International Foundation Year in Health, Medical and Life Sciences Leading to Master of Optometry Study Group - Cardiff University International Study Centre, UK

International Foundation Year in Health, Medical and Life Sciences
The International Foundation Year prepares you for university with English language and study skills practice, as well as subject-specific teaching. When you complete the programme, you will progress to the first year of your undergraduate degree. This pathway allows you to progress to degrees in subjects including biochemistry, dental surgery, and medicine. You choose a route depending on which undergraduate degree you plan to study. There are two routes: Health, Medicine and Life Sciences and Psychology. Which route you choose impacts the modules you will study.

Leading to: Optometry MOptom
Optometrists are healthcare specialists trained to examine patients eyes, give advice on visual problems and prescribe spectacles and contact lenses to correct patients’ vision. They are also qualified to diagnose, treat and manage eye diseases such as glaucoma, and even detect signs in the eye which are related to general health conditions like diabetes.

This 4-year integrated master’s programme will provide you with the clinical skills, theoretical knowledge and the patient contact required for a rewarding career in optometry. You will become familiar with many aspects of optometric care including general eye examination, spectacle dispensing, contact lens fitting, binocular vision disorders, low vision, abnormal colour conditions, and paediatric optometry. You will also learn how to manage a wide range of optical and medical eye problems confidently and autonomously.

As you progress through the programme, you will embark on your extended clinical placement organised by the College of Optometrists. This will enable you to experience life as a working optometrist and take on more responsibility for patient care. Throughout your studies, you will also have unique opportunities to observe and work in our in-house specialist eye clinics led by our multi-disciplinary eyecare team to hone your clinical skills.

Opportunities to achieve selected higher qualifications from the College of Optometrists are embedded into this programme preparing you for expanding roles and future changes in the profession. You will be able to establish an excellent foundation for further specialist postgraduate clinical or research career pathways, and you will be well prepared to address lifelong learning, leadership and professional development challenges, allowing you to thrive in modern UK optometric practice.

Upon completion, you will have undertaken at least 48 weeks of learning in clinical environments, and you will be eligible to register and practise independently as an optometrist in the UK.