The spiral curriculum in optometric education

Optometric education should center around clinical training from the first year and develop within a spiral curriculum as far as possible. This does not eliminate the need for a layered curriculum where basic sciences are considered necessary to further learning but serves to make these sciences more applied and relevant to the study of optometry from the very beginning. A philosophy of science component requires to be integrated in the optometry teaching program so as to provide the student with as wide a range of thinking and problem-solving skills possible, in particular those which relate to optometry in general and clinical learning. Advanced technologies in the areas of computers and video materials as well as modern teaching strategies should be used to make paradigm changes in optometric teaching effective.