Ophthalmic Dispensing BSc

Ophthalmic Dispensing

Our Ophthalmic Dispensing degree gives you the practical experience and training needed to succeed in an important healthcare profession. You can help people see the world more clearly and build a rewarding career in eyecare.

Glasgow Caledonian is Scotland’s main provider of eyecare education with over 50 years of experience training eyecare professionals. This is the only course for Dispensing Opticians (DOs) in Scotland.

As a DO, your role is to provide patients with tailored visual solutions to enable them to see clearly. This includes standard spectacles to specialist corrections, protective eyewear, and low vision aids. You’ll work with optometrists, orthoptists, and ophthalmologists to ensure each patient gets the help they need.

This course is accredited by the General Optical Council (GOC).

From first year, the clinical training is provided within our on-campus Vision Centre. The Vision Centre provides a wide range of core and specialist clinical services to the public with modern facilities. Here students develop decision-making, patient care, and practical skills that are essential for their future career.

Clinical Training

This registrable degree programme is designed to allow students to integrate clinical experience in practice directly into their learning.

Across the three years of the programme, students will complete 1600 hours of clinical experience in an optical practice environment under supervision of experienced professionals. This enables students to meet regulator (GOC) requirements for registration as a Dispensing Optician at the point of graduation.

The programme uses a blended learning model, incorporating distance learning, intensive teaching blocks on-campus in Glasgow and clinical experience in optical practices.

Why study Ophthalmic Dispensing at GCU?


• This is a registrable degree programme



• Flexible blended learning helps you fit study around your life.



• We have over 50 years of experience training eyecare professionals, and we are Scotlands main provider of ophthalmic education



- 91% of our health research has been ranked as world-leading or internationally excellent


Careers

Upon graduation, students will be able to register as a Dispensing Optician, registering directly with the General Optical Council (GOC) and be eligible to join the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO). This opens up opportunities across a range of settings, including optical practice, hospital services, teaching and academia throughout the UK.

The programme also supports professional networking throughout your studies. During on-campus teaching blocks, you’ll have opportunities to engage with local and national industry representatives, including:


- optical businesses


- lens manufacturers


- professional and regulatory bodies such as the GOC


In addition, shared teaching and social activities provide opportunities to connect with students across all vision science programmes within the department