Global study highlights gaps and opportunities in contact lens education for optometry students

Contact lens education makes up only about 5% of total teaching time in optometry programs worldwide, with significant regional differences in curriculum structure, according to a study.

Researchers analyzed curricula from 40 universities across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Oceania between 2020 and 2022. Programs were selected based on available online curriculum details in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. The study compared total teaching hours, number of contact lens subjects, and time allocated specifically to contact lens education.

North American universities provided the most robust contact lens training, averaging nearly 189 hours across just over 3 subjects. Latin American and Oceanian institutions followed, with European universities dedicating the least total program time overall, but the highest proportion (6%) of that time to contact lens training.

While total teaching time and number of contact lens subjects varied significantly by region, the absolute time spent on contact lens education did not differ substantially across groups.

Reference
Braga S, Stuermer L, Martin R. Contact lens teaching in an international sample of universities. Clin Exp Optom. 2025;doi: 10.1080/08164622.2025.2515985. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40567204.