Optometrists’ perspectives on speciality programme development in South Africa

Nashua Naicker, A. Munsamy
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Abstract

Background: South Africa (SA) has postgraduate research-based master’s and doctorate qualifications in optometry with no clinical coursework qualifications in special interest fields. As a result, it hinders professional growth and career path for optometrists and further limits patients’ access to various care pathways from would-be upskilled optometrists.Aim: To explore optometrists’ perspectives on postgraduate programme development in special interest fields of optometry for SA.Setting: Study population of practicing optometrists registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional descriptive design was employed, utilising an online questionnaire developed with the Evasys survey system v8.2. Non-probability sampling was used to access eligible participants.Results: From 424 survey responses, 83.5% had undergraduate qualifications and 95.5% worked in patient-facing environments. Participants responded positively (88%) to this need for educational expansion. Educational needs in Ocular Disease (75.6%), Paediatric Optometry (66.4%), Binocular Vision (65.1%) and sub-specialties of myopia control (41.2%) and Specialised Contact Lens Fitting (31%) were reported. With combined ‘highly important’ and ‘likely important’ responses, participants indicated that obtaining professional recognition (94.9%) and to improve patient care (98.8%) were the main drivers for pursuing additional education and training.Conclusion: A notable demand was found for coursework postgraduate programmes by the study populations from which professional recognition can be awarded in various special interest fields of optometry. The benefit of improved patient care from upskilled optometrists was expressed.Contribution: The findings would contribute towards the development of a conceptual framework for postgraduate education and training for optometrists in SA.
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南非验光师对专业课程发展的看法
背景:南非拥有以研究为基础的验光硕士和博士研究生资格,但没有特殊兴趣领域的临床课程资格。因此,这阻碍了验光师的专业发展和职业道路,并进一步限制了患者从可能获得技能提升的验光师那里获得各种护理途径:研究对象:在南非卫生职业委员会(HPCSA)注册的执业验光师:采用定量横截面描述性设计,利用 Evasys 调查系统 v8.2 编制在线问卷。对符合条件的参与者进行了非概率抽样调查:在 424 份调查回复中,83.5% 的人拥有大学本科学历,95.5% 的人在面向患者的环境中工作。参与者(88%)对扩大教育的需求做出了积极回应。眼科疾病(75.6%)、儿童验光配镜(66.4%)、双眼视觉(65.1%)以及近视控制(41.2%)和专业隐形眼镜验配(31%)等子专业的教育需求均有报告。通过 "非常重要 "和 "可能重要 "的综合回答,参与者表示,获得专业认可(94.9%)和改善患者护理(98.8%)是他们接受更多教育和培训的主要动力:结论:研究发现,研究对象对课程式研究生课程有明显的需求,通过这些课程可以在验光配镜的各个特殊兴趣领域获得专业认可。贡献:研究结果将有助于发展眼科视光专业的发展:贡献:研究结果将有助于南澳大利亚视光师研究生教育和培训概念框架的发展。
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来源期刊
African Vision and Eye Health
African Vision and Eye Health Health Professions-Optometry
CiteScore
1.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
46
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