For more than 50 years, the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) has trained optometrists to provide the highest quality vision and eye care. Through its graduate and residency programs, UHCO has also trained faculty who are leaders in the education of optometrists around the world and are renowned researchers in vision and related scientists. One of only 17 optometry schools in the United States, and currently the only one in Texas, UHCO offers a variety of degree programs including Doctor of Optometry (OD), a combined Doctor of Optometry / Doctor of Philosophy (O.D./Ph.D), Master of Science (M.S.) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) UHCO also offers residency training in the various patient care services it provides in the University Eye Institute (UEI) and offers an extensive selection of continuing education courses for its alumni.
In addition to offering an outstanding educational experience and critical preparation for their professional or academic optometric career, UHCO is committed to providing quality vision care to the greater Houston community. The UEI operates an outpatient care facility featuring the following Services:
Beyond providing comprehensive vision examinations and treatment, the Essilor University Optical Service also carries an extensive array of prescription lenses, designer frames in several price ranges, eyewear accessories and sports vision goggles. Whether you receive your prescription at UHCO or from another vision provider, the UEI can help you with your frame or contact lens needs.
As part of UHCOs commitment to the community, clinical faculty members and students provide vision care at three neighborhood clinics: The San Jose Clinic, Case de Amigos and the Good Neighbor Clinic. UHCO is also affiliated with Bridge Builders Clinic in Dallas and has relationships with dozens of clinics, hospitals and military institutions around the country as part of the college's student externship program. To further complement UHCOs focus on the community, the Mobile Eye Institute (MEI) provides much-needed vision care to individuals whose access to vision care is limited or non-existent. In times of crisis, the MEI can be utilized to provide emergency optometric care. UHCO also offers a six-week educational enrichment program called the Texas Optometry Career Opportunity Program (TEXOCOP) that provides disadvantaged students the opportunity to prepare for entering the healthcare profession.
UHCO is recognized for its vision scientists and their research. As the field of vision science has grown and evolved, UHCO's research has expanded to include basic, clinical and translational investigations that cover a broad range of important biological and more clinically defined aspects of vision. The diverse group of researchers at UHCO study normal and abnormal visual processes, diseases and disorders of the eye and visual pathways and they work on ways to prevent loss of vision using a variety of approaches ranging from cellular and molecular, to behavioral or optical. The UEI also serves as a site for large scale clinical investigations. The research efforts at UHCO are funded externally by the National Eye Institute, other federal agencies, private foundations and industry.
UHCO houses two research centers: The Texas Eye Research and Technology Center (TERTC) and the Visual Optics Institute (VOI). TERTC carries out research on contact lens wear and various aspects of ocular health and pathology, including studies on the effects of refractive surgery and the environment on ocular tissues. In the VOI, vision scientists, students and clinicians work to improve our understanding and function of the optics of the eye as well as the instrumentation associated with the diagnosis and treatment of various eye diseases. UHCO's world-renowned vision research is regularly presented at national and international conferences and appears frequently in high-profile refereed journals and other scholarly texts.
Although UHCO already ranks among the very best optometric institutions in the world, our productivity is currently limited by space constraints. To overcome that obstacle, UHCO is undergoing a capital campaign to build a 50,000 square-foot Vision Institute. An ambulatory surgical center, MRI Center and Alumni Educational Center will help UHCO better serve its patient care mission of education, research, and service. The new facilities, estimated at $26 million, will also include innovative laboratories for increasing the scope of our patient-based research and the critical infrastructure needed for basic research. UHCO is grateful to the individuals and organizations that have already pledged and given their financial support to this project and looks forward to announcing the groundbreaking of this facility in the near future.
