CONWAY -- The University of Central Arkansas will finance a study to determine whether it should become the state's first university to offer an optometry school.
"Staying true to our mission of being a state leader in the health sciences, we are committed to exploring the possibility of providing a school of optometry," UCA President Tom Courtway said in a news release Thursday. "Hopefully, this study will help us arrive at making a sound and informed decision."
The $30,000 study by Tripp Umbach, a Pittsburgh-based health care consulting company, will begin in March and be completed by May 31.
If UCA starts an optometry school, it will be "a couple of years at least" before the first class will start, Steven Runge, executive vice president and provost, said Thursday.
The feasibility study will examine "the current and projected needs of optometrists in Arkansas and surrounding regions, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of developing a school of optometry at UCA," the release said.
Tripp Umbach also will provide the university with financial information on the construction, startup and operation of an optometry school.
Tripp Umbach "will tell us honestly whether or not we should do it and what it'll cost and what it will take" in terms of resources, ranging from facilities to faculty, Runge said. It is too early to estimate the potential cost, he said.
"There is currently no optometry school in the state of Arkansas," Runge said in the release. "So, if we can correct that deficit in a sustained way that will provide educational opportunities for Arkansas students and enhance the medical services for all Arkansans, then that is what we want to do."
In an interview, Runge said there are optometry schools in border states. He mentioned those in Memphis and St. Louis and in Oklahoma and Texas.
Along with some other Arkansas universities, UCA already has a pre-optometry program, Runge said.
Those "students would like to be able to attend the [optometry] school in-state," Runge said. "They do not have that option at this point."
UCA's spring enrollment totals 10,730, according to preliminary figures.
Nine students currently have declared pre-optometry as a "pre-professional concentration," Runge said, noting this is not a major.
"We will typically have 5-6 additional students who are working to meet the entrance requirements for optometry school, but they have not declared the concentration," he said in an email.
To become an optometrist, a student typically spends four years in school after obtaining a bachelor's degree, Runge said.
By comparison, an ophthalmology degree, which requires the student to become a medical doctor, can take a total of seven years of schooling after a bachelor's degree.
The University at Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock does not offer an optometry program but offers an ophthalmology program.
To study ophthalmology, a student first must be a resident physician who already has completed medical school, which typically takes four years, UAMS spokesman Leslie Taylor said. The student participates in a three-year residency training program, she said.
UAMS also offers a Bachelor of Science degree in ophthalmic medical technology through its College of Health Professions and the UAMS Jones Eye Institute.
"That is a two-year program at UAMS but applicants must complete 51 hours of prerequisites in order to be accepted," Taylor said in an email. "So generally that would take four years with 2 years of undergraduate work at another university and then two years at UAMS to obtain the bachelor's degree."
State Desk on 01/30/2015