in extended clinical placement programs.
METHODS: Members of Optometry Australia were invited to participate in a survey conducted during June and July 2014.
RESULTS: A total of 268 practitioners participated (six per cent of registered Australian optometrists): 159 were predominantly employees or locums and 109 were owners or managers who identified as the key representative of a practice or organisation for the purpose of this survey. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of participants, who were employees or locums were supportive of extended clinical placement programs. Among this group, females were more likely to be supportive than males (p = 0.033). In comparison, just over one-third (34 per cent) of participants who were key decision-makers were supportive, with 30 per cent possibly supportive and 36 per cent not supportive. Among key decision-makers, males were more likely to be supportive (p = 0.009). The top three perceived advantages of supervising a student were: opportunity to mentor early career development, opportunity to give back to the profession and future recruitment. The top three perceived disadvantages were: burden on time, decrease in number of patients examined and burden on support staff. Suggested incentives for supervising students were credit for continuing professional development and financial remuneration.
CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be moderate support for extended clinical placement programs; however, there are incentives that might engage a larger proportion of the profession in the future. These findings can inform the development of effective and sustainable clinical training programs for optometry students. Additionally, the findings might be used as evidence to seek Government support for clinical placement training in optometry.

BACKGROUND: This study is an investigation of how Australian and New Zealand schools of optometry prepare students for culturally competent practice. The aims are: (1) to review how optometric courses and educators teach and prepare their students to work with culturally diverse patients; and (2) to determine the demographic characteristics of current optometric students and obtain their views on cultural diversity.
METHODS: All Australian and New Zealand schools of optometry were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected with two surveys: a curriculum survey about the content of the optometric courses in relation to cultural competency issues and a survey for second year optometry students containing questions in relation to cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity and attitudes to cultural diversity.
RESULTS: Four schools of optometry participated in the curriculum survey (Deakin University, Flinders University, University of Melbourne and University of New South Wales). Sixty-three students (22.3 per cent) from these four schools as well as the University of Auckland participated in the student survey. Cultural competency training was reported to be included in the curriculum of some schools, to varying degrees in terms of structure, content, teaching method and hours of teaching. Among second year optometry students across Australia and New Zealand, training in cultural diversity issues was the strongest predictor of cultural awareness and sensitivity after adjusting for school, age, gender, country of birth and language other than English.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides some evidence that previous cultural competency-related training is associated with better cultural awareness and sensitivity among optometric students. The variable approaches to cultural competency training reported by the schools of optometry participating in the study suggest that there may be opportunity for further development in all schools to consider best practice training in cultural competency.