Berkeley Optometry offers a thorough and intensive four-year clinical training program. Students are enrolled in preclinical training laboratories in years 1-2, perform their first primary care exams in the spring semester of year 2, and move on to full-time clinical training and direct patient care during the summer before year 3. On average, each student will have experienced more than 2,500 patient encounters by the time of graduation.

Preclinical Laboratory Training

One measure of the intensity and thoroughness of Berkeley Optometry's clinical training program is the number of hours students spend in lectures and working with each other and their instructors one-on-one in our preclinical laboratories, where they learn the techniques and procedures necessary to 1) conduct a primary care optometric examination, 2) fit contact lenses, 3) diagnose and treat ocular diseases, 4) diagnose and manage sensory motor anomalies of vision, and 5) perform advanced procedures in ocular disease diagnosis. The intensity of just the laboratory portion of this preclinical training is indicated in the table below.

Preclinical Laboratories
Year 1	Hours	Year 2	Hours	Year 3	Hours
Opt200A	90	Opt200C	60	Opt241	18
Opt200B	90	Opt200D	60	Opt435	30
		Team Care	12
		Opt222A	30
		Opt260A	30
		Opt240	18
Subtotals	180		210		48
Total Preclinical Laboratory Training Hours = 438

Clinical Patient Care

At Berkeley Optometry, perhaps no single measure documents the extent of students' clinical training better than the number of patients for whom they provide vision care during the second, third, and fourth years of the professional program. At the Meredith Morgan and Tang Eye Centers on the Berkeley Campus alone, there are more than 75,000 patient visits each year, during which second- and third-year students, fourth-year students who are on internal rotations, and faculty members provide complete vision care. The total number of patients cared for by Berkeley Optometry students is significantly increased as a result of their experiences during the three or four (typically 10-week) external rotations they complete during the fourth year. The numbers of patients cared for by the average Berkeley Optometry student during training are shown below.

Number	Semester
6 complete examinations	Second-year Team Care
20 complete examinations	Third-year Summer
150 complete examinations	Third-year Fall and Spring Semesters
560 patient encounters	Third year
2,000 patient encounters	Fourth year
44 contact lens fittings + additional external rotation fittings	Third and fourth professional years (performed, on average, by students in Berkeley Optometry's internal clinics). The number of additional fittings each student performs prior to graduation depends upon the nature of the external rotations the student chooses to undertake.

Samples of Student Testimonials

	Annie Chin, OD Class of 2006 "As a fourth-year student I had over 2,500 patient encounters in Berkeley Optometry's clinics and on my external rotations."
	J. Ryan Zwelling, OD Class of 2006 "During my fourth year at Berkeley Optometry, I had over 2,300 patient encounters on my internal and external rotations."
	Tim Trihn, OD Class of 2007 "When I was a third-year student, I saw a total of 666 patients during my Summer, Fall and Spring Clinics; by the time, I graduated I had 2,170 patient encounters."
	Andrea Yiasemus, OD Class of 2007 "During my third-year Summer Clinic, I examined 21 patients, and during the Fall and Spring Semesters, I saw another 577, making a total of just under 600 patient encounters for my third year."