Optometry, OD / Physiological Optics, MS

Admission Requirements

• OD students may apply for the OD/MS program in the Fall of the second academic year for admission in the Spring of their second year.
• The applicant must have a history of research with a faculty mentor. The prior research generally was done during the Summer between the first and second year of the OD program, in a federally- or college-funded summer research training program for OD students.

Degree Requirements

The dual OD/MS program requires:

• the entire Optometry, OD  program curriculum.
• the MS curriculum, which is a total of 30.0 Credit Hours of coursework and research hours.
  • 12.0 Credit Hours of OPTO 6000-level science courses may be used for the MS portion of the dual degree
• a written thesis based on original research.
  • The student’s thesis committee must consist of a minimum of three faculty members,
    • one member may be external to the program, from academia or industry, and is approved by the graduate program.
    • at least two of which are from within the graduate program;
  • The research project can be an extension of the research carried out in the summer research program.
  • The student must write and defend a thesis proposal and the thesis
• Graduate program coursework and research hours with the prefix PHOP are supported by the College of Optometry.

• Research hours (practicum) and independent study (tutorial) are offered on an “as needed” basis to meet the individual needs of students.

• The student must enroll in PHOP 7399 - Thesis Writing Credit Hours: 3.0

Academic Policies

• University Academic Policies  
• Academic Policies and Procedures: College of Optometry