COVID-19: ensuring safe clinical teaching at university optometry schools

The COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading across the globe for several months. The nature of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) with easy person-to-person transmissions and the severe clinical course observed in some people necessitated unprecedented modifications of everyday social interactions. These included the temporary suspension of considerable elements of clinical teaching at optometry schools worldwide. This article describes the challenges optometry schools were facing in early to mid 2020. The paper highlights the experiences of six universities in five countries on four continents. Strategies to minimise the risk of virus transmission, to ensure safe clinical optometric teaching and how to overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19 are described. An outlook on opportunities to further improve optometric education is provided.

Automated summary

The article discusses the challenges faced by optometry schools in early to mid 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights experiences from six universities in five countries on four continents, addressing strategies to minimize virus transmission risks and ensure safe clinical optometric teaching. The paper also looks at opportunities to enhance optometric education moving forward.