The Optometry Clerkship is designed to provide an enhanced clinical experience for final year (4th professional year) optometry students in preparation for practice within Canada. Students are required to complete two fifteen week clerkship semesters, in a variety of approved clinics within Canada and the United States.
The primary goal of the Optometry Clerkship is to provide the student with hands-on clinical experience. Specifically, clerkships are designed to enhance the student’s clinical techniques, diagnosis and management skills, through the application of previously learned concepts and under the guidance of a registered optometrist.
Clerkship overview
The
4th
professional
year
is
divided
into
3
terms
(spring:
May
–
August;
fall:
August
–
December;
winter:
January
–
April)
and
are
15
weeks
in
length,
or
may
be
further
divided
into
subdivided
into
two
7
week
or
8
week
terms
so
that
the
student
can
get
a
more
diversified
clinical
experience.
To
ensure
that
all
students
receive
a
complete
clinical
experience,
rotations
may
be
hospital-based,
institutional,
or
in
a
private
practice
environment;
allowing
students
to
gain
administrative
and
practice
management
experience
along
with
patient
care.
Clerkship Site Assignment Process
Students are assigned to their Clinical Clerkship Placements in the fall of their third professional year. Site assignment is based on student selection from a list of placements that have been credentialed and approved by the WOVS Optometry Clerkship Committee. Because the number of sites being offered may exceed the number of students that require placements, it is not guaranteed that all sites will be assigned a student in a given term/year.
Site supervisors interested in joining the program, please contact opt.clerk@uwaterloo.ca.