Program Overview

Optometry Program Overview

The professional Doctor of Optometry program is four years in length, not including the minimum three years of university studies needed prior to applying. Throughout the program, students will be exposed to all aspects of primary vision care, including comprehensive eye exams, ocular disease, contact lenses, myopia control, and low vision rehabilitation.

Program Details

• Requires previous university study
• Offered by the School of Optometry and Vision Science within the Faculty of Science
• Biology, Biomedical Sciences, and Honours Science provide the fastest route into the Doctor of Optometry program

Admission Requirements

• Completion of at least three full years of university-level science with specific course requirements
• Optometry Admissions Test (OAT), Admission Information Form, online assessment of personal characteristics (Casper test), and optometrist and character references required
• Minimum overall university average of 75%

Program Structure

By providing services to patients in the university's own optometry clinic and during clerkships at private practices across the country, students will gain a wealth of practical experience. Professors and mentors are some of the world's leading authorities on vision science and optometry.

About the University

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of its work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. The university's active work toward reconciliation takes place across its campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.